The Benefits of Swimming Essay

Human beings engage in different hobbies for entertainment, recreational purposes, and physical exercises. Swimming is one hobby that has many benefits for the health of an individual and a better recreational activity for all age groups. Research has indicated that swimming has significant gains in the health of an individual. Swimming has been found to improve health, physical fitness, and quality of life.

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Swimming is an activity that was practiced in the ancient years. In Greece, swimming was a part of education for younger children. In the 17th century Japan, swimming was an essential lesson that was mandatory to be taught in the educational programs. In the Middle Ages, swimming was practiced as a useful skill for men (Yfanti, Samara, Kazantzidis, Hasiotou, & Alexiou, 2014). The history of the activity warrants the need to investigate the benefits of swimming.

Recreational swimming is an activity that can be practiced by individuals of all age groups. Swimming is essential for physical fitness. The buoyancy in the water reduces stress on muscle joints, and the water resistance improves the strength of the muscles (Yfanti et al., 2014). Moreover, swimming as a recreational activity improves cardiorespiratory, cardiopulmonary system, and the endurance of muscles. Aerobic swimming enhances blood circulation by supplementing oxygen transfer from the lungs to all body cells. Aerobic swimming also fights heart diseases. Regarding musculoskeletal exercises, swimming works the upper and the lower body to create forward movement. Physical activity in the water depth not exceeding the loins of a person has been found to reduce joint pressure up to fifty percent while exercise above a man's chest mitigates stress on the joints up to seventy-five percent (Yfanti et al., 2014). Swimming strengthens the flexibility of an individual. The smoothness of the movement helps to lengthen and stretch the muscles. Swimming is also an effective strategy for weight loss. The increase in the energy expenditure during swimming preserves the muscles, and the fat is reduced (Yfanti et al., 2014). Weight loss during swimming is possible because the activity reduces systolic blood pressure thus increasing tissue sensitivity to insulin, which improves the blood glucose control.

Research has indicated that people who engage in swimming are mentally healthy. Swimming as an exercise reduces depression and anxiety levels compared to other means of training (Yfabti et al., 2014). Such individuals display an active behavior, better body image, and improved self-esteem and self-perception. Anxiety reduction through swimming differs among individual; however, studies have shown that aerobic exercise contributes more to anxiety reduction due to the elimination of fear of water, which improves water confidence and helps in socialization, especially when exercising in groups (Yfanti, 2014). Since swimming improves the mental health of an individual, weight loss, and strengthening the muscles of an individual, a combination of all these advantages enhance the quality of life of an individual. Individuals become happy with their lives because swimming boosts their self-esteem and self-perception.

Conclusion

For this case, swimming is a better physical activity than the sedentary ones, and people should begin swimming if they would like to achieve specific goals in life such as weight loss, anxiety, and muscle pressure. Swimming cures the mentioned conditions that a majority of individuals face in their lives; thus, making it an essential activity to pursue. Research has identified that swimming as a group improves socialization skills. These skills are relevant in today's world including business and education. As a result, swimming is an essential physical activity due to the benefits provided in the essay.

References

Yfanti, M., Samara, A., Kazantzidis, P., Hasiotou, A., & Alexiou, S. (2014). Swimming as physical activity and recreation for women. TIMS. Acta, 8(2), 137-145.