10 Big Benefits of Swimming

Any form of exercise is beneficial for us, whether it’s walking, lifting weights, playing a team sport, and so on, but there’s something a bit different about swimming. Swimming essentially provides all the pros of land sports, along with the so much more.

In this blog, we’re going to run through 10 benefits that swimming can bring into your life, some of which overlap with other exercises, while others are unique to swimming. So, let’s dive right in and explore a few top reasons you should consider adding swimming to your fitness regime.

1. Stress Relief

While all exercises can help you relieve stress, research shows that swimming can positively affect cortisol levels, the main stress hormone in the body, meaning it scientifically lowers stress on your mind and body. Swimming is also a fantastic method for focusing on breathing techniques during your strokes, which can allow you to experience the same effects as meditation, lessening stress and anxiety.

Along with these, studies prove that the sound of water has a calming impact on the mind, again reducing stress. Even simply being in the water can aid in the blood flow towards your brain, which can improve cognitive function and mental alertness, which grouped with everything already mentioned can assist in taking a weight off your shoulders.

2. Accessible to All

One of swimming’s greatest strengths is that is accessible to people of all ages and abilities. Swimming is often used by those who are injured as a form of rehabilitation, due to the fact that it is low-impact exercise which means that you can still work out without the stress other exercises put on your body being an issue. The low-impact nature of swimming also makes it a brilliant activity for people as they get older, with the buoyancy of the water allowing us to move more freely, making little aches and pains that come with age less of an issue during your workout. Another group of people that can participate in swimming is pregnant mothers, with swimming being seen as a safe activity which can have a hugely positive impact on both mother and child especially in the early stages of pregnancy.

Meanwhile, people with special needs can find swimming to be a much easier physical activity then others, particularly when centres have sensory hours tabled into their schedule to ensure the best experience possible. No matter your age or ability, swimming is all inclusive, which is of benefit to everyone.

3. Full-Body Workout

Another major advantage of swimming is that it works your entire body. Depending on the strokes you decide to use you can engage any part of your body, in particular your core, legs, and upper body. With that in mind, swimming is the perfect way to get into shape, whether you’re looking to lose weight or build muscle, as the water creates a natural resistance against your body as you swim. This makes swimming one of the best aerobic exercises around and can have you feeling great about your body in no time!

4. Injury Rehabilitation

As mentioned in our accessibility section, swimming or any form of water exercise is a fantastic way to assist with injury rehabilitation. While swimming is great for providing resistance that can help build muscle, it is also a brilliant way to work your way back to full fitness after an injury as it reduces pain through ease of movement. The buoyancy of water also reduces the impact and stress of exercise meaning it supports your body as you participate in active recovery. Meanwhile, aqua therapy can reduce swelling too, again allowing for further motion in your body, which makes swimming an excellent activity to help overcome any type of injury that comes along.

5. Helps With Your Sleep Pattern

It seems obvious that any form of exercise can help you get a good night’s rest, but swimming has a couple of advantages that your average workout just simply doesn’t. As we’ve discussed already, swimming is not only good for your physical health, but also your mental well-being, reducing stress and anxiety which in turn aids in putting your mind to rest come nighttime.

Along with that, the full body workout our bodies get while we swim makes us physically tired leading to an easier night’s sleep following the exhaustion of a swim. Lastly, swimming is an amazing activity to escape from the realities of day-to-day living, as we generally take a step away from our phones when we dive into the pool, which gives our brains and eyes a break away from constantly looking at a screen between work and socialising, again relaxing us ahead of a well earned sleep.

6. Boosts Heart and Cardio Health

A major benefit of taking up swimming is the positive impact it has on the heart and your cardio health. As you swim you raise your heart rate, meaning you pump more blood around your body in an effective manner, which not only improves circulation, but makes your heart stronger. Swimming has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, lower blood pressure, and improve your overall cardiovascular health. There is also some evidence that due to the positive impact swimming has on the lungs that it may be an extremely good exercise for those suffering from asthma as it focuses on breathing techniques throughout.

If that wasn’t good enough, swimming may help with anti-aging as it rejuvenates the skin, along with other positives mentioned previously such as an increase in muscle mass, improved lung and heart health, lowered blood pressure, all of which makes you not only feel younger, but look younger too. Putting these components together through swimming has actually been shown to be the perfect recipe to help people live longer!

7. Burns Lots of Calories

While many people head to the gym for their mental health, or as a place to get away from the rest of the world, some just want to burn those calories, and that’s exactly what swimming does. It’s true that for the most part swimming won’t burn as many calories as the likes of running, however, it still burns around 75-80% of them in the same space of time. It does depend, like any workout, on how intense your workout is, and the length of time, but once again, unlike other workouts, you are putting all your body to the test. An extra benefit of swimming is that while you burn a huge number of calories, you sweat far less too, due to the fact that your bodies temperature is more regulated as you’re in water.

8. Boosts Your Mood

Going hand in hand with the reduction of stress and anxiety mentioned above is the fact that swimming has been proven to boost your mood. Exercise helps with the release of endorphins and serotonin, which boost our moods. There are also studies into the positive effect swimming can have on mental illnesses such as depression, with early suggestions claiming it can radically reduce symptoms. Adding all of this to the fact that it reduces stress, relaxes your body, and makes you feel great for getting your workout in, it’s clear to see how a dip in the pool can boost your outlook on life.

9. No Shortage of Variety

Unlike other types of exercise, swimming is vast in the variety of ways you can do it. You’ve got a range of strokes from front crawl to back crawl, butterfly to breaststroke, you can even freestyle in the pool if you like! That makes swimming, and being in the water all the more beneficial, as you can switch things up whenever you like, meaning you’ll never get bored, there’s no limit to what you want to do in the pool. Even aside from swimming you can take part in aqua aerobics classes, head for a family fun day, try water polo, the list is endless, which is why being in the water is such a brilliant idea!

10. It’s Fun

Away from all the scientific benefits of swimming or being in the water, sometimes it’s good to just strip it all back to basics and remind people that it’s fun! No matter what your age or ability you can have fun in the pool. Children can learn to swim at a young age and develop with suggestions that swimming can even help children develop outside of the pool, while adults can learn later in life, opening the door for opportunities they’ve never experienced before. There are social gains to be gathered at the pool as you join a class or meet your friends for a few lengths, whatever it may be it’s important to realise that while you’re away from the outside world, free from the stresses of life to just enjoy being in the water!

So, there you have it, our 10 top benefits of swimming! We’ve taken you through the physical and mental side of things, all the way down to the simple advantage of having fun! Remember even if you enjoy the gym or other activities, swimming can add to them and become a useful element to compliment them. Whether you’re already a swimmer or someone that’s never been in the water before, we hope these benefits will encourage you to give it a try and experience everything swimming has to offer!

Now You Know the Benefits of Swimming, Here’s How Aura Can Help!

At Aura Leisure we have swimming lessons for all, whether you’re looking for baby and tots lessons, children’s lessons, or adult lessons, we’ve got you covered. We’ve also got brilliant aqua aerobics classes available if you just want the benefits of being in the pool without swimming. All our members also have access to both our pool and gym areas meaning you can mix it up whenever you like. There’s no limit to your fitness in or out of the pool with an Aura Leisure membership with our incredible team ready to guide you through your fitness journey with our state of the art swimming pools, top class gyms, motivational fitness classes, and much more!