Eli5:why swimming it’s the better type of workout for overall general health?
In: Biology
The higher pressure of the water on your body is good for your cardiovascular system. As your heart needs to work harder to push the blood into the blood vessels
I would actually disagree, I would contend that strength training is the best overall general health.
The real answer of course is that it’s different for everyone. I’m a dude in his mid 30s… and you’d maybe have said that swimming was a good workout for me (it is, but..) … I happen to have a low bone density, and my endocrinologist told me to do high impact exercises that give my joints and bones a good shock. So running… olympic weightlifting (while being very careful!) etc are ideal for me as they will help me increase my bone density. Similarly, strength training (deadlifts and other compound exercises) are great for elderly folks also so that their bone health is better and they can thus whether through injuries (if they fall down for example) without breaking their bones which would render their situation something very serious.
I use a rower, it’s a similar workout that I can do at home. Overall swimming and rowing maintain some strength while building cardio
I think this is strongly in the [citation needed] territory. I don’t think there’s any real evidence that swimming is overall superior to other forms of exercise. Generally speaking doing any exercise is a huge benefit over doing no exercise. Anything beyond that is like to make only marginal difference at best.
Swimming is actually not as good for your health as it’s been presented in the past. It’s especially not good for your neck part of the spine. It’s not a natural movement for the human body and while it might have lots of benefits, simple walking is actually the healthiest. Cause that’s what we’ve evolved to do.
Its NOT.
Swimming is a good workout for general health. It has a bunch of benefits. However “the better type” is too arbitrary a statement.
There are some things swimming does better than other types of working out. There are some things it does not as well.
I don’t know why it’s better, but I can tell you the effects it had on me after 4 years of switching to weekly swimming.
Prior to this I was only doing Crossfit and basic workout. Crossfit has a brutal impact on your body, you are going to gain muscle quick and look very fit, but my joints were hurting me through the night. I couldn’t get proper sleep. This is possible also due to my improper pre-workout routing as well. Also some Crossfit exercises took a toll on my knees, I wanted to build leg muscle without forcing it.
I decided to go with swimming and walking.
I have the privilege of swimming all year around in both indoor (semi-Olympic) and outdoor (Olympic) pools.
+ gained 10kg of muscle and fat on a shit diet but I was still looking lean. I later found out it was because I was consuming too much chocolate and chips due to depression, once I got rid of those my body looks extra lean.
+ gained neck and upper body lean muscles, not the ones that you see in a typical body builder, much leaner. The type of look where you look great in any elegant clothes without having thin lady legs.
+ I discovered that I can meditate while floating or underwater
+ Something about the water pressure kept my nose clean – maybe because you constantly eliminate mucus. That might be good if you have sinusitis condition. It worked on me.
+ I learned to breathe – inhale on mouth, exhale on nose – which is vice versa from your classic workout. Once I mastered that (needs work every day), I slept better.
+ I can stretch my whole body while in water
+ it’s an elegant workout for the entire body, no pressure on the joints
+ no pressure on knees, it’s actually very comforting to do the bicycle move underwater
+ you can have a pre-workout of 20 min of walking alert on a belt, no need to jump or lift crazy weights
+ breathing heavy and profound burns fat
+ increases my appetite for sex
+ you can learn to dive, hold your breath
– got some 2x streptococcal – called the swimmer disease. Nothing serious, might require some urologist checks.
– water needs to have more salt and less chlorine. Chlorine had an effect on my face cheeks and lower legs. Now I use a lot of cream after the swimming and shower.
– water wares you down, you need to sleep, don’t swim daily
– you need to wear a cap and glasses – might bruise your face, depending on the time spent and quality of the rubber
– you need to learn to swim correctly otherwise the muscles along your spine might stretch and hurt
Warnings:
* do not jump in the cold water, take it slowly, take a gradual cold shower. You can blackout underwater.
* you can have panic attacks underwater, especially if you like to dive. They might be caused by too much coffee, chocolate consumption, etc.
* if you get dizzy, you are either not breathing correctly or turning your head too much; this might also be caused by improper glasses – the lens can have a magnifying effect underwater which can be disorienting.
Swimming it’s not about numbers or how much you lift, it’s an elegant and complete body movement that will make your joints and blood circulatory system happier.
I really don’t know the medical benefits, all I can say is that swimming saved me from myself when I was going though an extremely emotional period of my life.
First off, cardio is the best kind of exercise you can do for your overall health.
Secondly, swimming uses every major muscle group at the same time. That means it is better for muscle development than most upright cardio (like jogging).
Thirdly, swimming is really easy on your joints. That means you can do it more with less risk of injury, and you can do it later in life.
A full workout using pretty much all your muscles for movement and stability. Also, less likely to injure yourself from overexertion.
Side benefit, if you have bad skin, a dunk in mildly chlorinated water, followed by exertion sweat, and a quick shower is great for the skin for lots of people. Assuming you don’t get shower floor fungus, or have lotion if you need it.
It works most of the muscles in your body.
It works your heart (a different type of muscle!) and your lungs.
It is low impact (so it is easy on your joints).
Swimming is a useful skill to have anyway (so practicing it is great.
Very few other activities have all these qualities.
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