That’s another unfortunate misunderstanding about fitness training and living a healthy and naturally active lifestyle.
The truth — swimming is one of the best health and fitness activities available.
The problem — many folks don’t like swimming or are too lazy to go to a pool or jump in the ocean.
For me, it’s the opposite — I can’t wait to go and dive into my local outdoor saltwater pool daily.
I’ve always highlighted the benefits of swimming for cardio and sprint training and the vast mental health benefits it delivers as water therapy.
I’m swimming a lot more these days. There are 3 primary reasons for that:
1 — I walk 10K to 15K steps daily. There’s nothing better than jumping in a pool after a long walk.
2 — It’s sweltering where I am in Southeast Asia right now — being in the water dramatically relieves the pressure the heat puts on you.
3 — I love a 30 min 1000-meter cardio swim on one day and then an 8 to 12-set swim sprinting session the next. Mixing up your swimming workouts and habits makes you a better swimmer — you build lean muscles and burn fat all day.
It’s a delightful way to exercise.
Water Therapy
Spending time in the water relaxes the mind, muscles, and joints, relieves anxiety and stress, and makes you feel happy, calm, and focused.
Six ways swimming benefits your mental wellbeing
1 — Releases feel-good hormones
2 — Boosts brain health
3 — Outdoor swimming benefits
4 — Soothes your mind and reduces anxiety
5 — The calming effect of the color blue
6 — Encourages socializing
Swimming is all about your technique
Your technique allows you to move smoothly through the water and go as fast as possible without quickly getting tired and out of breath.
If you just get in the water and go hard without fine-tuning your technique, you’re only fighting the water. On the other hand, with your style mastered, you efficiently glide through it, maximizing your physical and mental health benefits.
Regardless of your technique, swimming still requires you to do a ton of work. It’s physically and mentally challenging yet extremely rewarding to the body and mind.
I love sprinting in the pool, the ocean, or a lake — wherever there’s water, I’ll knock out a swimming sprint.
Swim sprinting works out your cardiovascular system while simultaneously strength-training your muscles in a safe environment.
The water resistance and your maximum effort and speed make swim sprints a brilliant all-around cardio-strength-sprint training session.
Injuring yourself while working out in the water is also near impossible. The water resistance also acts as a buffer for your joints and muscles, allowing you to really go for it without hurting yourself.
My swim training methods
1 — 30-minute slow-pace cardio swim for about 1000 meters.
2 — 8 to 12 swim sprint sets of between 10 to 15 seconds each.
After each set, I check my heart rate and then wait for it to drop below 120 BPM before I hit the next lap.
I always look forward to my swim workouts, whether cardio or sprints. Besides walking a ton, swimming is another reason I don’t go to gyms anymore.
I do all my workouts with my walking, swimming, and bodyweight training sessions in nature.
Final Thoughts
Move your body naturally in nature while exposed to the sun, and do it daily if you can.
Give these swim training tips a try, and you’ll soon see how toned your upper body will be and how you’ll relax and free your mind of stress.
Rob
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My brother wants to follow a new healthy routine where he can exercise whenever possible. I like how you explained that swimming is a good activity that improves your mental and physical health. I should suggest this information to him so we can find a pool builder for his backyard someday.
Thank you and good idea!