Swim and Trim to Win Your Heart

Swimming is not only an entertaining sport but also a necessary exercise. It decreases stress and strengthens body and mind. It keeps your body trim and builds up your heart health.

Recent Olympic games in London have witnessed the great feats in swimming. Swimming is an essential skill needed for survival. It is an entertaining exercise of sport. It is a great way to decrease stress and strengthen body and mind. Swimming is not only an outlet for fun and relaxing, but also it helps in keeping your body trim and building up your heart health. It reduces the blood pressure and protects you from cardiovascular problems.

Swimming strengthens your heart and lungs

According to a recent study report, published in the April 2012 edition of American Journal of Cardiology, swimming has been proved to be an effective way to decrease stress and blood pressure. It reports about a research finding that sedentary adults with high pressure could reduce their blood pressure with a program of slow to moderate swimming for three months. The water workouts of swimming for 15 to 45 minutes a day-- 3 to 4 days a week-- could lower their systolic blood pressure and improve their vascular function.

Dr. Hirofumi Tanaka, Director of the Cardiovascular Aging research Laboratory at the University of Texas, says that swimming makes the carotid arteries elastic and responsive to changes in blood flow, which helps pumping of heart.

Swimming burns calories

Swimming helps heart also by burning calories considerably. It can burn roughly the same calories as jogging with a reduced stress on your joints. Water buoyancy, with its uplifting experience, provides the body a cooling and energizing effect.

Swimming has been a healthy exercise from prehistoric times

The earliest records of swimming date back to Stone Age paintings, which insist that it has been a healthy exercise from prehistoric times. Ancient references can be seen in the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Iliad, the Odyssey, Mahabharata, and the Bible.

Teach swimming to children

Although swimming has a good exercise from ancient days, urbanization and modern lifestyle have made swimming beyond the reach of many. Most of the modern children are scared of water. Many think that swimming is a waste of time. Pollution of water sources, infection possibilities and accidents pull back many from swimming. But if the children learn the art of swimming, they can avoid water accidents. Reports say that many water accidents occur because of lack of swimming knowledge.

Do not forget to check with your doctor

Although swimming is good for your heart health, you have to check with your doctor before starting any new exercise regime. It is critical especially in the cases of people having heart or lung problems, since water pressure can increase the stress on your heart or lungs.
Another risk in swimming is the problems it may create for the beginners in swimming. The beginners may have problems in getting back into a pool, wearing flotation devices, etc.

Summer is the season of swimming activities

Summer is the season for outdoor activities. Swimming should be the key part of summer since it is good for your health. Swimming makes your body trim and keeps your heart healthy.

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