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10 reasons why swimming is good for you

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Swimming is an excellent form of exercise you can do across your lifespan.

Ross Johnson from Swim4Life says swimming is a wonderful exercise because it:

 - Uses almost all the major muscle groups and places a vigorous demand on your heart and lungs.

 - Develops muscle strength and endurance while improving posture and flexibility.

 - Is especially useful for people who are overweight, pregnant, or with leg or lower back problems.

 - Is great sport for people of all ages and all proficiency levels.

 - Provides most of the aerobic benefits that running does, with many of the benefits of resistance training thrown in.

 - Does not put the strain on connective tissues that running, aerobics and some weight-training regimens do.

 - Helps to control your weight, if you follow a healthy energy restricted diet, by decreasing body fat, increasing muscle mass and increasing metabolic rate without the effects of gravity on your joints

 - Improves your mental health and mood as it relieves stress, tension, anger and depression as a result of ‘feel good’ hormones being released during physical activity.

 - Helps smokers quit – research indicates that smokers who exercise are twice as successful in their attempts to quit.

 - Increases your quality of life – when you are physically inactive, your body slowly loses strength, stamina and ability to function optimally.

Read more:

5 ways to get the most out of a treadmill workout

5 exercises you could be doing wrong

5 floor exercises for flat abs

Image: Photo of a man swimming from Shutterstock

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