Swimming is a complete sport, an activity that explores the entire body and offers valuable health benefits of swimming of the Lifeguard course near me. One of the few modalities that can be practiced at any stage of life, it prevents and fights diseases, being indicated for children from six months.
Infant swimming can start at this age because the baby is already immunized against a sufficient amount of infectious agents, and his ear is already advanced enough to prevent the ingress of water.
In this post, we have selected 6 benefits for swimming in childhood. Check out!
Strengthens the bonds between parents and children
The recommendation for children starting in swimming is to have their father or mother — or even a rotation of the two — with them during the activities. It’s not always possible to handle everyday tasks, but consider this option and don’t underestimate the power of sharing this experience with your baby.
Encouraging socialization in childhood produces a gain in your child’s ability to relate in the future.
Stimulates muscle tone and joints
During childhood, the child goes through the phase of formation, growth and strengthening of muscles and joints. The propulsion of movements in the water, which is 12 times denser than air, considerably stimulates these parts of the child’s body.
Improves cardiorespiratory capacity
Due to sequential body movements, the heart is always stimulated during swimming. Combining this with the work of breathing, the heart muscle gains in capacity, making the organ stronger and less prone to cardiovascular disease.
The lungs also increase their absorption of oxygen, consuming a greater volume due to physical stimuli, keeping their breath up to date and leaving the child more calm and controlled in the routine.
Prevents and fights diseases
Diseases of the respiratory tract, such as asthma and bronchitis, in addition to allergies, high cholesterol and diabetes, have their days numbered in a swimmer’s body. Due to the burning of calories and energy, in addition to being an anaerobic physical activity and putting into practice intense breathing in a humid environment, swimming is quite a sport to strengthen the body against various diseases.
Promote um I’m quiet
A physical activity combined with a good diet is a sure recipe for a peaceful and regulated sleep. Putting the child in a sport practice at least three times a week guarantees the depletion of energy reserves, reinforces the appetite for the replacement of this energy and closes with a pleasant nap to restore vitality for the next day.
Develops motor and neuromotor skills
Living in the aquatic environment creates a sense of belonging in the child, who unconsciously adapts to that situation with gains in
speed, agility, sense of space, reasoning ability and confidence in their choices.
Well, as you saw, swimming is a sport that offers numerous advantages and only helps in the child’s development. Children’s swimming is invaluable and needs to be explored further. Sport means health , inclusion and social development at a very advantageous cost-benefit.
Learn why swimming is a fountain of youth for the brain
It is not news that physical exercise is beneficial for our brain. It serves a basic principle: what is good for our heart is good for our nervous system. But is there any physical activity that offers more benefits than others?
There are many reasons to go to the pool, lake or sea in summer: to make the heat more bearable, to have pleasant moments, to exercise your muscles, etc. But the best of all is that swimming is one of the most complete exercises to improve our physical and mental health. And we’re going to reveal a secret. The expression “fountain of youth” can be literal. And the secret is in the water.
Just so you have a preview: Swimming promotes the release of substances in the brain that improve cognition and memory, thanks in part to the fact that it helps establish new brain connections.
It helps our body fight oxidative stress and free radicals, reduces stress levels and improves our immune system. Overall, it improves the mood. So let’s start swimming.
First, the physical benefits of swimming are undeniable. It is a very complete exercise that activates the main muscle groups in the body.
In addition to stimulating the cardiovascular system, the work performed ends up being much greater than in other activities, thanks to the resistance of the water.
Another advantage is that the body, being submerged, receives less physical impact, and ends up being easier to move around. But physical conditioning is just as important as mental health.
Endorphin discharge
Like good aerobic exercise—one that requires the heart and lungs to work hard to deliver oxygen to the muscles—swimming produces the release of endorphins.
These substances are the brain’s natural drug, as they reduce the perception of pain, provide us with pleasure and an immense sense of well-being and happiness.
This is why swimming is so addictive, because secreted endorphins bind to opioid receptors in the brain, which are responsible for functions like sedation, pain reduction, and euphoria. Don’t be scared. Endorphins are not negative at all, quite the opposite.
Among other things, they have been shown to be effective in treating depression. Some studies have even shown that they are much more effective than some antidepressant medications.
In this sense, swimming as therapy improves mood and reduces the symptoms of those who suffer from this disorder. This would make it possible to reduce or even eliminate medication in some patients.
Part of the antidepressant effect may be due to the formation of new neurons in the hippocampus, something that occurs after swimming. The hippocampus is also the area of the brain responsible for memory and learning.
Brain training for all ages
We know that physical activity helps keep our mind sharp as we age, but not just in older people. Some studies have found that swimming helps develop a child’s brain.
In particular, a recent study showed that children between the ages of 6 and 12 are more able to remember vocabulary after swimming for several minutes. This activity therefore appears to enhance memory in people of all ages.
Another of its great virtues is that it stimulates brain function. This was the result achieved after a study carried out with adult swimmers, who, after 20 minutes of swimming, improved this function.
Much of the responsibility for these benefits lies with brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a brain growth factor that improves memory and cognition. Because what differentiates swimming from other cardiovascular activities is precisely that it stimulates the release of BDNF.
Relax and disconnect
The reason could be simpler than we think: water. On the one hand, the liquid medium produces relaxation, but, in addition, the rhythmic movement of swimming makes us enter a meditative state.
- Added to this is the fact that in the water we can disconnect from the sounds that surround us and hear only our breathing.
- The benefits don’t stop there. Swimming reduces emotional tension as it lowers levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
- It also increases the production of serotonin, one of the happiness hormones that help us fight anxiety, depression and stress.
A brake on cognitive deterioration
Recently, a study showed that swimming suppresses cognitive decline in obese mice. The aim of this study was to reproduce in animals what happens in humans when they gain weight as a result of poor diet.
This translates into a deterioration in learning and memory capacity, which is closely related to inflammation of nerve tissue and a decrease in neurotrophic and growth factors in the brain.
Swimming reverses these abnormal changes. Consequently, it saves obese mice from deteriorating learning and memory capacity by reducing obesity, decreasing hippocampal inflammation and increasing production of neurotrophic factors such as BDNF.
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