Swimming, Easy Exercise and Fun, Just Add Water

What is the perfect exercise for your whole life? Get in the swim.

When all four strokes are practiced, backstroke, freestyle, breaststroke and butterfly, every major muscle group of the body will be used both in flexion, bent and extension, streightened.

In the back stroke, the shoulders and hips rotate in opposition to the shoulders creating a propeller motion, the propeller effect is followed through all the way to the toes. If the swimmer stays on his/her side for a short moment longer as the stroke ends, he or she will move faster through he water. This faster movement occurs because there is less body surface breaking the forward motion against the surface of the water. This means will be less drag created slowing you down as your body moves through the water. Holding the head lowered, so that the ear is just underwater level, helps the moving body to break the water with the head, this streamlines the body even more allowing for still great speed as the head is narrower than the shoulders creates a wedge like water break.

In the freestyle, swimmers work their arms in large circles pushing the water behind them. The legs are maintained close to fully extended with the flutter kick but the torso's side muscles are rotated in a twisting motion as the stroke moves forward. Again, the body that stays for an extra moment on it's side at the end of the stroke will move through the water faster. Here too, the head should remain submerged only turning sideways to breath. If the head comes out of the watery our chest must break the water instead of the wedge that the top of your head cuts through the water.

With the butterfly stroke, the swimmer works the arms up past his head and out of the water, than grabs and pulls the water back past his hips. The hips and core muscles of the abdomen work hard to move the water as a fish does by bending at the waist and arching out again with each stroke. The butterfly also works out the ankles, calves and thighs as the water is worked behind the swimmer with the dolphin kick. The "fly" can be a very fast stroke and requires considerable core strength to do correctly.

In the breaststroke the swimmer works the arms forward as if to break the water with the palms together, fingers pointing ahead, as if in prayer. They than the hands pull the water back towards the belly. The legs spread and come together in a frog like kick squeezing the water behind the swimmer as the legs work from folded and apart to fully extended together. More time spent with the head under water will quicken this stroke so breath quickly than duck under fast to reduce the time you spend with your neck and chest breaking the water. Master swimmers even skip every other breath or more when working on the breaststroke, they just allow the back of their heads or neck to break the surface of the water to keep the stroke "legal,. that is within United States Swimming and Diving Federation's rules.

There is no other sport that will exercise your body the way swimming will. The environment is great for kids with lung problems like asthma, as breathing control is critical to three out of four of the strokes. The humidity from the water is a great treatment for the lungs. Basically it is aerobic exercise with un-medicated moist respiratory therapy. For adults swimming is an exercise that can be practiced for life. It is easy on the joints and offers passive resistance too which is great to rebuild the body after an injury or to maintain it over the years. Older arthritis sufferers love to swim in a therapy pool where the water temperature is maintained a bit warmer.

The other swimmers you will meet are good people. They are all working hard to maintain or improve their fitness level. Some are doing self rehabilitation in the pool after an injury. This can be very effective if it is done under the guidance of a Physical Therapist.

If the other swimmers are children they are learning valuable lessons about goals, time management and getting a healthy dose of work ethic. Swim kids are some of the healthiest and best disciplined kids around. They support one another and form long lasting friendships in the pool. There's no time for them to get in trouble, they spend almost all of their free time swimming.

You will find there is very little obesity in the pool. If a child shows up overweight it is a resolved issue in short order. The pool burns the calories off and the appetite for high quality nutrition increases. These kids have no great appetite for junk food, though if nothing else is available they will gladly hit a vending machine for a few hard earned calories. Swimming burns more calories than most other sports. Just look at what Michael Phelps can eat and still look great.

Swimmers are also comfortable in their bodies, they stand around for long periods of time in their swimsuits and wait for their events so they learn to relax about themselves. Swim kids for the most part have healthy self body images.

In short, there are few sports, individual or team, than can offer what swimming can. Just add water.