Swimming is a well-known international sport and a great form of exercise. It uses almost every muscle in our body and is often prescribed as therapy for the physically challenged. Even people do swimming for fun and self-well-being. There are various strokes you can use to add variety to your swimming workout, including breaststroke, backstroke, sidestroke, butterfly, and freestyle.
It has so many mental and physical benefits and improves health but on the other side, it also has some disadvantages. It is better to know about the pros and cons if you do like to swim or you are planning to learn.
Pros of swimming
- Swimming is good for heart health. It can make your heart work more efficiently by making it stronger.
- It reduces anxiety and alleviates stress which helps you sleep peacefully.
- It improves the coordination and balance of your mind and body. It also improves your body posture.
- Swimming is a great activity for people suffering from asthma too. In fact, various breathing techniques of holding your breath underwater have been known to improve lung capacity in many asthma patients.
- Swimming uses a larger number of muscle groups and it helps to build your strength and endurance, makes you more agile, and tones your muscles.
- It improves the body posture and flexibility
- Swimming for 30 – 45 minutes 3-4 days a week helps in burning calories and results in losing weight.
- Some medical researchers have proved that swimming also helps in regulating blood sugar.
- Swimming is also a fun and enjoyable activity and it boosts your mood.
Cons of swimming
- Swimming in a public pool may create some problems because of the Chlorine (A chemical that kills bacteria in water) including Dry skin, Hair fall, Eye and Skin Irritation
- The water in a swimming pool contains chlorine salts which, together with the sun rays can cause excessive tanning of the skin.
- A swimmer’s ear is an infection in the outer ear canal. It often happens by water that remains in your ear, creating a moist environment that aids the growth of bacteria.
- Some people also reported having diarrhea cause of uncleaned water.
The good news is there are so many swimming equipment and products available now that mitigate all risks of all problems mentioned above.
To drop down the effect of chlorine use good quality body moisturizer for skin dryness problems and after the swimming take shower with soap/body wash that contains a good amount of moisturizer and wash your hair with shampoo and nurture them with oil.
For tanning problems, there are several sunscreens available on the market. The best for swimming is one with water resistance quality.
To prevent swimmer’s ears make sure to not let the water stay in the ear, tilt your head to let the water out if it goes in your ears while swimming. You can use an ear plug also to stop the water.
If you are new to swimming or planning to learn or start swimming make sure to have proper swimming equipment.
Swimming cap/Speedo: A swimming cap prevent water from flowing in your head and protects your hair from damage from chlorine.
Swimming goggles: Goggles are one of the most recommended equipment for swimming. Chlorine in water leaves your eyes red and burns, goggles will help avoid this issue.
Ear Plug: Earplugs help dry out the residual water left over from practice and mitigate the risk of a swimmer’s ears problem.
Floating Kickboard: If you are having trouble with floating or kicking you can take the help of a floating kickboard to learn easily and find your balance.
Inflatable Armbands: Armbands commonly are suggested for the kids to learn to swim.
I hope this information I gathered for my benefit in the first place when I started to learn swimming will help you too to have safe and enjoyable swimming.
iamtamanjeet 