Paper Topic:

swinning and fitness

Swimming is perhaps the best exercise to get a person into shape . From a scientific perspective , swimming has been found to be the ideal physical fitness activity . It targets many of the body 's muscles and helps strengthen and develop one 's body . In fact , most researchers agree that swimming is the only activity that works on the entire body by improving a person 's cardiovascular conditioning , increasing a person 's muscle strength , improving one 's endurance , fixing one 's posture and making one more flexible all at the same time . These

benefits that one can gain from swimming are unmatched by any sport as only swimming offers all of these benefits . This short report shall discuss a few of the more specific reasons why swimming is the ideal physical fitness activity

The first reason , as already mentioned , is that swimming gives one a complete body workout . It benefits the cardiovascular system without straining one 's heart and improves a person 's use of oxygen . The timed breathing required in swimming conditions the body and allows a person to improve not only his endurance but also a person 's lung capacity

Swimming is also a perfect complement for cross-training workouts . As a person who swims becomes more fit , the resting heart rate and respiratory rate is reduced thus allowing for more blood to flow into the heart and making the lungs more efficient . Since swimming gives a complete body workout , it also allows one to burn calories faster than in any other sport . A runner , on average , burns as many calories on a six mile run in one hour as a swimmer who was been swimming for one hour has burned . Swimming not only develops one 's body but also helps people lose weight fast

Another reason why swimming is considered as an ideal exercise arises from the fact that when a person swims the impact on the joints and bones is significantly reduced by the buoyancy of the water . The weight bearing environment of swimming therefore provides little stress to the body 's connective tissue and joints . This means that the body is not only strengthened but also protected from the wear and tear on the bones and joints . Since a person weighs nearly 1 /10th of his or her body weight in water , there is less gravitational stress on the body . This greatly reduces the incidence of injuries and allows for a relatively rigorous and injury free work out

Swimming allows the body to burn calories at a rate of about three (3 calories a mile per pound of bodyweight . Therefore , if a person weights approximately 150 (lbs ) pounds and it take that person thirty (30 minutes to swim one (1 ) mile , which is about 1 ,760 yards or 1 ,600 meters , then that person will be burning almost 900 calories in one (1 hour . It is important to remember of course that these estimates may vary for different swimmers depending on skill and actual degree of physical...

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