World Heart Day on September 29, sponsored by the World Heart Federation, raises awareness for cardiovascular disease. World Heart Day focuses on teaching people how they can “fuel their hearts and power their lives” to prevent cardiovascular disease, an ailment that affects people across the globe.
So, how can you fuel your heart? While running and walking are often touted as the best exercises to keep your heart healthy and strong, swimming is just as effective and is easier on your joints.
A 2009 Cooper Clinic study found swimmers and runners had the best numbers when it came to heart health. This makes sense, because swimming offers a full body exercise.
Working the heart and lungs, swimming trains the body to use oxygen more efficiently, improves muscle strength, and burns calories, which are key to overall health. While the pounding impact of running can cause problems, especially for people who are overweight or have arthritis, swimming presents a low impact exercise that is easy on your joints and cartilage. For people with muscle pain, swimming can also be a better option than weight training that can aggravate previous injuries.
If you haven’t been heart healthy lately and want to try a sport that is accessible to nearly everyone, start swimming. If swimming laps sounds monotonous, see if your gym or local recreation center offers water sports or water aerobics. Both offer the benefits of swimming exercise without the repetition of lap swimming.
