Why We Should Make Time for Swimming
Swimming has been praised for the longest time for its many benefits to our health and wellbeing, and yet so many of us don’t include it as part of our regular workout routine. It’s important that you enjoy your workouts, but if swimming is something you’ve enjoyed in the past, making time for it on a regular basis can offer plenty of advantages for your mental and physical health.
A low impact exercise
Swimming is incredibly gentle on your joints, so it’s an ideal workout for all ages, and those who are recovering from an injury. It means you can swim at higher intensities without feeling the effects on your joints for days afterwards, so you’re more in control of the strength of your workouts. For people with mobility issues, swimming is the perfect exercise because the water naturally supports the body so you can stay active without needing to exert yourself.
Keeping fit is something that we should all be making more time for, but the aftereffects of a powerful gym session or a tiring run can put us off the idea. Swimming is the perfect compromise that allows us to work out and keep fit, without putting strain on our muscles and joints.
Great for aerobic activity
While swimming is gentle on your joints, it’s also great form of cardio and aerobic activity to get your heart rate up and improving your fitness. Swimming is an effective way to raise your fitness and improve your heart and lung health, with even a gentle swim burning twice the calories as walking for the same amount of time.
Aerobic activities are the best choice for protecting your heart health and reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases and strokes, so a few rounds of a lap pool everyday can work wonders at getting your fitness up quickly and keeping your healthier for the future. Aerobic activity can also be a highly effective way of regulating your sleep patterns, helping you to get better quality sleep at night.
De-stress on a daily basis
As a rhythmic, therapeutic exercise, swimming helps you to unwind from the daily stressors of everyday life. Regular swimming has been proven to lower your stress levels and bring your blood pressure down, as well as improving your mental health. It can serve as a form of mindfulness that takes you out of a stressed mindset and into the present moment, something that experts recommend we do more regularly for our mental health.
Whether you take a dip outdoors for a dose of Vitamin D with your swim, or you swim indoors for the convenience of being able to swim at any time, day or night, swimming can boost your mood and lower stress. Embracing wild swimming in natural pools, in particular, can help you reap more rewards by enabling you to swim surrounding by the natural beauty of nature.
The feeling of accomplishment
Swimming can be a laid-back, casual activity, but it can also be a way of achieving goals and hitting targets, if you want it to be. It gives kids and adults alike something to strive for, whether it’s meeting a certain time or starting a daily lap goal. Being able to set targets like this and tick them off can be a huge confidence boost and it is a wonderful way to encourage yourself to keep going with a challenge.
Swimming can also open up opportunities and challenges to push yourself further. Maybe you take on a race for a charity event, or maybe you’ve never tried wild swimming and join a local group to take part. Perhaps you’ve always dreamed of swimming the Channel or scuba diving in a tropical location. Whatever the goal, building your swimming capabilities can not only make those dreams a reality but also opens up the possibility of meeting other people with similar goals.
Set good habits in motion
Keeping kids active can be an ongoing challenge, with more time spent in front of computer and TV screens than ever before. But getting children interested in sport and exercise early on can set good habits in motion to keep them healthy and help them to develop the discipline and dedication needed to maintain a regular workout routine. Through swimming, they’ll also gain physical benefits such as strength, flexibility and endurance that can help them with other sporty activities. If you have space at your family home for a pool, it could be a great addition to get your kids into sport and exercise from an early age.
The opportunity to unwind
Swimming is, above all, fun and relaxing – something that all of us can benefit from more of in our lives. Whether your swimming pool is used exclusively for exercising, or it’s a place to unwind with family and friends during the warmer seasons, being able to take a dip when you want a rest from the usual routine is something that you’ll always be grateful for. Splashing around with the family, enjoying a drink pool-side or enjoying a spa-like experience with a soak in a plunge pool – however you enjoy your swimming pool, it’s an opportunity to really relax.
An accessible activity
Swimming is an activity that requires very little to get started – just access to a pool. It’s an exercise that all ages and abilities can enjoy, with a host of benefits for the mind and body. Whether you swim daily or a few times a week, swimming should form part of our workout routines in order for us all to enjoy the advantages that it offers.
A bespoke swimming pool that’s perfectly tailored to your requirements is an addition to your home that will provide you with many years of enjoyment and makes the process of including swimming into your regular routine that much easier. To discuss your own luxury pool or if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us today.
