Swimming is a sports activity that has the reputation of being accessible to all, because it is not very traumatic.
In contact with water, this practice brings a physical and moral well-being useful in the event of rehabilitation or to regain better health.
Practiced alone, with family or friends, in the pool or in open water, swimming fits easily into a weekly routine.
This article reviews the benefits of swimming with lifeguarding
Joints
All medical professionals agree: the absence of impact on the joints and on the back, in fact a first choice and affordable activity at any age . The practice of swimming with lifeguard recertification helps to soothe rheumatic pain linked to body aging (osteoarthritis, arthritis).
Swimming preserves and improves bone density in pre-menopausal and menopausal women. It is therefore also an excellent means of preventing bone fractures associated with aging.
In case of obesity, the body carried by the water is relieved of two thirds of the weight. Thus, one can move more easily, practice a physical activity without the joints of the legs and the back being harmed.
In the daily life of an overweight person, this is a time that can also become a time when joint pain no longer exists .
Swimming with lifeguard trainer is good. Swimming well is better. Indeed, it is not enough to chain lengths to preserve the body thanks to swimming: it is still necessary that the gestures are correctly carried out. A gesture poorly performed over several lengths and several sessions can be a cause of sudden cessation of this activity.
On our blog, you will find, among other things, advice, exercises for swimming the front crawl , or swimming the back crawl
There are few medical contraindications to the practice of this sport: there are essentially problems with the neck and shoulders.
But even in this case, you can swim with a board, keeping your head under water in line with your body (you can bring a board , a frontal snorkel and flippers ).
Joint problems in the knees are a contraindication to the practice of breaststroke .
Muscle tone
The swimmer fully immersed in the water must find his balance while being in motion. This work solicits the entire musculature.
The resistance to movement created by the aquatic environment is enough on its own to work on muscle strengthening at a minimum. And a few weeks of practice are enough to notice a muscular gain on the whole body (especially in the arms, pectorals…).
This aquatic resistance combined with the buoyancy of 80% of the body makes it easier to build muscle than on the ground.
If you want to work a particular muscle group and strengthen yourself, you can, for example, use a pull-buoy and/or platelets. The pull-buoy tight between the thighs and immobilizing the legs just below the surface makes it possible to work much more with the arms .
You can add finger paddles that will accentuate this work of the upper half of the body.
Different strokes engage different muscle groups at different intensities. They do not all require the same energy: the calorie expenditure differs according to the strokes practiced .
Note that if you fear aches after a sustained muscular effort, in swimming, the draining effect of the water massage avoids this effect.
The breaststroke is one of the most energy-intensive strokes : symmetrical, not only does it solicit the greatest number of muscle groups (sets of muscles in the legs, arms, shoulders, etc.), but it requires great energy to maintain speed during the non-propulsion phase.
It is the only stroke which evolves in a linear way, and which gives a proportional relationship between speed and energy expenditure : whereas for the other strokes, the resistance of the water being less felt with the gain of speed, they have an exponential relationship.
This technique is not the simplest in synchronizing movements between the upper and lower body: the upper limbs are strong when the legs are at the end of the effort, and vice versa.
If you are a beginner , you will find in our blog, a precious help to get started in breaststroke .
The front crawl is easier to set up, although it remains technical and requires good body placement and the right gestures to be quick. Unlike the breaststroke, there is no non-propulsion phase , and less resistance, so gaining speed is easier.
The work of each arm is staggered relative to each other in the effort phases, while the legs work alternately. The front crawl helps tone the upper body and refine the legs.
On this subject, if you want to improve your crawl we have implemented programs aimed at creating effective workouts.
The backstroke develops and evolves on the same pattern as the front crawl, adding effective back muscle work.
The butterfly requires perfect coordination and good basic musculature.
This stroke requires a lot of energy to undulate (deep abdominal strengthening), effective kicking of the legs to propel the upper body out of the water, as well as strength in the arms to pull, propel the water.
No time out is allowed on this swim, which makes it all the more demanding.
To be complete and solicit all muscle groups , the ideal is to include the four strokes in your workouts. On our blog, sign up to receive our “Technical Guide to the 4 Swimmings” .
Cardiovascular and respiratory capacities
While requiring muscular effort from the whole body, swimming solicits the cardio-respiratory system : it improves breathing and endurance, it develops cardiac capacity.
Swimming is an activity recommended for people suffering from certain cardio-respiratory pathologies. Some swimming clubs have also set up the Nagez Forme Santé program of the French Swimming Federation, a course program aimed at improving health capital with regard to certain pathologies.
No matter what your pace, swimming helps improve blood circulation . The pulmonary and cardiac systems can progress even while swimming with professional lifeguard calmly.
They can strengthen themselves all the more by practicing a split swimming exercise, by alternating acceleration/deceleration over several minutes, or by limiting the number of breaths between strokes.
Venous return and lymphatic circulation are also favored thanks to the rapid alternation between muscle contraction/relaxation which is combined with the water massage during movement.
By ending in intense training and at a sustained pace, it is essential to carry out a “recovery” swimming phase . The flexible swimming which corresponds to a slow and fluid rhythm makes it possible to re-oxygenate the muscles and to burn the toxins accumulated during the effort.
Swimming allows you to gradually get back to a sporting activity even after a physical trauma: it is always an excellent base for rehabilitation. You can choose your pace and the intensity of the effort . The more or less slow movement in the water leaves the observation time to the physical feeling which allows to continue or to stop a movement.
Swimming is also complementary to sports that require the body to work constantly in contraction or with impacts (running, climbing, etc.): it allows muscle recovery, and to progress in one’s activity.
On the other hand, for pregnant women
it is important not to enter into a great cardiovascular effort: the circulatory system and the heart of a fetus or a baby are not adapted to this effort. It is therefore necessary to avoid putting it in hypoxia .
Sculpt the body
As part of a search for weight loss, with a balanced diet, swimming is a physical activity accessible to people who are not usually athletic .
It is even one of the rare sports accessible to people suffering from obesity.
You can easily swim at your own pace, gently and for a long time if you wish, without being exhausted and while having a calorie burn. Swimming is still a very accessible way to get back into activity.
Again, the massage exercised by moving the body in the water allows drainage to promote weight loss .
Also, unlike some sports that develop round muscles, swimming develops long, shapely muscles improving the figure.
At the pool, forget the complexes in a swimsuit: this problem will seem less to you when you feel all the benefits that swimming gives you. The more you will feel these benefits during the sessions, the more your body will become more refined and muscular, and the more you will feel good in a swimsuit…it’s a virtuous circle.
Also Read About: 15 Amazing benefits of swimming for runners
Mental Health
During the swimming session, breathing requires a certain concentration and imposes a rhythm: this function alone already allows you to clear your head .
Also, like all physical activity sessions carried out at a sustained pace, swimming provokes the secretion of endorphins, neurotransmitters partly responsible for the feeling of well-being after a sports session.
The whole body benefits from it: brain, digestive system, spinal cord then enter a kind of bliss.
During the flows, the slide, the massage of the water along the body invites muscle relaxation which has an impact on mental relaxation.
Tensions and stress give way to this feeling of well-being, of bliss. Swimming repels the risk of depression, confusion, while restoring dynamism and better physical condition to swimmers.
If you still had doubts about the advantages of swimming, you are more enlightened and you surely want to check all these benefits.
