Posted on: January 15, 2018 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Swimming is a classic pastime, and has been for generations. If you’re parents or grandparents are from the country, you’ve possibly heard them tell stories about skinny-dipping in the nearby pond. Maybe you or your siblings have swum competitively. Perhaps your family owned–or still owns–a pool. Maybe you lived by a major lake or the ocean, and you grew up making regular trips to the beach. Swimming is an excellent form of play and exercises for any age, for myriad reasons. And water is accessible in different types and in different locations, from pools and spas you buy for your own home, to those in public locations and parks, to swimmer-friendly lakes and oceans.

 

Little kids

Swimming is great for kids. If it’s summer, and the kids are out of school, you don’t want them inside all day staring at screens. Taking them to a pool–or using your own pool–is a time-tested summer favorite of kids everywhere. Swimming is a great way to get kids out in the sunshine and moving. Classic games like Marco Polo, sharks and minnows, and coins on the bottom provide kids with hours of fun. Just be sure to always have a lifeguard or parent on duty, and, if it’s outside, to keep them (and you) lathered up in sunscreen. Swimming lessons are also a good way to get them moving and at the same time develop a healthy and potentially life-saving skill.

 

Teens and adults

Swimming is one of the best forms of cardiovascular exercise. A 130-pound person can burn over 400 calories an hour swimming fairly slowly! Additionally, swimming tones muscle and burns fat. In addition to that, it can form an important part of a person’s lifestyle and even career.

 

If a student is interested in participating in competitive sports, swimming may be the way to go. Although there are competitive swimming teams, it is a bit more solo-focused than other team sports. A true daredevil may even pursue high-diving. Of course, there’s always synchronized swimming and diving, which obviously does require tons of cooperation!

 

And it’s great preparation for certain careers (including athletics). For instance, if there’s a person who’s interested in marine biology or marine archeology, he or she may need to become a diver. Getting used to swimming and to deep water at an early age will help prepare someone for a future career in which he or she might face life-threatening conditions. Other careers that involve swimming are being a rescue swimmer, training marine animals, underwater photography, and teaching swimming to others.

 

Senior citizens

Swimming is unique in that it continues to be accessible for people aging or who face injuries. For those with joint problems or mobility issues who require the use of things like walk-in tubs, swimming and pool-related activity make good options for physical activity. Swimming is a no-impact sport, so it is easy on the joints. Simply being in the water takes pressure off the joints, so taking a water aerobics class may be a great aid in physical therapy, a great way to keep exercising while recovering for an injury, or simply a good option for staying fit even as joints become a little stiffer. Although it doesn’t develop bone density at the same rate as strength training, it does build some bone density, all the same.

 

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