Swimming
Swimming is another activity which is fairly self-explanatory. It is generally best suited as a sport-specific exercise or for recreation. Unless you are using it as a form of exercise because you have an injury or are at a fitness level where high impact and dynamic exercises aren't an option, this is not worth your time.
Swimming is great for those who have joint issues or other injuries as the water greatly reduces the impact and weight placed on the joints while exercising. It allows you to get moving and burn some calories when injury or poor health prevents you from participating in other forms of exercise safely. Once you progress past this point and are able to safely participate in any of the forms of activity we have discussed thus far, do it.
For the same reason swimming is great for rehabilitation and starting out when in poor health, it is terrible for making real progress. Water takes the majority of your weight off your body, which is most evident when you float. This results in less effort and therefore energy to maintain your balance and to move. If you are an inexperienced swimmer, when you first start to do laps your movements will be inefficient, but it won’t take long for your body to adapt and find the path of least resistance. Once it does, the water supports over 70% of your body weight and the only exercise you are getting is the few muscles being used by your arms and legs to move you across the water, which is generally pretty low intensity.
Swimming is great for those who have joint issues or other injuries as the water greatly reduces the impact and weight placed on the joints while exercising. It allows you to get moving and burn some calories when injury or poor health prevents you from participating in other forms of exercise safely. Once you progress past this point and are able to safely participate in any of the forms of activity we have discussed thus far, do it.
For the same reason swimming is great for rehabilitation and starting out when in poor health, it is terrible for making real progress. Water takes the majority of your weight off your body, which is most evident when you float. This results in less effort and therefore energy to maintain your balance and to move. If you are an inexperienced swimmer, when you first start to do laps your movements will be inefficient, but it won’t take long for your body to adapt and find the path of least resistance. Once it does, the water supports over 70% of your body weight and the only exercise you are getting is the few muscles being used by your arms and legs to move you across the water, which is generally pretty low intensity.
BEST FOR:
Injury Rehab/Post Rehab Recovery, Exercising With Various Health Problems, Recovery, Recreational Exercise
GOOD FOR:
Improving Cardiovascular Endurance
NOT FOR:
Weightloss/Fat Burning, Building Lean Muscle/Mass Building, Increasing Strength, Improving Cardiovascular Performance
Injury Rehab/Post Rehab Recovery, Exercising With Various Health Problems, Recovery, Recreational Exercise
GOOD FOR:
Improving Cardiovascular Endurance
NOT FOR:
Weightloss/Fat Burning, Building Lean Muscle/Mass Building, Increasing Strength, Improving Cardiovascular Performance