Swimming, as well as being a full body workout, is great for your joints and mobility as it is a non-impact, non-weightbearing exercise. An hour of swimming can burn almost as many calories as running, without all the impact on your bones and joints.
NHS guidelines suggest that adults between the ages of 19 and 64 should be doing at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity a week to stay healthy.
The water provides a gentle resistance, and each swimming stroke focuses on a different muscle group helping to tone your muscles.
If you suffer from arthritis, swimming can even help reduce some of your pain. One study showed that people with osteoarthritis reported significant reductions in joint pain and stiffness and experienced less physical limitation after engaging in activities like swimming.
It's not just physical either, swimming, like all exercise, releases endorphins in your brain. These hormones make you feel good and help to increase positivity and bring about a sense of wellbeing and happiness.
It's also thought that swimming can be a good way to relax your body and reduce anxiety as it can reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
Swimming may also improve your quality of sleep. According to a study, older adults with insomnia reported a boost in quality of life and sleep after engaging in regular aerobic exercise.
If you’d like to improve your swimming technique or learn to swim, our Swim School offers classes, individual lessons, and adult coaching sessions, where our wonderful team will work with you in the way that works best for you.
Our monthly Swim Pass gives you unlimited swimming at Les Quennevais, where parking is available for up to 3 hours during the week or 8 hours at weekends, just display your time of arrival with a yellow disk.
Our Poolpod, a state-of-the art pool hoist, offers easy, quick and dignified access to our pool for people in wheelchairs or with other disabilities. In less than 20 seconds you can go from poolside to swimming - completely independently.