Health Fitness Lifestyle

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The benefits of swimming as a form of exercise are well documented. And of course we all know swimming is fun as well. But for most people, having a swimming pool in their backyard or home is simply out of financial reach. Or perhaps there just isn’t enough space available. That’s where the lap pool comes in to solve both problems.

Basically you have a couple of choices. You can get either a full length lap pool, or one of the small models where you swim against jets of water coming against you. Either way the health benefits are numerous. If you think about it, it’s almost like having the perfect exercise machine at your home.

We’ll start with the cardiovascular benefits. Just like running on a treadmill, track or on the street, swimming will increase your heart rate. This will naturally burn off calories and increase your endurance and overall heart health.

But swimming is better than running because it greatly reduces your chance of getting hurt. It’s low impact, so there’s no constant pounding on your joints. That means no aching feet, knees or back. You get all the fitness benefits without all the aches and pains.

Taking it one step further, you’ll also get some of the benefits of lifting weights. Weight lifting is resistance training, and water also gives you resistance. The end result is you also build strength and muscle tone. Olympic athletes know this, and have added swimming to their workout regimes. But even though you’re not an Olympian, you can certainly enjoy the same health benefits.

So what’s all this going to cost? Well it’s not cheap, but it’s not nearly as expensive as buying a traditional pool. And as for the space, if you get one of the smaller ones where you swim against the current, you can put it just about anywhere, even in your house. No more worries about bad weather interrupting your workout routine.

If you go with a full length in ground lap pool, it can look very nice in your yard and even provide a space for entertaining. On the other hand, most above ground models are portable. If you move, you can take it with you. And both are much easier to clean and maintain, and they cost less to run than the traditional larger pool.

What exactly do you want from your exercise? Chances are you want a cardiovascular workout to burn calories, but one that won’t hurt your joints because it’s low impact. You also want to tone your muscles and increase your strength through resistance training. A lap pool will do all of the above. Add in the fact that it’s low maintenance, doesn’t cost too much, is attractive and can fit just about anywhere, and you have exactly what you need. And best of all, it’s so much fun you may even forget you’re exercising.