Close to half of adults’ swimming capabilities won’t save them from drowning, meaning they can’t swim. Imagine something so essential to our life, like water, being the very thing that takes one’s life. Approximately 4000 unintentional deaths occur every year. Besides the benefit of being able to save your own life and perhaps someone else’s, there are other health benefits to being a competent and regular swimmer.
Let’s dive into the benefits of swimming.
While on my trip to Ghana last year, I decided to do some swimming. I noticed that the slightly torn tendon on my right elbow seemed to be less irritating and not as much pain. The swelling in my elbow went down as well. Some research suggests that it can help you stay younger for longer because swimming strengthens your whole core and directly affects your muscle mass and lung functioning, along with building your respiratory muscles. A long-term study conducted at Indiana University found that swimmers over 35 years of age, who swam approximately 3,200 to 4,500 meters three to five times a week, showed a delay in their aging process.
Although swimming can delay the aging process, it also has so many health benefits. In comparison to running, swimming is determined to be much better for cardiovascular exercise. Water provides more of a challenge than air and less pressure on your knees than running. It is much harder to kick in water than in air and this resistance helps to burn more calories than running. Although you lose calories when running, you would have to run much longer than you would swim to burn the same number of calories and swimming eliminates the joint strain that can occur with running.
Swimming is excellent for mental and physical health. Swimming exercises almost every muscle in the body and reduces stress, anxiety and depression.
It also reduces chronic pain from arthritis, develops the lungs, and helps with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma. Swimming in different bodies of water has even more benefits. For example, when swimming in seawater, the sand acts as an exfoliant and scrub, removing dead skin. The sand makes the skin feel softer and smoother, which minimizes fine lines and wrinkles. Swimming in seawater is also a natural shampoo for your hair removing excess oils, preventing greasy hair and helping with dandruff.
Swimming in different temperatures of water has benefits as well. Swimming in cold water boosts your immune system, gives you a natural high, improves circulation, increases your libido and reduces stress. You will also burn much more calories swimming in colder water than in warm water because the heart has to pump faster trying to keep the body warm.
New studies have also proposed swimming in cold water appears to protect against insulin resistance and diabetes. Make sure to ask your physician if swimming is a good exercise option for you, but whatever the doctor says, make sure you learn how to swim.
Your life, or somebody else’s, could depend on it.
Words by Kaba Abdul Fattaah.
