Why Swimming Is a Good Cardiovascular Exercise

Swimming could be done as a cardio vascular exercise to increase cardiovascular fitness, the value of which shall be explained later. First you need to know what cardiovascular fitness is and why we need to do cardiovascular exercises in order to improve our cardiovascular health to the maximum.

• Cardiovascular fitness

Cardiovascular fitness is the ability of your body to efficiently transport and use oxygen, these means having healthy organs that function properly for example your heart and lungs. If you are fit and healthy your heart functions properly and pumps blood and oxygen as is needed by your body but if you are not as fit as you should be then your heart is not efficient in doing its functions and health problems to build up. One of the best ways to improve cardiovascular fitness and efficiency is to exercise regularly. There are many cardiovascular exercises but for this article we are only going to focus on the benefits of swimming for maintaining or improving cardiovascular fitness.

• How swimming improves cardiovascular fitness

Swimming can be an excellent form of cardio provided we swim with the intention of getting a proper workout during our time in the pool, if you are swimming for cardiovascular fitness you are not relaxing in the pool, you are hitting those laps hard and going as fast as possible in order to raise your heart rate. If you get used to swimming regularly, you could end up being able to do many laps in the pool which would be more beneficial. You see with swimming you will get out of breath and there is a lot of holding your breath and controlling your breathing rate going on, this trains your lungs and over time your lung capacity increases. That means your lunges can now take in more oxygen which will then be transferred into your bloodstream. Your heart will improve and be able to pump more oxygen and blood per heart beat.
Choosing to swim as your cardiovascular exercise will help you increase your muscular and cardiovascular endurance, this improvement in your fitness levels will in turn make daily activities easier to do because you will have more energy and you will feel like a million bucks. Plus there is an advantage to swimming instead of doing other cardio exercises is that because your body is fully supported by the water there is less negative impact on your body because you do not have to support your body weight and the extra force that is present when you do other cardiovascular exercises such as jogging.

If you are interested in finding out about other exercises whether its cardio or weight training and why they are good for you check out Zulu Muscle Express.

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Why Swimming Is One of the Best Forms of Exercise

Swimming
Historically it cannot be ascertained how and when swimming started. However, as man progressed and developed a desire to cross water, he probably learnt how to swim. Stone Age pictures do show people swimming and these pictures are said to be as old as 7000 years. Documented proof is as old as 2000 BC. Some of the earliest references to swimming are found from the 16th Century and the first swimming book was written in 1578 by a German Professor Nikolaus Whynmann. Competitive swimming started in Europe in 1800 and was introduced in Olympics of 1896, Whereas, Richard Cavill introduced Front Crawl to Western World in 1876. Modern swimming started in 1908 when Federation International de Nation (FINA) was formed.
As an exercise swimming is considered to be one of the best exercises as you don't get bored as in case of other exercises. Swimming gives you an opportunity to use all your body parts. Swimming makes you robust and makes you more stimulating. It keeps you in shape, good health and physically smart. Swimming is beneficial for both young and old. Following are some of its benefits:-
Benefits

• Aptitude Enhancement. The first best benefit of this water sport/exercise is that it engages the arms, lungs and legs simultaneously and is in constant use during swimming which enhances their acrobatic aptitude. It relaxes the mind and provides respite when in stress.


• Cardiac Exercise. As the second benefit, swimming improves the muscles around the heart and gives strength to heart by pumping the blood with more strength which increases the blood flow in the body.


• Healthy Activity. Third swimming benefit refers to healthy exercise which is not a threat to life rather it protects and enhances the chance of living more. People who are prone to cardiac problems, arthritis and obesity; it is the best exercise to avoid these diseases. Moreover, it also removes the manure, germs and other micro-organisms from the skin and protects from acne and pimples.


• Muscle Development. Fourth benefit on the list is regarding muscle development as moving around on the land is easier as compared to water where 12 times more effort is required to move or swim around. Swimming helps in the development of various muscles of the body like shoulders, arms, hips and back because of water resistance which keeps the body muscles strong. Players of other sports are asked to swim to develop their muscles especially the athletes.


• Secure Physical Activity. Fifth benefit is about safety as exerting on land can put you in lot of trouble if you are threatened by or suffering from any disease like cardiac, arthritis and asthma etc. Swimming on the other hand is a secure physical activity that doesn't make you feel conscious of any such threat. Breast Stroke can help the asthmatic patients to develop their lungs capacity to avoid asthma attacks.


• Weight Loss. Next best benefit of all is weight loss as it exerts all the parts of the body and even exerting 12 times more than normal enables you to reduce your weight.


• Swimming Duration. Last benefit is about duration of this exercise which depends upon your stamina to swim; you can decide on the time you want to swim. For beginners to expert the time can vary from 15-30 minutes to as long as you desire.

Summary
Swimming is a light activity which makes you healthy and fit and only requires a costume, goggles and a cap. A sport that is liked by all those who do it and enjoy it more than those sports played on land. Swimming is one of the best sports that helps you in reducing weight and does not make you itchy because of you other diseases like arthritis, asthma and heart problems etc.

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