“Lose weight, look great…without breaking a sweat,” would perhaps be the best way to describe swimming as the best exercise to get a person into shape. From a scientific perspective, swimming has been found to be the ideal physical fitness activity. It targets many of the body’s muscles and helps strengthen and develop one’s body. In fact, most researchers agree that swimming is the only activity that works on the entire body by improving a person’s cardiovascular conditioning, increasing a person’s muscle strength, improving one’s endurance, fixing one’s posture and making one more flexible all at the same time (Ellis, 2006).
These benefits that one can gain from swimming are unmatched by any sport as only swimming offers all of these benefits. This short report shall discuss a few of the more specific reasons why swimming is the ideal physical fitness activity. Before dwelling into the dynamics that have made swimming the favorite form of exercise for most athletes, it is important to first categorize the benefits that swimming provides. As a form of weight loss, swimming is considered as one of the most effective because of the intense cardio vascular workout that it provides (Passe 2001).
As an all around muscle exercise, it is the only sport that has the potential to target all of the major muscle groups and does not place unnecessary strain on any of these. As a recreational activity, swimming promotes well being and releases a lot of tension from the body. With this reasons it is clear to see how the best form of exercise is, perhaps, swimming. The first reason, as already mentioned, is that swimming gives one a complete body workout.
It benefits the cardiovascular system without straining one’s heart and improves a person’s use of oxygen. The timed breathing required in swimming conditions the body and allows a person to improve not only his endurance but also a person’s lung capacity (Passe 2001). In clinical tests, it has been shown that as a result of swimming a person not only improves one’s breathing but is also able to improve muscle performance by keeping a steady supply of oxygen to the muscles (Passe 2001).
The increased lung capacity also makes it easier to develop the major muscle groups because of the improved blood flow during exercise. For those who want a more intense exercise, swimming is also a perfect complement for cross-training workouts. As a person who swims becomes more fit, the resting heart rate and respiratory rate is reduced thus allowing for more blood to flow into the heart and making the lungs more efficient (Ellis, 2006). Since swimming gives a complete body workout, it also allows one to burn calories faster than in any other sport.
A runner, on average, burns as many calories on a six mile run in one hour as a swimmer who was been swimming for one hour has burned. Swimming not only develops one’s body but also helps people lose weight fast (Ellis, 2006). This is added to the fact that not only is the weight lost but it also stays off with minimal swimming exercises. Another reason why swimming is considered as an ideal exercise arises from the fact that when a person swims the impact on the joints and bones is significantly reduced by the buoyancy of the water.
The weight bearing environment of swimming therefore provides little stress to the body’s connective tissue and joints (Hines 2001). This means that the body is not only strengthened but also protected from the wear and tear on the bones and joints. Since a person weighs nearly 1/10th of his or her body weight in water, there is less gravitational stress on the body (Hines 2001). This greatly reduces the incidence of injuries and allows for a relatively rigorous and injury free work out.