Swimming Your Way to a Healthy Life

Whenever you look up the various sports, such as biking, jogging, tennis and so on, one thing you will invariably see is that swimming is touted as one of the best overall physical activities, mostly because swimming will exercise every part of your body with no impact. And swimming has actually been pretty popular ever since the Olympic games. Michael Phelps breaking the gold medal record, the USA four man relay team that won by a fingernail, it was all super exciting. Have you ever heard of the new 100-meter world record holder Usain Bolt? He might not be a swimmer, but he trains in a pool.

You might never be a Michael Phelps or a Usain Bolt, but why not take a page out of their workout routine. Even if you do not know how to swim well, there are still many ways to get around it and enjoy swimming as a workout. You can even listen to music. There are waterproof cases for Ipods, so you can listen to your favorite tunes while you swim. Music can certainly help you along those long laps in an Olympic-sized pool. (Lest that sound like a plug for the IPod, rest assured that there are several types of waterproof radios and MP3 players on the market as well!)

You should also acquire a variety of props, such as a "Pull buoy" -a molded piece of foam, which you squeeze between your legs as you swim. You are forced then to use only your upper body and arms for swimming, and the buoy provides added resistance in the water. Then again, there's a variety of kickboards, which enable you to rest your upper arms on this appropriately shaped piece of foam, so that only your legs propel you through the water, thus giving your legs a pretty good workout.

Ever heard of aqua jogging?

For people who are just coming out of certain surgeries, or people who are extremely overweight, walking can be an almost insurmountable chore. But the water of a pool makes people extremely buoyant, and so practically anybody can exercise their limbs in water.

In order to aqua-jog, people wear a special foam belt around their waists, which helps keep them upright in the water. Then, simply "walk" or "run" across the bottom of the pool, and continue that motion once you get into deep water (the belt helps keep you vertical). Special finned gloves are also available to help propel you along. Aqua jogging is so effective that even tri-athletes are using it as a training tool - obviously they are aqua running, instead! Special foot floats or weighted boots are used to help increase muscle strength.

If you're in to water aerobics, then there is quite a lot of gear you can pick up for that, as well.

Water gloves, wrist and ankle weights, and water aerobic shoes are a must have. Water noodles are fun to play with, too! There is a wide variety of exercise equipment and toys out there that will not only make your swimming routine a success, but enjoyable at the same time. -Steven Stratton