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A Speedo poster once said: “You’re only one swim away from a good mood.” But there’s lots more to be gained from swimming than an improved state of mind. In fact, there’s a whole host of health benefits associated with water-based exercise.
So here’s a round-up of 9 of the most powerful and impressive ways swimming can improve your health.
Makes for a healthier heart
Studies have shown that swimmers have lower heart rates, more stable blood pressure, and improved circulation and breathing when compared with their non-swimming counterparts.
This is very good news for the heart-conscious. And as it’s a cardio exercise (and an excellent one, at that), swimming will work your heart harder than normal, shaping and strengthening it until it’s as healthy as ever.
Lowers your risk of diabetes
It’s estimated that over 4 million people in the UK are living with diabetes.
A study has shown that men can reduce their risk of diabetes by 6% for every 500 calories burned per week through aerobic exercise (that’s roughly 45 minutes of breast stroke). And that women can reduce their risk by 16% simply by partaking in vigorous exercise just once a week.
Regulates breathing
Learning a proper breathing technique is one of the best things you can do for your body. Some health benefits of deep breathing include better circulation (increased oxygen to the heart), improved respiratory system function, and reduced anxiety.
Swimming not only increases your lung capacity, but it forces you to adopt a proper breathing technique.
As regular swimming leads to a lower heart rate, improved blood pressure, and more efficient functioning of the lungs, breathing, by extension, becomes much easier.
Improves wellbeing
Like most forms of exercise, swimming releases endorphins, and endorphins lift your mood. As well as this, swimming is unique in that the rhythmic and flowing style of the exercise itself produces a calming effect. So you’ll feel happier and more relaxed.
Swimming on a regular basis could help to reduce feelings of anxiety and depression, as well as promoting healthier sleep.
Swimming could extend your life
For anyone hoping to live well into old age, it looks like swimming could hold the answer.
A 32 year-long study following over 40,000 men, aged between 20 and 90, found that those who swam had a 50% lower death rate than runners, walkers, and those who didn’t exercise at all. This is an incredible result, and with such a huge margin it’s hard to deny that there may be something in it…
Improves Coordination
Your body engages lots of muscles when swimming. Upper body, lower body, hands, arms, legs, feet, head. All your limbs have to work together in order to not only keep you afloat but keep you moving. So coordination is crucial for success in the water.
Learning to move the different parts of your body separately, at varying speeds, in perfect rhythm, is great for building coordination skills.
Builds core strength
Swimming is great for your core. Despite the fact that it’s generally heavier on the upper body, it engages so many muscles that the core naturally gets an excellent workout.
Not only that, but it can also help make you lean and toned. Swimmer’s shoulders, anyone?
Increases flexibility
The range of motion required to swim, along with the unusual muscle movements, can aid and encourage flexibility. The fact that there’s little stress being put on your joints and bones means that your muscles can relax. And when your muscles are relaxed, there’s more opportunity for them to stretch out.
Swimming can also be a great way of recovering after a more intense workout, as swimming can help prevent muscle tightness.
Helps you sleep
In a study focussing on older adults suffering from chronic insomnia, participants reported boosts in sleep quality and overall quality of life after engaging in regular aerobic exercise.
Considering that around one third of people in the UK are thought to be affected by insomnia, regular exercise such as swimming could be a great help.
Get swimming!
If you want to take the plunge and start swimming towards a healthier lifestyle, why not take a look at our prices and membership plans.
Meditation is an incredibly popular form of wellness management. It’s a safe, simple, cheap, and portable way to stay healthy and happy. And it can serve as an excellent supplementary practise to our regular exercise routines.
As a matter of fact, there are many ways in which meditation can be beneficial to our health and wellbeing. Let’s take a look at a few of them to see why meditation should be a component in every exercise regime.
Meditation helps manage stress and anxiety
It’s now widely believed that meditation can help to alleviate certain symptoms of anxiety and depression. And various studies have concluded that meditation certainly does, at the very least, promote reductions in stress levels.
And with many meditators reporting feeing calmer and more emotionally balanced after long periods of regular meditation, it’s easy to see why these beliefs are so common.
Another study, which followed up with volunteers three years after they undertook an eight-week meditation course, found that most of the participants had not only continued to meditate regularly, but had experienced a long-term decrease in anxiety levels.
Couple this with regular exercise, which is also known to be a powerful stress-reducer, and you have a powerful cocktail for lowering stress and boosting mood.
It improves sleep
Whether you live an active lifestyle or not, getting enough sleep is crucial. And with insomnia now being such a huge problem in the UK, finding ways to promote a healthy night’s sleep is a very worthwhile pursuit.
Luckily, meditation may be an answer. In one study it was found that participants who practised meditation fell asleep faster (and stayed asleep longer) than participants who didn’t meditate. The study went on to summarise that mindfulness meditation could be a tool used in the treatment of insomnia.
So a bit of exercise, followed by some meditation, might just have you sleeping better than ever!
Meditation may lower blood pressure
Another interesting potential benefit of regular meditation is that it could help to decrease blood pressure. High blood pressure can, in the long run, put a lot of strain on the heart, causing it to function improperly. And whilst there are many forms of exercise that can help to lower blood pressure, meditation could offer a low-impact, low-energy solution suitable for just about anyone.
It’s believed that blood pressure decreases during meditation sessions. Not only that, but those who meditate regularly may experience a decrease in blood pressure over much longer periods of time.
It could also aid weight loss
According to some, mindfulness has been shown to promote healthy eating habits, which in turn can help to change negative food-related thought patterns. And though this won’t lead to any overnight weightless, it can really help in the long run when dropping a few pounds is your goal.
It’s also believed that mindfulness meditation can help reduce emotional and stress-related eating by making us more aware of our thoughts and emotions. This can be of huge benefit when it comes to recognising and diminishing the negative and guilt-oriented thought patterns that can scupper the most sincere attempts at losing weight.
Meditation can improve self-image
Meditation can increase self-esteem, confidence, and self-compassion. Which can drastically improve the way we perceive ourselves and our bodies.
By being kinder to ourselves and becoming more accepting of how we look, we stand a better chance of remaining motivated to exercise regardless of whether or not it brings on a physical transformation.
It may seem far away from being an exercise-related benefit, but the reality is that for many people body image plays a huge role in why they workout. So it makes sense that if meditation can be of benefit to our self-image, it can also be of benefit to our exercise regimes.
The gentle path to fitness
For more on mindful, low-impact exercise, why not read up on the wonderful practises of tai chi and yin yoga.
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We all want to live happier and healthier lives. That’s why we join gyms, swim, run, and watch what we eat. But aside from the more popular activities that help to keep us active and youthful, there are some that can easily fall under the radar (but which are just as effective). Tai chi, though incredibly popular in the East, is one such activity.
Developed in 13th Century China as a martial art, it offers a gentle route to physical balance and health.
And here’s a secret: practising tai chi on a regular basis can not only improve your physical health but your psychological wellbeing too.
So here’s a brief overview of some of the reasons to consider adopting this wonderful exercise into your lifestyle.
Tai chi: the martial art for everyone
Due to its incredibly low-impact nature, tai chi is suitable for almost anyone. Young or old, active or inactive. Its movements are slow and subtle, and its focus is more on balance, flexibility, and wellbeing rather than aerobic fitness or strength.
That said, tai chi could be perfect for older exercisers. Especially those who haven’t engaged in any physical activity for a long time. It could also be great for anyone who wishes to become more active but, for whatever reason, is unable to participate in more strenuous activities.
As an exercise, it’s easy-going on the joints, and very laid back in terms of physical output.
Balance
Another fantastic benefit of tai chi is its ability to improve physical balance. The slow, controlled movements performed in this activity promote stability in the core. Also, the combination of leg and arm movements help to develop and improve coordination.
One major advantage to developing better balance is the reduced risk of falling that comes with it. As a result, it can also serve to build confidence, especially in elderly participants who may be more likely to suffer from trips and falls.
Posture
As a species, we do a lot of sitting. We sit down to eat our breakfast. We sit down to drive to work. Many of us sit at desks for 8 or more hours a day. Then we come home and sit down to eat dinner and watch TV. But research is now revealing the alarming and potentially catastrophic health risks associated with prolonged sitting.
Of the many negative side effects, one is bad posture. And a remedy for bad posture is tai chi.
Tai chi is heavily focussed on stance and movement. And in order to perform the movements correctly, you must first adopt the proper stance and hold the correct posture. So over time, practising tai chi may not only help to combat the negative effects of sitting, but may also improve your general posture. Also, tai chi can have you up and moving for an hour or two when you might otherwise have been at home sitting down.
Stress
Stress is a major issue in the modern world. And though it affects people throughout the world, it’s estimated that nearly half of British people suffer from long-term stress. We live faster, busier, more hectic lives today than ever before. And engaging in exercise to reduce stress and promote physiological harmony should be a top priority for all of us.
A popular reason for practising tai chi is its inherent stress-reducing qualities. Its mellow nature, along with the required deep breathing and rhythmic movements, can induce feelings of relaxation and wellbeing. In some ways, it can be seen as a moving form of meditation.
This makes tai chi a perfect candidate for a post-work de-stressing ritual. It provides a drastic shift in pace, encouraging us to go slow and be mindful of ourselves.
Strength
In an article from Harvard Medical School, tai chi can improve both lower- and upper-body strength. And if practised on a regular basis, “tai chi can be comparable to resistance training and brisk walking”.
The unsupported arm movements involved in tai chi postures help to strengthen the arms, and the forms in general can build core and lower-body strength.
Arthritis
According to a study by researchers at the Tufts School of Medicine, tai chi can produce the same benefits as physical therapy for people suffering from knee osteoarthritis. The average participant was 60 years old, and many were obese. The patients were randomly assigned to two different groups. One group would practise tai chi twice a week for twelve weeks; and the other would undergo physical therapy twice a week for six weeks, and then do six weeks of exercise at home. At the end of the 12 weeks both groups reported “equal improvement in pain and related health outcomes”.
Get practising!
So, if it sounds like your kind of activity, or if you’re just curious to learn more, why not follow along with one of these 8 tai chi and qi gong routines with local Tai Chi instructor Sifu Paul Nathan.
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Let’s face it, it’s hard to stay motivated. Whether it’s working, cooking, or cleaning, motivation plays a huge role in our ability to persevere with, and succeed in, our day-to-day goals. But sometimes our will to work can falter, especially when it comes to exercise, and an evening on the sofa can all too easily win out over an hour at gym.
Fortunately we’re not alone in our struggles. As it turns out, in fact, some of the best thinkers in the world have turned their mighty minds to this problem. The result? A wide variety of perspectives and ideas that help to illuminate the mysteries of motivation, wellness, and commitment.
Here, then, are some of those ideas. Presented at various TED conferences, these endearing talks will help you stay motivated and inspired to stick at the gym!
Emily Balcetis: Why some people find exercise harder than others
In this informative talk, social psychologist Emily Balcetis discusses the idea that what we see (literally) can affect how we perceive diet and exercise.
Matt Cutts: Try something new for 30 days
For anyone who’s tried and failed to start up a new exercise regime, Matt Cutts offers a reassuring message. Simply put, just commit to try something new for 30 days. Whether it’s running, swimming, or boxing. It’s a small task in the grand scheme of things, but those 30 days might be all it takes to form a new habit and make it stick.
Carol Dweck: The power of believing you can improve
The “growth mindset” (Dweck’s area of research), is the idea that we can increase our brain’s capacity to learn and solve problems. Her talk is based around the two different attitudes we tend to take towards difficult tasks. The first is believing that we’re not smart enough to solve them, and the second is believing that we just don’t know how to solve them.
The idea is that, even in the wake of failure, our brains have the capacity to grow and overcome former obstacles. It’s a powerful message to carry with us when we exercise, especially if we engage in competitive sports.
Laura Vanderkam: How to gain control of your free time
A perceived lack of free time can play a huge part in our struggle to commit to a regular exercise routine. On top of our professional, social, and family commitments, many of us feel that we simply don’t have the time to go to the gym.
Laura Vanderkam, a time management expert, thinks we’ve got it all wrong. She believes that most of us overestimate our commitments, believing that we have far less free time than we actually do. The solution? Set ourselves non-negotiable priorities and commit to them.
Mick Cornett: How an obese town lost one million pounds
In this talk, Mick Cornett tells the story of how Oklahoma City, once one of the most obese towns in America, managed to lift itself by its bootstraps and lose a collective million pounds. And though it may be slightly higher than your personal weight loss goals, this feat of communal commitment to healthy living serves as a powerful motivator. After all, if an entire town can do it, anyone can!
Dean Ornish: You genes are not your fate
Just as the title of this talk suggests, Dean Ornish lays out an argument that our health and wellbeing isn’t necessarily dictated by our genes. On the contrary, he claims that by eating healthier, exercising more, and living better, we can actually alter ourselves right down at the genetic level.
Christopher McDougall: Are we born to run?
Running s a fitness phenomenon. Seemingly ingrained in our DNA, the urge to run is deep and old in humans. In this talk, Christopher McDougall shares stories of runners, and running cultures, from all around the world, exploring the mysterious heart of this long-enduring sport.
Dan Pink: The puzzle of motivation
According to career analyst Dan Pink, the traditional reward system, contrary to popular belief, isn’t always an entirely effective motivator. Here he examines the bare bones of motivation. And though it may seem business-oriented, there are a lot of ideas here that can be applied to health, wellbeing, and fitness.
Diana Nyad: Never, ever give up
Diana Nyad swam 100 miles from Cuba to Florida. In the dark of the night. Enduring hallucinations and jellyfish stings. For pure marvel and motivation, this talk is a gem. And it teaches us that it’s never too late to follow our dreams.
Entertainment and inspiration
To keep up your motivation on the back of those talks, check out these 7 fantastic books on fitness and sports.
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Lots of things have changed in 2020. From how we shop to how to we socialise, many aspects of our daily lives have been completely transformed.
The health and fitness industry is one that has undergone enormous changes over the last year, and one thing that may continue to transform well into 2021 is how we keep fit and workout.
So, reflecting on this, we thought we’d share 4 fitness trends to watch out for in 2021!
Virtual fitness
Albeit due to necessity, online fitness has boomed in 2020, and it’s unlikely that the trend will stop anytime soon.
Virtual fitness classes are now a staple of many gyms. And with countless fitness apps, subscription services, and YouTube channels, the digital wellness world is only set to expand.
So 2021 might yet be the year of virtual fitness!
Home gyms
On the back of virtual fitness comes, naturally, the rise of home gyms. We’ve written on the subject of home gyms previously, as they’re an excellent idea for people who like to exercise in private.
But with all that’s happened over the last year, the concept a home gym has likely gained a bit of momentum due to its affordability and practicality. And as 2021 progresses, we might see home gyms becoming permanent fixtures in households up and down the country.
Mental wellbeing
Coronavirus has had an enormous impact on mental health. Studies earlier this year revealed that depression rates in British adults had doubled since before the pandemic.
But one strategy that many individuals have employed in response to these more uncertain and stressful times is to actively look after their mental health. Meditation, yoga, and mindfulness are just a few examples of exercises that are gaining more popularity due to their relaxing and stress-reducing qualities.
The trend towards mindfulness, stress-management, and emotional wellbeing is likely to continue well into the new year, as more and more people discover the life-changing effects of strengthening their mind-body connection.
Smart technology
Last week we posted a list of 4 great fitness gadgets to enhance your workouts, and it might have been a rather timely article. This is because wearable technology and fitness gadgets will very probably continue to grow in popularity as the new year unfolds.
Smart technology can seriously enhance your fitness regime. And whatever your goals, it’s likely that there’s a piece of tech out there dedicated to helping you achieve them.
People are becoming much more concerned with metrics and measurements, and there’s an increasing trend towards progress tracking and health monitoring. Smart technology, particularly the kind that you can wear (think smart watches), is designed to make your workouts more engaging, precise, and rewarding.
And just as the technology is constantly being refined and improved, so too is it becoming more accessible and popular.
Keep well and have a nice Christmas
For some fitness-related winter entertainment, why not sit back and relax with these 5 great sports documentaries.
And from everyone at Jesmond Pool & Gym, we hope you have a happy and healthy Christmas.
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It’s a new year, and that means resolutions. Those solemn vows we take in order to get fit, get healthy, and shed bad habits. But one of the problems with resolutions is our tendency to become overly self-critical as we work towards fulfilling them.
Most of us, when dieting or embarking on new fitness regimes, opt for the black-and-white approach of success vs failure. We create punishing routines, and any deviation from our proposed path of progress results in endless loops of self-criticism and disappointment.
But this approach isn’t really helpful, and it certainly isn’t optimal. According to Laurie Santos — Professor of Psychology at Yale University, and host of the Happiness Lab podcast — the best way to kick bad habits and make real progress on our goals is to simply be kind to ourselves.
Self-compassion
By using self-compassion instead of self-loathing, we can gently encourage ourselves back on track rather than ruminating on our perceived failures.
It’s not to say that self-criticism is bad. It’s no bad thing, for example, to feel guilty when we do something that’s objectively wrong, because guilt can help us learn from our mistakes. But it’s when we internalise the criticism, and direct it towards our actual being and personality, that it becomes a problem.
Believing you’re an inherently bad person because you ate a mince pie when you were supposed to be dieting isn’t going to do you any favours. Those kind of beliefs fill us with shame and can be severely demotivating. A better approach is to be understanding and forgiving, just as you would be towards a friend or family member. We’re all human, after all, and humans aren’t perfect.
The problem with the way most of us approach our goals, and especially our new year’s resolutions, is that we measure our progress based on self-esteem, which arises out of opinions and beliefs. But self-esteem is contingent on success. Which means that when we experience a failure or setback, our self-esteem crashes and we immediately feel bad about ourselves.
Self-compassion, on the other hand, isn’t contingent on anything. It doesn’t require success in order to function. It’s just about being kind to yourself, no matter what the result.
But that’s not the same as positive thinking. It’s not the unrelenting insistence that we’re amazing despite our shortcomings. It’s simply accepting our own humanness, and cultivating a feeling of kindness towards ourselves and our efforts.
And the reality may in fact be that when we treat ourselves with kindness, we’re more likely to achieve our goals.
Intentions
It’s also important to remember that when we set intentions and make resolutions it’s usually because we want to improve some aspect of our lives. And the desire to improve and better ourselves should be celebrated, not berated.
So this year, try practising more self-compassion. Don’t be angry at yourself if you fall short of your goals. Or if your progress is slower than you’d hoped. Be thankful to yourself for putting in the effort, and encourage yourself to keep going — just as you would encourage anyone else.
