Is Swimming Good for Seniors?
Swimming is a fun activity and mostly it is popular among kids and young adults. However, it should be not be limited to kids and young adults. It should be undertaken by the elderly too. The biggest reason being, swimming has great health benefits.
Among elderly arthritis, depression, risks of injury are some major issues. If the body is not exposed to any form of physical activity, these major issues can get aggravated. Not everyone likes to go to the gym at old age because it is health benefit at expense of pain. However, swimming offers health benefits at expense of fun.
How Swimming Benefits Seniors?
When you go for a swim, your body gets a complete workout. You use your both hands and legs. In addition, it also improves cardiovascular activity which is important for a healthy heart. Let’s see what are the major health benefits of swimming in detail:
1.Improves Strength of Muscles
When you are doing an activity like swimming you are putting every muscle of your body under resistance. It is same as doing weightlifting in a gym. When you put your muscles under resistance, you work them. Once you fuel them with protein and they become stronger than they were before. Regular exercise will keep the muscles strong.
- Leads to Healthy Heart
As we mentioned earlier, swimming is similar to cardio, it leads to a healthy heart. When you are swimming, you put your body under exertion and it makes heart muscles stronger. Thus, it improves your endurance. And when the heart is healthy, the blood circulation improves as a result.
- Strengthens Joints
Those who suffer from joint pain, for them swimming is an amazing remedy. While you are in the water, the body experiences weightlessness which relives joints of pressure exerted by the gravity. Swimming can help you recover from knee, spine or hip injuries.
- Improves Flexibility
Flexibility allows your body to perform activities like jumping, running etc. with easy. As you age, these activities become impossible to perform because your body starts to lose its flexibility. But swimming can help your body retain that flexibility. Even the body posture gets improved with regular swimming.
- Fights against Osteoporosis
With aging bone density is reduced as they become porous. This is called osteoporosis. Almost of one-third of the women above the age of fifty experience osteoporosis. Because of this, bones are prone to fracture. Swimming helps to improve the bone density thus making them stronger.
- Improves Mental Health
With aging, most of them are prone to depression. When you do an exertive activity like swimming, endorphins are realized. Endorphins are called happy hormones. They are known to induce happiness. Thus, it makes swimming a great remedy for depression.
What are some good Swimming Exercises for Old People?
If you are motivated by the fact that swimming has some real health benefits, then you might also be interested to know how to get most out of your swimming sessions. The best way to get most out of it is to do exercises in a swimming pool.
There are so many useful exercises that you can do while in the swimming pool. All depends on your goals for your body. Let’s say if you are looking to improve the strength of your body, then you can do weight lifting exercises like bicep curls, leg raises, squats, leg swings etc. while in a pool.
If you are looking to improve your endurance, you can do simple laps or you can jog or walk in a pool. Athletes are known to do underwater cycling to improve their cardiovascular system. Keeping your age in mind, you don’t have to go to that extremes, just perform simple exercises.
However, not all swimming pools have exercise facilities for old age. Join swimming classes like Fitso that offers all kinds of activities. For exercise, you can also hire a professional trainer, who can help you set up a great routine.
Things To Take Care Before You Join A Swimming Pool
Though exercise seems to offer a great health advantage, old people need to ensure that their body is fit for swimming. Even the kids or young adults who have conditions like, asthma, blood pressure, lungs problems etc. are required to check with their doctor before taking a plunge into the water.
And at the age of 70 or 80, these health issues are there. You cannot deny them. Best way to take up exercise at very old age is under the presence of a trained professional. Deep water can cause high blood pressure, hence always limits yourself to waist high waters only. And make sure every exercise is within limits because pushing it might not be a good idea for their health.
