You may have heard of swimming as a form of exercise and swimming as a way of improving your mind’s health, but do you know Swimming, as a physiotherapy method, has been around for ages and has helped so many people improve, maintain or alleviate their general fitness levels. Still not convinced? Let me bring you through 6 benefits of swimming as physiotherapy!

Less Pressure on Body

You may be wondering, rehabilitation in water? Why? The answer to this is buoyancy! The buoyancy of water supports your weight, making you feel lighter. Your body is kept afloat, while also providing enough resistance to pose some challenge in doing certain movements. This basically means that swimming is a body-weight workout, making it a safe and painless exercise for those of you suffering from back pains or any pains of any other sorts!

Minimal Impact on Joints

As we age, especially when paired with inactivity, our joints get stiffer. This leads to your movements getting restricted. So for those of you with arthritis and joint pains, swimming comes in extremely useful! While any sort of movement or exercise can help with alleviating this issue, swimming is the better option as it causes the movements of many joints at the same time! It should also be noted that swimming relieves joint pain. The relief is even said to be instant!

Different Strokes

If you are new to swimming, let me briefly introduce you to a few well-known swimming strokes. There is the breaststroke, sidestroke, butterfly stroke and freestyle! Each of these strokes target different muscles in the body. As an example, for someone suffering from a back, shoulder or knee injury, the sidestroke may be the one for you! This is because the sidestroke does not require as much bending action as other strokes. It is thus safe on the affected joints and muscle groups! Much like the example I provided, there are different strokes catered for different needs.

Different Activities

Are your injuries not even allowing you to engage in swimming the different strokes? Fret not as there are various other activities you could do with certified coaches who can tailor the exercises just for you! Let me introduce you to a few physiotherapy exercises that your coach might prescribe or that you could do during your next visit to a pool! Water jogging is a simple yet effective water therapy method due to it being a low impact cardio exercise. All you need to do is walk (or jog, if you are able to) back and forth in waist or chest level water. Another simple physiotherapy exercise you can do is the push ups! Stand by the side of a pool and place your arms shoulder width apart on the edges of the pool. Bend your elbows and lean your chest towards the pool wall. Ta-da! That’s one push up.

Cardiovascular Health

Injuries keeping you out on the sidelines? Not able to hit the gym as hard as you used to? Here’s a solution for you! Swimming is an amazing way to keep up or improve your cardiovascular fitness while not straining your muscles too much. What better way to work your heart and lungs while cushioning your body from impactful training?

Injury Prevention

Heard of “prevention is better than cure”? Swimming can help avoid other injuries such as those sustained through running. It even boosts your performance on dry land! It is proven that swimming increases your bone density, all while having 0 impact on your joints (wow). How? It is all down to water resistance! Just as weight training strengthens not only your muscles but bones, water resistance does the same. This in turn leads to building up your body’s defence against fragility and fractures! Amazing isn’t it?

Conclusion

Still in awe from learning about all the different ways swimming acts as physiotherapy? Me too! All in all, not only can swimming rehabilitate you from injuries, it can also help you avoid it. Go on then, what are you waiting for? Book a swimming slot for you and your loved ones at a nearby pool and enjoy all these benefits and more! And if you want to learn more or have a private swimming class with our coaches, talk to us and find out more !

Hello everyone! I'm a gym enthusiast who gets very excited at the sight of dogs. Drinking teh tarik is my form of relaxation. I hope you share my passion for anything fitness-related through my writing!