Swimming is fun, but more than that swimming is healthy and when you swim you can feel the stresses of the day simply melting away. When you own a swimming pool you can host a swimming pool party, float on a raft with your favorite adult beverage, play games with the kids or swim laps — or all of this and more.
Swimming, as anyone who has the ability to jump in a pool and enjoy the water will tell you, helps relieve the stresses of the day. Swimming laps is a repetitive exercise that is essentially a mindless activity. Arm over arm and slow kicking your legs, rhythmic breathing — all of these combine to help lower your blood pressure, make your heart rate beat more slowly and evenly and help you stay in shape. Is there anything about swimming that isn’t ideal? We can’t think of anything better.
Tips For Swimming Your Stress Away
Swimming improves sleep
If you’re tossing and turning and worrying about what happened at work or with your spouse, significant other or the children, swimming will help tire you out. When you’re pleasantly tired, you will naturally sleep better. A good night’s sleep will help you be better prepared to face the day ahead. Take a long, slow swim an hour before bedtime.
Swimming helps reduce stress
When you swim, you will temporarily feel less anxiety and feel reduced stress. The combination of the water, the buoyancy and the feeling of the water — like slik — against your skin as you swim will help you relax. If you have heated water in your pool, the combination of swimming and the warm water will add to the stress reduction.
Pain reduction leads to stress reduction
If you suffer chronic pain such as back or knee or other pain, swimming will alleviate some of the pain and that will lead to stress reduction. If you suffer from arthritis, carpal tunnel, tendonitis or even diabetes, swimming is a great way to reduce the levels of pain and that will lower your stress and anxiety.
Swimming lowers blood sugar
If you’re diabetic or pre-diabetic swimming in warm water might lower the levels of sugar in your blood; this is especially true for those with type 2 diabetes. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that patients with type 2 diabetes who swam in warm water for even a half an hour a day, six days a week, had a lowered blood glucose.
Your skin will look younger and healthier
Soaking in a hot tub or swimming in your pool will lead to better looking skin. Swimming — exercise of any type — will remove toxins from your skin and that will lead to it looking younger and healthier.
Swimming is great for your cardiovascular health
When you are feeling stressed and anxious your heart suffers. Swimming will improve your heart and lung capacity and that will help you feel better and be better able to deal with daily stressors. Swimming can also help lower cholesterol levels and that could improve the health of your heart.
Weight loss is another benefit
Losing weight, if that is a stress in your life, can be accomplished by spending time in a swimming pool. Consistent swimming will help lose weight. Swimming away your stresses of the day can help you swim away some weight — if that is a goal.
Set your pool up for stress relief success
When you come home from work and are ready to swim away your stresses, there are a few things you can do to assure the pool and its atmosphere is conducive to stress relief.
- Turn on lighting to set the mood and contribute to a stress reducing atmosphere.
- Choose music that soothes your soul to play while you’re swimming
- Eat a light dinner before you swim — hunger and low blood sugar can contribute to feeling stressed out
- Swim long, slow laps. You’re not in a race when you’re swimming for relaxation
- Once you’re done swimming, wrap up in a soft towel and relax poolside to keep the stress relief benefits going
Anytime spent in a swimming pool is time well spent, but it can be even more true when you want to swim away the stress and anxiety of a day.