According to the CDC, about 91 million individuals past 16 years old enjoy swimming in lakes, oceans, and rivers in the United States annually. Combined with both younger and older people who swim in public and private pools, that number is even higher.

The truth is, swimming is a great sport that tons of people love, mainly because it offers plenty of unique rewards. The most obvious one is that it is thrilling, making it a fantastic leisure activity. Other advantages of this sport include the following.

Works a Person’s Entire Body

This is one of the many reasons why people delight in swimming. This activity effortlessly increases an individual’s heart rate, builds strength, and tones their muscles. To achieve the latter, one should consider incorporating various strokes into their workout. These include breaststroke, freestyle, sidestroke, and butterfly. Each of them effectively works out multiple muscles in the body.

Helps to Deal with Various Conditions

Swimming has often been recommended for people with various health conditions. For instance, indoor pools come with a humid environment that is convenient for patients living with asthma. When these patients swim more often, they expand their lung capacity and master breathing better.

Besides, swimming is also great for those with arthritis, injuries, and other physical issues. This sport is believed to help reduce any pain they might be experiencing and fasten their recovery processes.

Aids Weight Loss

Many people worldwide have been advised to swim if they want to burn calories and shed some extra pounds. This is not a surprise because swimming is one of the most efficient ways to do that. Forbes even suggested this exciting sport for people who wish to lose weight quickly, revealing that an hour of swimming in warm water can burn up to 1000 calories.

Those swimming to lose weight can do it in the morning and strive to increase their speed. It is also best to swim at least four days a week to burn more calories.

Improves Sleep

Impressively, swimming can also help individuals curb insomnia, which is prevalent nowadays. Are you wondering how this is possible? Well, this activity is an aerobic exercise. Research conducted by PubMed Central showed that people who indulged in various aerobic exercises enhanced their sleep quality at night.

Minimizes Stress

Individuals looking for great ways to relieve stress should try swimming. It creates the perfect distraction. Besides, a few minutes of swimming are enough to help a person to be more relaxed, consequently reducing stress.

Swimming comes with many fantastic benefits, explaining why many people enjoy it. If one wants to relish all the perks of this activity, they should do it frequently. Beginners can start with some swimming lessons to learn how to be safe and improve gradually.