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10 Reasons Why Exercising in Water is Good for Your Body

July 18, 2023 5:40 pm Leave a Comment

The heat is on across Southern Ontario. Whether you’re staying cool in a nearby lake, beach, or swimming pool, let’s talk about water exercises and why they’re good for your body.

Here are 10 benefits of exercising — particularly swimming — in water:

1. There’s low impact on your joints:  Water’s buoyancy supports the body, allowing for greater freedom of movement. Performing stretches and exercises in water can help increase flexibility and improve range of motion without straining the joints.
2. It does a better job at keeping you cool: Working out can cause you to overheat, especially in the summer. Exercising in the water helps the body cool off faster and reduces the risk of overheating. If the water is warm, it may not help keep you cool, but it does help increase blood circulation, which is a plus when exercising.
3. Water has built-in resistance: Because you’re moving your body through water instead of through air, you’re working harder. This resistance is great for building all-around strength and endurance.
4. You can adjust the resistance: Depending on your speed, position, or form in the water, the resistance you face is dynamic. For example, the more streamlined your swim stroke, the faster you’ll travel with less resistance. If you’re jogging or running in water, particularly if it goes higher than your waist, you’re getting much more resistance (this is often done if you’re training to improve your running speed, strength, and endurance when you’re on land).
5. It gets easier over time: The more knowledge and skill you have with respect to swimming, the more efficient your body becomes when moving through the water. This translates to less energy and effort exerted, and greater speed. The good news is that the more you learn, practice, and condition your body, the easier swimming will be.
6. You can incorporate rest: You don’t have to stop exercising in the water to give your body a rest during a workout. If you’re swimming, you can add resting strokes like sidestroke or elementary backstroke for a minute or two (or a lap or two in the pool) until you recover.
7. You can increase intensity slowly: The benefit of swimming is that you can make gradual changes to your routine without much effort. Simply increase the time spent swimming continuously and take shorter rest breaks—or replace your breaks with rest strokes (see tip #6) as you build up your swimming regime.
8. It’s great for keeping joints limber and toning muscles: Since exercising in the water is so low impact, your joints stay nimble. With the built-in resistance of the water, swimming is great for keeping your muscles toned.
9. It offers reduced muscle soreness: The hydrostatic pressure exerted by water helps reduce muscle soreness and swelling, making it an excellent choice for post-workout recovery. It can also alleviate symptoms of conditions like fibromyalgia and chronic pain.
10. It offers support for the whole body: Not only is exercising in the water low-impact, but it’s also excellent for support. Bonus: it supports your back! You don’t have to worry about the weight of your body on your spine or your posture when you move your body through water. If you’re not a swimmer, you can still use the water for gentle exercise: do some walking workouts waist-deep in a swimming pool to take the pressure off your joints and back while still getting movement.

So, take the pressure off, hit up your local beach or pool, and go for a swim!

Remember to stay hydrated when you exercise. If you’re swimming outdoors this summer, be sure to remember to be safe in the sun and heat.

Are you suffering from neck, shoulder or low back pain?

At Pickering Village Chiropractic and Massage, we use chiropractic treatment to relieve neck, shoulder and lower back pain using effective clinical tools like manipulation, mobilization, soft tissue therapy, exercise, patient education and rehabilitation.

Extensively trained in spinal manipulative therapy (SMT), our chiropractors provide specialized care to reduce pain, improve function, and decrease the chances of neck, shoulder and lower back pain becoming a chronic condition.

Looking for a chiropractor?

Ajax chiropractors Dr. John Noble and Dr. Mark Fera can provide education on your spine and posture and create a personalized treatment plan for your low back pain designed to ease pain and lower your risk of recurrence. Therapeutic massage therapy is also available by massage therapists Rolf Castanheiro and Jessica Raedisch. Call 905-427-3202 to book an appointment.