Swimming exercises: Benefits of swimming

Swimming is above all a fun activity that offers fantastic health benefits. While swimming, one will burn a lot of calories and build up muscular strength and endurance. At the same time, this practice is very easy on the joints, and it isn’t associated with frequent injuries. Swimming is the second most popular physical exercise in the United States. It is estimated that somewhere near 360 million individuals visit recreational swimming pools, lakes and other recreation centers. Many schools and colleges have their own swim clubs, and most of the Americans have access to various recreational water venues.

Swimming is very popular because of the many fantastic benefits. The most important thing about swimming is that it offers a low impact activity, protecting the joints from the excessive stress and strain. This exercise offers fantastic cardiovascular benefits, while it also improves the respiratory fitness. It builds up endurance and oxygen consumption. It also increases the blood flow and helps to supply nutrients to all living cells. While swimming, one will build up muscle mass and burn up to 650 calories per hour. This physical exercise is also a great way to continue physical training when injured. In many cases, it not only helps to keep in shape, but is also used as a part of rehabilitation. Last but not least; one can enjoy the benefits of swimming for a lifetime, since there is no age limit for practicing this safe and healthy routine.

The most popular swimming strokes are breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly and crawl. Breaststroke and butterfly are probably the hardest to learn.

The most important thing while focusing on breaststroke is to pull the arms, breathe, kick while alternating the arms, and glide. The three phases of breaststroke involve bringing the knees to the chest, thrusting the legs backward and straight and snapping the legs together to push the water and glide forward. The arm stroke starts with arms overhead. The swimmer pulls on the water while bringing the arms toward the chest. The hands are cupped for a moment, and then the arms return to the starting position. The rhythm of breathing should follow the arm-strokes.

Butterfly is another advanced swimming stroke that requires a lot of strength. The legs move together during the stroke in a dolphin kick while the arms push the water down and backward. The torso emerges from the water while the body advances forward. The leg kick is completed by straightening the knees and whipping the feet downward. For every arm stroke, there are two leg kicks. While making the arm stroke one should face the palms outward and press down and outward.