Time for a Swim!

Swimming is a great form of exercise. It is an aerobic activity, a type of exercise that increases your heart rate and how much oxygen your body uses, and itworks your entire body while placing minimal stress on your joints, making it a great choice if you have an injury or condition like arthritis. Even if you don’t experience injuries or joint pain, swimming provides many benefits, including reducing blood pressure, strengthening your heart and lungs, burning lots of calories, boosting your mood, and reducing stress.

When you swim for fitness, you can focus on endurance by building up the number of laps you swim without resting, or you can focus on speed and strength by working towards swimming a lap or two at a faster pace.You can also choose to do a combination of both strength and endurance focused swimmingand try different strokes when you swim, such as the backstroke, breaststroke, and sidestroke.  

Talk to your health care provider if you have any concerns or before changing your exercise regimen. For a detailed description of different swim workouts for different levels, check out this website: https://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/a28940942/swim-workouts/

Marcin, A. (2017, September 9). 12 Benefits of Swimming: Weight Loss, Health, and More. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/benefits-of-swimming 

Creveling, M. (2023, June 16). 16 Swim Workouts for Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced Swimmers. Women’s Health. https://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/a28940942/swim-workouts/