With things beginning to relax a little and the prospect of holidays abroad beginning to look more and more realistic for summer 2021, I thought I'd write a post about some of the things we probably don't think about when we're lounging in the sun.
Swimming is soooooooo good for you
Where do I start? Swimming has a huge number of benefits that I bet you weren't aware of. Even drifting idly around a pool will go towards benefiting your health in more ways than you think!
Recovery: Swimming takes a lot of weight off the body; water supports something like 90+% of your bodyweight when you're swimming, so all of those muscles which are normally taxed by training, walking, standing, working and more are given a rest! Gentle movements in water also encourage blood flow, getting necessary oxygen and nutrients into your muscles to help them repair.
Mood Enhancement: Swimming has been proven to help more than a million people in the UK improve their mental health. Regular swimming is ideal, but if you're just doing it on holiday, you're still contributing to an overall reduction in your stress and anxiety levels! Go get some endorphins!
Cardiovascular Health: Try and get yourself into the habit of swimming, so that when you come home, you can get into the way of getting your heart pumping on a regular basis! Swimming just 3 times per week for about 30 minutes can reduce the risk of heart problems later in life!
Walking on sand makes you stronger
It's hard to walk on sand, that's no surprise. It might seem obvious to some, but it deserves to be explained that the difficulty you feel when walking or running on sand is the same sort of resistance felt during resistance/weight training!
One big difference between normal resistance training and walking on sand is that this method of testing your strength is a bit less predictable; muscles which you wouldn't normally give a second thought to are used when walking on sand to stabilise you while you walk, helping you stay balanced.
Try and get out on the sand more often when you come home; who doesn't want better balance?
Sometimes doing nothing is the best thing you can do
You heard me - sitting around in total relaxation is crucial for recovery! We all know that being relaxed releases endorphins and helps deal with stress, anxiety and other mood-related issues, but did you know that your body uses rest periods and times of inactivity to recover and make all the repairs which it doesn't normally get the chance to do?
Get some extra protein in while you're out in the sun, and you'll maybe start to feel better physically as well as mentally!