Swimming can be fun, stimulating and relaxing not only for a child but for parents as well. Do you know that, according to various studies, this activity brings many cognitive and physical benefits? In this article, we explain why you shouldn’t waste time and immediately sign up for a swimming course.
The benefits of swimming on the body: when to start
It is never too early to start, the benefits of swimming in the pool increase if this sport is practiced already in the neonatal age. If the baby is introduced to swimming in the first months of life, from 3 to 6 months, the positive effects are manifold. Thanks to the movements practiced in the water, the joints and muscles are strengthened, the heart pumps blood better. Pushing a small child to approach an activity of this type is therefore perhaps the best way to promote his mental and physical development.
If you realize that your child is not comfortable in the pool and cannot overcome the fear of water, do not force him at all as traumatizing him could seriously compromise his future relationship with water.
Go gradually, setting small goals, such as having him play in shallow water, and use different supports that can give him confidence. There are many objects on the market that can help you get your child in contact with water, such as tubes that help him stay afloat or rigid tablets, up to super colored donuts, in the shape of a unicorn.
If you’ve tried them all but you find that he still doesn’t like swimming or is literally terrified of jumping into a tub full of water, don’t worry, he can resume classes in the future. In the meantime, focus on other sports that may be more satisfying for both of you.
What muscles does swimming develop
Swimming is a good whole-body activity.
- Keeps your heart rate high but protects you from accidental joint trauma
- Helps keep the heart and lungs healthy
- It provides a full body workout, as almost all muscles are used when swimming
- Strengthens the bones, helps posture and helps prevent scoliosis
To understand that it is a complete sport, just think that, even just to stay afloat, all the main muscles of the body work: from the arms to the legs, also passing through the abdominals and the back. Swimmers exercise all muscles together naturally.
Unlike other sports, such as tennis, which develop some muscle groups more than others or risk excessively weighting the back, such as horse riding, swimming leads to a balanced development of the muscles. The workload, in fact, is distributed evenly over the whole body, ensuring harmonious growth.
6 benefits of swimming for children
Swimming lessons are a great way to prepare young swimmers to enjoy the water much safer. But that’s not the only benefit, here are 14 ways swimming lessons help kids achieve extraordinary results in the pool and beyond.
Teach water safety
A child up to 3 – 4 years of age can find himself in difficulty even in a few centimeters of water and it takes 3 to 6 minutes to drown. Starting from these data, the Istituto Superiore di Sanità has created a brochure for the prevention of drowning of children in swimming pools. Among the tips, there is to teach children to swim safely, as you do in a swimming course, and to always supervise them in the water, even if they know how to swim with ease.
Provides physical exercise
Swimming can be a fun way to keep your kids active and healthy all year round. As everyone knows, swimming is a great low-impact cardio exercise and offers a whole host of other health benefits, such as improved strength, endurance, flexibility and balance.
Helps cardiovascular health
When it comes to cardiovascular health, swimming is one of the best activities because it helps the heart and lungs work together more efficiently. As a result, the heart doesn’t have to work as hard to pump blood and oxygen around the body.
Strengthens lung capacity
One of the most important things that swimmers are taught early on is how to control their breathing, which in turn helps increase lung capacity. This allows oxygen to reach all the muscles in the body and provide energy more efficiently.
Improve stamina
Swimming is a sport that exercises every muscle group, not just the arms and legs, which work to get us moving in the water. This results in improved physical endurance, which sets the stage for extraordinary results in all sports.
Builds muscle tone
During swimming lessons under the professional and certified lifeguard, your child uses muscle groups that he otherwise would not have had a chance to strengthen. With each swimming style he learns, he uses different muscles to glide over the water.
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