By Personal Trainer Karen Creasey
As a personal trainer I am frequently asked for exercises that can be done to work the cardio component of fitness without the impact on the joints. That’s when I smile and ask, “Have you tried swimming?” Swimming and water based workouts have many advantages. They burn calories, increase strength, nurse an injury back to health, develop flexibility, and improve cardio respiratory fitness to name just a few.
It sounds pretty perfect doesn’t it? Swimming for fitness is ideal for a wide range of people. It is simultaneously gentle and powerful and offers a low impact exercise choice. Swimming recruits all the major muscle groups, including the shoulders, arms, back, abdominals, legs, hips, and glutes. And with water being twelve times more resistant than air in every direction, swimming is a genuine strength building exercise.
Because of the muscle recruitment and the water density component (which creates a mini resistance workout for your entire body) calories are quickly burned in a water-based workout. An easy swim burns around 500 calories an hour, while a vigorous swim could burn as many as 700. Each kick, reach, push, and pull blasts calories and ignites the metabolism into action.
The cardio respiratory benefits of swimming are also notable. When swimming at a strong or fast pace, using most major muscle groups, the heart and lungs will work harder and faster to generate enough energy to keep up. The lungs will strengthen as you breathe more quickly and intensely and the heart will become stronger as it pumps to circulate the oxygenated blood through your body.
When dealing with injuries the exercise of swimming can be ideal. Water buoyancy is very forgiving of weight and
weakness in the human body. A swim can provide an excellent workout without the same level of pain or exhaustion that might accompany fitness exercises performed out of the water. A swimmer can swim almost everyday without risking injury. Water’s neutralizing effect on gravity makes a swimmer virtually weightless, providing a much-needed break to the bones and joints of the body.
Whether you are a beginner or a more advanced swimmer, if you are interested in changing your workout routine and taking advantage of some of these benefits or if you just want more information about how and why to swim call me at the Palm Desert Aquatic Center 760-565-7647.
