Five Reasons to Take Up Swimming

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With U.S. Olympian Michael Phelps winning an astounding and record-breaking 8 gold medals during the Beijing Olympics in China, many people have been curious about the sport of swimming and anxious to get involved. This is a great trend, as swimming is one of the best forms of exercise.

Still on the fence? Here are five reasons you should take up swimming:

Full-body workout – Have you ever done a single activity like running and wished there was an equally difficult workout that involved heavy use of your upper and lower body? It’s called swimming, and you use both your arms and your legs to propel yourself forward, as well as your core and abdominal muscles if you’re really ambitious.
No joint problems – Other exercises – like lifting weights and running – have made some people feel like they were doing damage to their joints. Swimming is a virtually no-impact sport that won’t put any damage on your joints, but still allows you to build both muscle and endurance – especially endurance. You’ll get out of the pool feeling tired, but rejuvenated, and with none of the aches and pains “dry” workouts sometimes produce.
An intense workout – Swimming, like other workouts, will benefit you as much as the work you put into it, but when you swim, it’s not hard to work up a storm in the first ten minutes. There’s a big difference between walking a mile, running a mile, and swimming a mile – they’re each progressively harder! If you want an intense workout – or even a slow, mild workout – swimming is for you. Ultimately, you control how intense you want your workout to be.
Swimming is a life skill – Have you ever known someone and wondered, “how on Earth did they never learn to swim?” Or are you ashamed to admit that you don’t know how to swim to friends who want to spend a weekend up at the lake? Swimming is a life skill, and if you spend time near water, it should be considered a vital skill as well. Taking up swimming lessons will help you not only in survival situations, but will help you learn a new avenue for exercise and personal growth.
Swimming is fun – Swimming has plenty of other activities associated with it, and it’s no wonder people treat it both as rigorous exercise and fun. “Let’s go swimming” is a phrase used to encourage someone, not to scare them away from some tough exercise. Swimming can be as fun as you make it, and if you’re serious about getting in shape, you’ll actually look forward to going to the pool.

Originally posted 2008-11-26 04:55:42.

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