Did you make a New Year’s resolution to be healthier in 2014? Let’s talk about how swimming is beneficial for your body and how Build Your Own Pool has many designs that will be beneficial in helping you get fit!
Lap swimming is a great cardio-vascular exercise for those who are just starting out or those that have pain during high impact workouts like running. Swimming works your muscles with low impact on your joints due to the buoyancy of the water that disperses your weight. When you are immersed up to the waist you only bear 50% of your weight, and when in the water up to the chest it is 25%-35% and neck, 10%. Basically the water neutralizes gravity, so you become virtually weightless when immersed, giving your joints a much-needed break.
“It is a good, whole-body exercise that has low impact for people with arthritis, musculoskeletal, or weight limitations,” says Robergs, director of the exercise physiology laboratories at The University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.
Swimming laps works muscles in the shoulders, arms, back, abdominals, legs, hips, and glutes with high resistance from the water. The muscles targeted are determined by the different strokes you use. According to Livestrong.com:
- Freestyle emphasizes the deltoids and leg muscles
- Breaststroke emphasizes the thighs, biceps and gluteal muscles
- Butterfly emphasizes the abdominals, deltoids and leg muscles
- Backstroke emphasizes the triceps and leg muscles
One thing to remember when starting to swim, is that exercising in water requires your muscles and cardiovascular system to work differently than on land. Muscles throughout your body have to work as a team to stay on top of the water and to propel yourself forward. Your lungs also have to adjust to rhythmic breathing since you cannot breathe under water.
“The key to an effective swim routine is splitting it into shorter segments, mixing in a variety of work and rest intervals, and using different strokes, drills, and intensities,” says Joel Shinofield, head swim coach at Washington and Lee University in Virginia. “It’s not only more interesting but also a better workout.”
We can help you get that better workout in your own backyard! Let’s work together in 2014 to build a pool that is conducive to swimming laps by configuring the pool to have a proper width, length and depth for your needs. Having a pool in your own backyard will give you access anytime to a cardio workout that is easy on your joints. We can also help you design eye catching features to go along with the pool and your current backyard to make it beautiful for the outdoor party you throw to celebrate your health!
Sources:
https://www.womenshealthmag.com/style/swim-workout?page=2