Friday, January 13, 2012

Benefits of Swimming & Exercise for People Over 50


Regular physical activity can be advantageous at every age. However, if you are over 50, regular physical activity can help you reduce your risk of certain chronic diseases and improve your overall health. Swimming is a low-cost, complete workout that provides cardiovascular exercise and also strengthens most of the muscles in your body.
Benefits of Exercise for People Over 50
Regular physical activity provides several health benefits. It can increase your energy levels and mood, and improve your mental focus. Regular physical activity can also help you lose or maintain a healthy weight, and thus reduce the risk of problems related to overweight and obesity. Additionally, regular physical activity can help you decrease the risk of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and certain kinds of cancer.
Benefits of Swimming for People Over 50
Swimming is one of the few types of sport that combines cardiovascular exercise with strength training. Additionally, it is a great sport for people over 50 years of age. It is a low impact sport because the water, and not your legs or back, supports your weight. It strengthens your heart and lungs, and can be refreshing and relaxing. As you get older, it gets more difficult to maintain a healthy weight. Swimming burns a lot of calories, which can help you balance your weight and helps tone most of the muscles in your body
Gear
Swimming is a low-cost sport. If you can find access to a lap pool near you, you really only need swimwear, water goggles and a cap. However there are other types of gear that can help with your workouts. For example, you can use fins and kick boards to work out the muscles in our body, and pull buoys and paddles to work out your arms. Also, a lap tracker can help you monitor your progress throughout the workout.
How Often Should You Swim?
The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that adult Americans practice 150-300 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity a week. Swimming can fall under either category depending on how intense your workout is. If you do slow, steady laps for longer periods of time, then your workout will fall under the moderate-intensity category; if you do faster-paced circuit or interval training over shorter periods of time, then your workout will fall under the vigorous-intensity physical activity.

 
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