Health & Fitness – Swimming

This month’s health and wellness focus is on swimming, which is a fantastic form of multi-purpose recreational activity. Swimming can be enjoyed as an individual or group activity, needs minimum investment in equipment, and is a suitable exercise for people of all ages, regardless of ability or current level of fitness.

Swimming is an amazing all-round activity because it:

Raises your heart rate while reducing the impact stress on your body.
Builds endurance, tones and strengthens muscles and attributes to cardiovascular fitness.
Helps maintain a healthy weight; it can reduce the risk of chronic illnesses such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and stroke.
Provides an all-over body workout; nearly all of your body’s muscles are used during swimming.

Recreational swimming can provide you with a low-impact workout, it’s also an excellent way to relax and feel both physically agile and mentally positive. Moreover, swimming is a great workout for all the major muscle groups because you are moving your whole body against the resistance of the water.

Swimming has many additional benefits including:

Alleviating stress; being a relaxing and peaceful form of exercise.
An hour of swimming burns almost as many calories as running.
Improving coordination, balance, flexibility and posture.
It can also boost your mood and keep your weight under control.
Providing good low-impact therapy for some injuries and medical conditions.
Providing a pleasant way to cool down on a hot day.

If you cannot swim, it’s never too late to learn. Most hotels, health spas and gyms cater for a variety of needs and abilities, such as women-only classes, parent-and-toddler groups, and lessons for different age groups. (With any physical activity if you have any health concerns seek advice and approval from a medical physician before commencement).
Open water swimming:

For competent swimmers, there’s a world of swimming opportunities beyond the pool, such as rivers, wadis and the sea. Open water swimming can be great fun as long as you take the necessary safety precautions. Avoid swimming alone, plan your swim: check the water temperature, entry and exit points, currents and tides (where relevant), weather conditions and water cleanliness.

Swimming is a great way for families to get moving and have fun together and is a safe and effective form of exercise. Teaching children to swim at an early age will avoid a fear of water later in life; it’s an amazing skill and can preserve life. With the weather becoming more conducive to outdoor activities, plan a swimming-related activity at Al Mouj Muscat this weekend!

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Health & Fitness – Swimming