Swimming has a great many benefits to the human body. Describing each of these benefits in a single article would require so much content that you might as well be reading a book!
(And many books have been written on the subject, so you know that to be the truth)Instead, we’ll focus on the circulatory system. You might be surprised the effects swimming has on this system. Your circulatory system is one of the more important systems in your body.
In this article, we’ll take a look at four of the main benefits that swimming brings upon your circulatory system. You’ll learn just how vital it is for you to swim or perform some other form of exercise at least three times a week. Regardless, we’ll focus primarily on the benefits of swimming.
Let’s get right into it, shall we?
#1 – Swimming Strengthens Your Heart
Your circulatory system is also known as your cardiovascular system. The center of this system is your heart. Without your heart, the entire system would cease to function. When you swim, your heart is forced to pump blood faster to compensate for the additional oxygen consumption.
The result of this extra effort is that your heart gains further muscle. The heart is the strongest muscle in your body, pumping many times in a single minute. Imagine squeezing a stress-ball once or twice every second for an entire day. Most people would barely survive a few minutes of this exercise.
Since the heart is so important, it is vital that we don’t allow it to weaken. The greatest risk to the health of your heart is lack of exercise. (On top of obesity, of course) When you don’t exercise often enough, your heart will not build additional muscle. Eventually, the day will come when the muscle isn’t strong enough to beat at the rate which it should, causing massive trouble if not death.
Swimming three or four times a week for even half an hour to an hour is more than enough to keep your heart active and strong. This way when the day comes that your heart needs to beat extra hard, it will have the strength to do so!
#2 – Swimming Improves the Flow of Oxygen Throughout Your Body
This benefit is also connected to your heart, as well as your lungs. When you hold your breath underwater, slowly pushing air out of your nostrils to balance yourself, your lungs are forced to work extra hard too.
The extra effort involves keeping the flow of oxygen through your body stable even while you’re underwater. The resulting benefit is that your lungs are stronger and more able to spread oxygen through your body all through the day.
The combination of improved lung power to absorb more oxygen and your strengthened heart allow more oxygen to be distributed throughout your body with each beat.
#3 – Swimming Reduces Elevated Blood Pressure Levels
When we say that your heart beats harder or stronger, this doesn’t mean it beats faster. In fact, a faster heartbeat isn’t necessarily a good thing.
What we really mean is that your heart is able to pump a larger volume of blood in each beat. More blood per beat means more of the things your body needs, such as oxygen, in a shorter amount of time.
The stronger level of blood flow helps to balance your blood pressure. If you suffer from high blood pressure, then swimming is one of the best options for you. As we mentioned before, swimming three or four times a week for at least half an hour to an hour will strengthen your circulatory system, reducing your elevated blood pressure at the same time!
#4 – Swimming Prevents Strokes and Cardiovascular Diseases
Strokes are caused by low blood flow to the brain or hemorrhaging. In the same way that swimming helps to balance your blood pressure, it also greatly reduces the odds of having a stroke. Since the most common cause of stokes is low blood flow, swimming is a natural preventer of that factor. Swimming also improves your overall health, so the odds of hemorrhage are greatly reduced as well.
Swimming prevents other cardiovascular diseases, such as atherosclerosis, acute coronary syndrome, and more. Most of these diseases start in the circulatory system and cause damage to your brain over time. So, by protecting your circulatory system using swimming, you are actually preventing potential brain damage, as well as boosting your overall health.
After learning just a few of the hundreds of benefits gained through swimming, are you not motivated to start applying it to your life? We sure are!
I never really thought about it but that makes sense. It is a great form of exercise!
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