Swimming: is it the most complete sport?

Swimming is the most complete sport, and practicing it "three times a week for 50 minutes, in addition to performing other external exercises, can bring great benefits," according to the director of Sports Medicine at UNAM, Dr. María Cristina Rodríguez Gutierrez.

Being an aerobic sport, that is, a low-intensity sport with greater resistance, our body obtains great advantages from swimming and almost anyone can practice this discipline, since the risk of injury is minimal.

Primarily, it helps our mental and emotional health. While we swimming with Lifeguard class training, the oxygen we use activates the brain, which releases endorphins that allow us to relax and reduce the feeling of stress. Similarly, anxiety levels decrease and our mood improves.

On the other hand, we say that swimming is the most complete sport because when practicing it we use two thirds of the muscles of our body. Depending on the style we execute, we can see toning in the biceps, triceps, deltoids, glutes, intercostals, abdominals and pectorals.

“Likewise, for joint mobility it is good, because we don't have to overcome so much weight, but rather the water helps us move our joints. For example, in older people it is recommended to improve hip or shoulder mobility. All of this is good,” said Rodríguez Gutiérrez.

It has been shown that this sport also helps control and improve "weight, lipid metabolism, glucose levels, respiratory problems, high blood pressure and even induced asthma." Likewise, the doctor explained that our brain also exercises the cognitive area and that improves our mental speed.

Despite the benefits, the head of Sports Medicine at UNAM expressed that in swimming the movements must be constant for at least 20 minutes, because "it is not worth doing it for a while and stopping, recovering for five minutes and So. That is not going to bring me benefits; It must be a continuous exercise.”

He added: 

“Bone health doesn't benefit like that. We believe that getting into the pool for half an hour is enough. Bone health does not benefit from this floating mechanism. We need impact and we need strength work so that calcium is deposited in the bones and we have firm bones”.

Some exercises and complementary activities that are suggested to reinforce what has been done in swimming of Lifeguard Classes and increase our resistance considerably are:

Pool exercises

Clown jumps: Basically it is opening-closing legs and arms continuously. First, the arms are stretched up, while the legs are together. Then the arms are lowered and the legs are opened. Repeat at least 10 times.

Learn more about swimming : Benefits of swimming for health, the most practiced sport in the world