Swimming: The Fitness Fad that Never Gets Old

Every year there seems to be a new fitness fad on the market touting its miraculous ability to make its adherents the best possible version of themselves. While anything that promotes good health and regular physical activity is, in our eyes a good thing, all of these fads tend to spend a minute in the limelight then become relegated to the bottom shelf of the self-help aisle. Swimming, which is hardly a fad, has really never run out of popularity and continues to be one of the best forms of physical fitness available to anyone with access to a clean body of water. Here’s why.
Swimming is Low Impact
Much more so than any other sport or exercise routine, swimming is incredibly low impact. Any person, regardless of age or physical ability can get the benefits of swimming without aggravating injuries or being limited by body type. This is because water creates a semi-weightless environment where the body does not experience the typical stresses associated with exercise like impact to joints and muscles.
Swimming is a Total Body Workout
Unlike running or biking or even weightlifting, swimming has the ability to hit a whole range of muscles at once in ways that other exercise routines cannot. Because swimming forces you to keep your body balanced and suspended just below the surface of the water, it activates the deeply stabilizing core muscles in your back and abdomen that are often ignored. This can lead to less back pain, better posture, and a stronger foundation from which to build upon.
Swimming Relieves Stress
Water is well known to have stress relieving qualities and the total submersion that swimming offer is especially good for helping people switch off. Swimming offers the ability for the participant to become totally submerged which in turn interrupts the often distracting sensory information that is constantly absorbed by the body and allows for a more relaxed exercise experience.
Swimming is Social
Even though it is typically practiced as an individual sport, swimming provides a great opportunity for adults to meet like-minded individuals in a healthy and positive setting. Adult swim classes and clubs exist almost everywhere and they tend to be made up of a broad range of people and experience levels that are all united in a love of swimming and exercise.

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