Splash your way to fitness this summer

If you're not a huge fan of the summer heat, you might want to consider the health and fitness benefits of swimming before ditching the idea of a day at the bea

 

Photo by Jason Mangion in Mgarr, Malta

Swimming is what we call a low impact exercise which makes it suitable not only for all ages but also people who may struggle or experience pain doing other kinds of exercise. Even people with arthritis, knee injuries or lower back pain can benefit from swimming. The reason is that unlike with running, jogging or even walking on land there is no ground impact when you're swimming, which means your joints are not placed under any stress. In fact even if you had to walk or run in the water there is still a lot less impact.

Something else which is worth taking note of is that swimming allows you to burn plenty of calories. Depending on how efficiently you swim you could burn up to 600 calories in an hour, which is more than running, walking or cycling for example. In terms of health, swimming is known to improve cardiorespiratory fitness, which means your body becomes more efficient at supplying oxygen to  the muscles. 

Last but not least, swimming is a great way to cool off,  it's relaxing and fun, which all contribute to your well-being.