February is known by many as a month when fitness resolutions are broken. I haven’t always used a gym, but when I have, I’ve noticed a large drop off in the number of customers during the month of February. It seems people make health-related resolutions at the start January, but then they find they aren’t able to maintain them in February. Has this happened to you? If so, maybe you’ll be inspired to try swimming as a great mind-body workout after reading this blog post I wrote for a client (before I had a chance to submit it, he decided he no longer wanted to keep a blog).
Swimming: Great Exercise for Your Body and Your Mind Too
Lately, water-based exercise has become popular. For example, floating fitness, where exercise occurs on mats resting on top of the water, is widespread these days. Maybe you’d like to get into the trend of water-based exercise, but you’re more of a traditionalist than those who enjoy floating fitness. As it turns out, research shows that getting back to basics with swimming can be great exercise not just for your body but for your mind, too.
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Swimming pool underwater. (Flickr/Eric Sonstroem) |
About the Researchers
A World Economic Forum article published not long ago summarized many previous studies that looked at the benefits of swimming. These studies illustrated that research in this area is happening around the globe. In fact, the researchers mentioned in the article came from the United States, Sweden, Germany, Finland, Portugal, New Zealand, France, and India, to name just a few.
Not only is research into the health benefits of swimming happening around the globe, it also involves a wide variety of disciplines. For example, in the World Economic Forum article, cardiology, occupational health, physiology, physical education, sport sciences, psychology, rehabilitation science, brain health, surgical science, and communication science were some of the disciplines represented. With such a broad range of fields represented by scientists from around the world, these studies’ findings can be applied to a wide range of people in many different situations.
Swimming’s Benefits for the Body
When it comes to swimming’s benefits for the body, the effects are diverse, and this is shown in the World Economic Forum article. For example, one set of researchers from the State University of New focused on swimming’s benefits to the heart. These researchers looked at the relationship between swimming and cardiac diseases, such as coronary artery disease and congestive heart failure. They found the heart made adaptations as a result of swimming. Furthermore, researchers from Germany noted that the circulatory system overall, not just the heart, is improved through swimming.
Another finding cited in the article, this one from a researcher in Sweden, focused on the energy consumption used in swimming and noted that the maximum heart rate achieved by swimmers as compared to runners was 10 beats per minute less, meaning it takes less energy when swimming to achieve physical benefits. Additionally, researchers from Finland and Portugal also studied the energy efficiency of swimming. They did a comparative study of swimmers using different strokes and found freestyle to be the most energy efficient for achieving cardio-pulmonary benefits, with backstroke coming next, followed by butterfly and breaststroke.
Swimming’s Benefits for the Mind
When it comes to the mind, swimming has additional benefits, and as mentioned in the World Economic Forum article, researchers have found that people’s cognition is benefitted by swimming. In particular, New Zealand researchers studied blood flow as a result of swimming the breast stroke and noted that not only was blood flow improved but so was cognition. Similarly, in a study focusing on cognitive aging, research findings from France showed cognitive benefits from swimming can be found across age groups.
Another researcher who studied the role of swimming in benefitting cognition based her work out of India. As noted in the World Economic Forum article, this research focused on the elderly’s mental speed and attention as a result of swimming. The results showed benefits in both of these areas.
One more study mentioned in the World Economic Forum article focused on swimming’s cognitive benefits for children. Researchers from the University of Delaware studied children learning vocabulary words and found that swimming had a positive effect on their ability to remember words. Although this study focused on children, it noted that previous studies showed similar results in adults, reinforcing the fact that swimming is beneficial to our brains.
How To Add Swimming as a Workout
Based on the mind-body benefits of swimming, are you convinced to try it as your next workout? If so, here are a few things to consider.
One consideration is where you might swim. Many cities and towns offer public facilities in the summer months, and in warm climates, these can be open year-round. Those in colder climates might look into private swimming facilities such as YMCAs or health clubs that feature indoor pools.
Another consideration is how often you want to swim. Will swimming become your primary form of exercise, or will it be an occasional feature of your fitness regimen? How many days a week do you want to devote to swimming as compared to other forms of exercise?
Truly, swimming provides a great mind-body workout. As previously established by researchers, mindset is crucial to achieving physical fitness. Therefore, engaging in swimming, which benefits both the body and the mind at the same time, is ideal. No matter where or how often you decide to swim, you’ll find it’s a great workout.