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Swim to have a lean & muscular body
Taking regular swimming exercise is a better option to keep oneself fit. Swimming is a very good all body exercise which exercises all the major muscle groups of the body including shoulders, back, abdominals, legs, hips, & glutes.
It builds strength, endurance & speed without all the pounding of running or muscle strain of weight training. Swimming is an ideal way to exercise to lose weight or have problems with your joints. It is a cardio & resistance workout. Overweight, obese people trying to reduce their weight should take an exercise of swimming first instead of running, jogging which puts enormous pressure of their weight on their knees & ankles, which may be a cause for injury. In swimming, our body floats in the water there is no weight burden on our legs. In addition, the human body is 80-90% water; its density is very similar to the density of water. This is why we get a feeling of weightlessness while swimming. How to take this exercise: Swimming program should be similar to a weight-training workout with repetitions, sets & a variety of exercises. Before starting swimming exercise, take a warm up exercise, which will stretch, lose & warm your muscles before putting any stress on them. Initially, swim gently for about 80-100 meters in free style to get your body accustomed to water. It will help blood circulation. There are different strokes or styles of doing this exercise. They are freestyle crawl, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly to name a few. The basic freestyle crawl builds the pectorals, triceps, shoulders & quadriceps. The backstroke works those same muscles from different angles. The breaststroke exercises the pectorals, biceps, triceps & grow-in. The butterfly does the same plus the abdominal muscles. All these strokes also work the back. Using a kick board will focus specifically on your legs. Select your stroke or style to work on different parts of the body. You can start with sprints. Swim as fast as you can for 40-50 meters. Take two or more laps of this distance. Now take a rest for about a minute. Then take another lap of 40-50 meters. By daily practice, increase it to 10 laps of sprints. The simple test whether you are taking this exercise adequately is whether you feel exhausted after 8-10 laps. This is for reference purpose only. It varies with every individual according to his age, fitness level. Now, increase your distance while lowering your repetitions. This time swim as fast as you can for 100 m, then rest for a minute. Swim at least five 100 m sprints. Change your stroke or style if you get bored. Now swim for distance say 500 meters or more. Keep a steady pace & try to cover distance without taking a stop. Benefits of Swimming: Swimming is a great cardiovascular workout, which elevates the heart & respiratory rates, improving blood circulation & overall health. Swimming improves your endurance so you can fight against diseases, such as heart problems, joint problems & obesity. Swimming exercise uses almost all muscle groups. This makes swimming an effective form of exercise that can help you to lose weight, stay fit and healthy, at the same time creates a lean & muscular body from head to toe. When you swim breaststroke or backstroke, you burn about the same number of calories as you would by walking fast or jogging Swimming that is more vigorous will, burn more calories. Doing the front crawl vigorously for 30 minutes will burn 350 calories. Swimming is a very good; all body exercise that has low impact for people with arthritis, musculoskeletal or weight limitations. Water cushions still joints or fragile bones that have a chance of injury by the impact of other land exercises. Swimming exercise strengthens, conditions, & tones up our body. Athletes also use swimming to cross train. Swimming is a great way to keep oneself fit. It promotes sound sleep & increases our appetite. The important thing about swimming is you can start swimming at young age, throughout your life even into in old age. The exercise, which we can take for a longer duration, is more helpful in keeping ourselves fit. Therefore, we should include swimming exercise in our fitness routine. |