Every athlete, weightlifter, and bodybuilder should understand the benefits of cardio workouts. Whether you are trying to lose weight or gain size and strength, cardio offers many answers and benefits.

Cardio helps to keep your heart and blood supply healthy, which improves the nutrients delivered to tissues. That means that recovery will happen faster and muscle growth will increase at a greater rate after a workout. There are many ways that you can get a cardiovascular workout. Swimming is one of the best.

Swimming helps to burn stored body fat, increase cardiovascular conditioning and health, and is considered an extremely low impact activity. Low impact means little pressure on joints and other soft tissues that may be vulnerable to injury. There is also no chance of repetitive stress on certain tissues and muscles. When you start swimming your body requires more time to adapt, leaving longer period until you start to plateau. When you swim regularly you will see better muscle growth, both in your heart muscles and in more visible muscle groups. There is less stress and strain placed on the heart thanks to swimming benefits. Swimming provides a highly effective full body workout that cushions all areas of the body, with little chance of injury.

Swimming Increases Your Cardio Conditioning

Cardiovascular conditioning is important for good health and exceptional physical fitness. When you swim you are getting a terrific workout and improving your cardio conditioning simultaneously. Moving through water requires more effort and uses more muscle groups than the cardio completed on land. The water adds resistance that will strengthen your entire cardiovascular system. Cardio conditioning is also important for maximum size gains. When your blood pressure increases the amount of blood and vital nutrients that reach the affected muscles increases significantly. As a result, more nutrients are supplied to all of your tissues that need them to recover and grow. When the right diet and fitness routines are used you can see tremendous cardio conditioning benefits by adding swimming to your list of regular activities and training workouts.

No Impact Exercise Means No Joint Injuries or Repetitive Stress

As stated earlier, swimming has little if any impact. No impact means that there is very little risk of injury or bodily damage caused by repetitive stress high impact on weak tissues in the body. Joints are often not as strong as muscles, and can be vulnerable to injury when weight training. Running and other cardio choices may involve a lot of impact over a small time period, which can wear down your joints and weaker tissues much faster. When you swim there is no stress on any of the muscles or other tissues. The water provides buoyancy and support as you exercise. There is no damage or stress that could sidetrack you from reaching your ideal size and strength goals. Even just 30 minutes of swimming a few times a week will give you a healthier and more efficient cardiovascular system without nearly as much of the injury risk.

A Longer Adaptation Period is Needed for Swimming

Swimming is an activity that requires more adaptation than almost any other workout or training exercise. Your body is not used to the added resistance that the water provides, and as a result will need more time for your muscles to adjust. You will not hit a plateau as fast as you may with some other cardiovascular workouts. Your body will need to expend additional effort and workout at a higher level in order to adapt to moving through the water, and this means greater benefits and better fitness results.

Better Muscle Growth with Less Stress on Your Heart

One of the biggest reasons that swimming is recommended as a cardio workout is because of how this activity affects your entire cardiovascular system. This exercise may not feel like an intense workout but it is. You will burn as many calories per hours as skiing cross country and increase your heart rate and blood pressure considerably. Swimming offers great muscle growth while minimizing the stress that your heart is under while you are working out. Performing fitness activities in water will raise your heart rate a little less than when you workout on land using the same activities, by around 17 beats per minute. This does not negate the cardio benefits that you get though, because this decrease is due to minimal impact. Your workout is just as strenuous if not more so, but your heart is not stressed as much and this keeps it healthier and functioning at peak levels. The effort required ensures that you still get the muscle growth and conditioning you want but without any undesired side effects. Your tissues require more oxygen because of the effort and this strengthens the heart muscle without adding to the stress it operates under.

Swimming Provides a Full Body Workout

Swimming can provide a full and complete body workout. You can use different strokes and kicks in order to target certain body areas and muscle groups. The resistance of water means you must work harder with every muscle group in order to keep in motion. All of your muscles and other tissues are challenged and this will increase their size and strength over time.

Even injured weightlifters and bodybuilders can benefit from swimming and training in the pool. In fact, swimming is often the first step in the rehabilitation process for those who have had an injury that cannot withstand high impact exercises. You may not be able to lift like usual if you are injured, but you can continue to challenge your muscles and cardiovascular health by swimming.

Source

http://www.livestrong.com/article/328069-is-swim-training-a-good-cardio-workout/