Go for a Swim!

Posted on August 20, 2008
Filed Under Chief Blogging Officer

With the Olympics being upon us there is a lot of athletic inspiration in the air, and Michael Phelps has certainly done his part to shine a spotlight on the sport of swimming. World-class athletes like Phelps and the other Olympians prove to us that you can take swimming to unlimited competitive levels, but the average person can also benefit a great deal by incorporating swimming into his or her active lifestyle.

I hurt my knee last summer and I couldn’t put very much weight on it for several months. I had to find a way to get some aerobic exercise, rehabilitate the leg slowly with minimal impact, and burn some calories because the injured knee resulted in a level of inactivity that I was not used to. So I joined a local gym that has a lap pool, and I started swimming for 45 minutes every night.

I found that swimming a significant distance is a total body workout. When I would get home, I’d feel that sweet sensation of fatigue from head to toe, and I slept really well. I went on a low carb diet at that time, and I lost thirty pounds of fat and gained some muscle and definition.

Because swimming is low impact on the joints, it is especially appealing to people who have certain health challenges. Pregnant women can benefit greatly from swimming, and I was reading an article over at the HealthAndFitnessBlog that mentioned the Arthritis Foundation recommending swimming and water aerobics for people who suffer from arthritis.

I was writing yesterday about efficient communication and artistic expression saving time and creating space for new ideas, and I think that swimming is a very efficient way to get a total body workout. You are getting your cardiovascular exercise simultaneous to resistance training and stretching, and when you look at world-class swimmers, their training results in what most people would consider to be the ideal physique.

But best of all, swimming is fun! What feels better than diving into a nice cool pool on a hot summer afternoon? If you do something that you like to do when you exercise, you will stick with it, and swimming regularly is something that everyone should consider.

Efficient Swimming