Eli5:why swimming it’s the better type of workout for overall general health?
In: Biology
Swimming is a great compound exercise that also works multiple systems.
Swimming will develop both cardio and muscular systems
The act of swimming (especially if including different strokes) works multiple areas of the body at the same time. Every length of the pool you are working arms; core; legs
Because of the boyancy of water and the lack of additional weighs on joints; swimming is considered “low impact” and can be utilized by more people who may be prone to joint issues
I swim 2-4x week off / on. Especially during the summers when it’s hot and swampy a swimming morning makes the rest of the day feel so much better. Also,
Something about the feeling you get after getting out of cold water and the overall motion makes my, em, blood flow better to certain areas.
Typically when you exercise, you work individual or small groups of muscles. For example, when you run, you work out the large muscles in your legs, but not much else.
Swimming requires the simultaneous use of lots of different muscle systems in your body. meaning you get a much more balanced workout.
Also thanks to it being in water, the buoyancy in water prevents your joints from having to absorb extra weight or impacts, making it brilliant for anyone with arthritis.
I do think the context of this gets a bit lost..
if you don’t exercise much then all exercise is good, more moving around is good and more you do is better, whatever it is, doesn’t need to be structured or a sport
if you really want to examine the small margins and potential upsides and downsides of various exercises then yeah, swimming is great, good cardio, low impact
but if you don’t have access to a pool or enjoy swimming then it’s not the best exercise for you, 2h of swimming a week isn’t better then 5h or biking or running or tennis or whatever you can fit into your schedule and enjoy
An additional plus is the burning of calories. Your body burns lots of calories to maintain your body temperature and swimming usually cools you down which burns additional calories.
Another angle so as not to parrot other comments: we’re biologically pretty bad at swimming compared to jogging, cycling, or throwing things. It’s a very inefficient mode of transportation for humans, so intense swimming generally puts more strain on the whole body than something we’re more evolutionarily favored to do, like walking.
Less generally, swimming has the added benefit of NOT putting strain on common exercise pain points, like knees and other joints in the legs.
Yeh i was told this 40 years ago… apparently you use all muscle groups. Breathing is very inportant to oxygenate the muscles while exercising, for optimal growth. Dont know if thats true or not maybe some one here can clarify
It has low impact on the joints but it uses almost all the muscles so the cardio benefits are great. Also you’re in the pool so you don’t get all sweaty
Who was the comedian who said “they say swimming is a great way to burn fat, but what about whales?”
Fat floats. Muscle sinks. So the difficulty automatically adjusts based on how in shape you are. No need to adjust weights or anything like that, you can just hop in and have a go.
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