The popularity of swimming only grows with time and that is perfectly understandable. It is one of the best exercises to tone all your muscles improve your cardiovascular system and simply relax after a day of sedentary work.
As more and more swimming pools are opened all around Australia, swimming become a real option for an even bigger number of people. If there is a pool near your home, you can have a lot of flexibility as to when you swim and how much time you spend training.
The benefits of swimming for our physical fitness are well-known to most of us. What we are often less aware of are the therapeutic effects of that exercise and its use in injury rehabilitation.
In fact, the regular practice of swimming can create a positive impact on both our mental and physical state, which makes it an outstanding activity to relieve pain in general.
On the one hand, when we do active exercises, our body starts producing serotonin. That chemical functions as a powerful mood stabiliser, so swimmers often feel more calm and relaxed after training in the pool.
To that, we should add the pleasant sensation that contact with water gives us in general. It freshens up our body and makes us feel less tired and more motivated, which can only be welcome when you suffer from chronic fatigue or stress.
In our article, you can discover the ten best reasons to start swimming.
On the other hand, when we recover from an injury, we need gradually to get into activity again. As a low-impact activity, swimming perfectly suits that goal.
The buoyancy effect of the water reduces strain on our ligaments and joints, so we can do a variety of rehabilitation exercises. That detail can be especially important if you suffer from a back, shin or knee injury and need to remove pressure from them.
In this article, we will discuss the rehabilitation use of swimming in more detail, so you can maintain your fitness and speed up your recovery.
You can find out about the best swimming lessons in Melbourne here.
Advantages of swimming for rehabilitation after injury
Rehabilitation from injuries can be a long process. Depending on the gravity of the problem, we may need to follow therapy and let our bodies rest for a certain period of time.
However, at some point, you'll have recovered enough to get back into training without too much pain. How to do that?
After spending a long time without training at all, our physical fitness is naturally going to be lower than before, so we can't resume the same workout program we used before.
The advantage of swimming in that situation is that it is perfectly adaptable to your current physical form. Depending on the stage of your rehabilitation, you can swim more quickly or more slowly, choose different swimming strokes and set the number of pool laps you want to swim.
Read more about swimming for the elderly in our article.
If you had a knee or foot injury, it may be reasonable to work your arms more than your legs and the other way round. If you are looking for a gentle stroke, you may want to consider the breaststroke and the backstroke which both allow you to swim long distances without getting too tired.
According to various estimates, when we swim, we bear only about 10% of our normal weight, so there is much less pressure on our joints and back. Swimming practice can be a good way to strengthen your arms and legs after injury and they, in turn, are going to support your joints and relieve pain.
If you want to get the most out of your training in the pool, you can contact your rehabilitation specialist or an experienced coach who'll draw up a training program for you to recover your physical fitness more efficiently and without risking new injuries.
Take swimming teachers here on Superprof.
Hydrotherapy
If you are still following your rehabilitation therapy and don't feel ready to get back into swimming yet, there are plenty of other aquatic exercises you can do at first. They are often included under the term hydrotherapy.
Hydrotherapy is a set of simple rehab workouts that you can do in the water without necessarily swimming. Hydrotherapy has several advantages.
First of all, when we do exercises while standing in the water, we still take advantage of its buoyancy effect that helps reduce the strain on our joints. It is a relatively low-risk solution to improve your physical fitness after injury before starting to swim or to do other kinds of exercises.
Second, when we do hydrotherapy exercises, we need to overcome the resistance of the water, which makes each of our movements more difficult. For example, even simply walking across the pool can be a good rehabilitation workout and the first step to recovering your physical fitness.
See how you can take exceptional swimming lessons in Adelaide here.
Third, hydrotherapy offers truly a great choice of workout programs to take into account the nature of your injury and relieve your pain.
You can follow water therapy in an aquatic centre with others, which is going to add a social dimension to your workouts. You may well meet people who are in a similar situation as yourself and exchange tips on injury rehab with them.
Find more reasons to teach your kids to swim in our article.
Water therapy is equally accessible for swimmers and those who can't swim at all because most of its workouts can be done at a shallow depth or by holding on to a float.
Additionally, such sessions are sometimes organised in warm water, unlike the water in swimming pools, which can be even more beneficial for your health.
Exercising without risk
As we have already said, aquatic workouts are very suitable for rehab purposes but if you think your health may still be fragile, it is better to consult a specialist before making any move.
Rehab is a complex process and sometimes, it may happen that we feel good ourselves but we aren't ready for effort. In that case, taking up a physical activity even in the water may not be the best option.
The specialist who follows your case will be able to solve your doubts based on scientific data. They'll study your last clinical exams and tell you whether your can train and advise you on how often your workout sessions should take place.
They may also know good coaches or instructors who organise rehab classes. You might be able to join an already existing workout group and train with them.
As you attend your rehab classes, you should always be attentive to your body, warm up before you start and take a break or even stop completely whenever you feel pain. If it happens several times, it may be a signal that something's wrong, so you should talk to your doctor about it.
With simple precautionary measures, you can keep the risk of your workout sessions to a minimum and boost your health.
Importance of the right instructor
Even for professional athletes, it can be difficult to draw up a good workout program on their own. As we naturally want to do more, we are likely to overestimate our own capacities and get too tired after each session.
It may also happen that we plan a workout that is too easy for us and doesn't bring us the expected results.
By contrast, if you employ a qualified coach, they'll draw up a program for you, based on your real performance and shape, so you'll train at the right pace and get as much rest as you need.
In our article, we described in more detail how swimming can help you lose weight.
If you feel good enough to swim in the pool, your coach can watch over your technique, so that you can get a balanced workout without putting too much strain on a particular part of your health.
If you choose hydrotherapy, they'll come up with the most suitable routines for you and vary the drills you do from one session to another. That'll make them more motivating for you and help you keep practising over time until full recovery.
Looking for coaches on Superprof
If you are seeking a sports coach for recovery purposes, you'll need a real specialist in that area, as not all instructors have the expertise for that. How to find exactly the right person? For that, you have Superprof.
On our website, you can not only look for coaches and instructors from all over Australia but also read information about their classes on their profiles, as well as reviews from other users.
Using that data, you can better understand the coach's background and the kind of classes they offer to decide if they are right for you.
If you have any particular questions, you can get in touch with the instructor directly via chat and occasionally schedule a lesson if you are interested.
As a matter of fact, most of our sports coaches offer their first class for free, which can be an opportunity for you to get to know them better and test their teaching methods before making your final decision.
With Superprof, you'll train with the best coaches around and boost your health in the long term.
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