Back in the Swim of Things

Today’s weight: 117.4 lbs

Difference:  0 lbs

I’m okay with that.  It’s better than gaining right?  Baye has been helping me get exercise.  Every day we goto the pool after we drop Kay and Mo off at their bus stops.

Underwater view of Baye

While she splashes around I walk in the pool and do mini laps in front of the stairs.  I figured I burn a couple hundred calories.  Then while she’s taking a nap I go back and do some laps.  My goal is to swim a mile.  I managed to do .75 miles today.  I’m a math nerd so I measured the pool.  I used the “foot” method where you put one foot infront of the other.  But then I came home and measured my foot and did the math to figure out how long the pool was.  Then I divided the pool length by the number of feet in mile and got all of my numbers. 

5280/40 = 132

So it’s 132 laps 1 way, 66 laps down and back.   

                It’s felt really good to get back in the water.  It’s the only exercise that I can really do for long periods of time and have it not hurt my knees and other joints that are screwed up.  There are a lot of benefits to swimming.  Here are some of them:

It can….

1.       help people with chronic diseases

2.       improve mental health

3.       benefit older adults by improving the quality of life and decreasing disability

source:  http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/swimming/health_benefits_water_exercise.html

This article talks about the other reasons why swimming is good for you http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/aging/retirement/10-health-benefits-of-swimming1.htm

In short they are,

1. There’s no “harsh” impact on your skeleton. 
2. It increases your muscle tone and strength.
3. Since water is 12x denser than air it’s a resistance workout.
4. It improves your flexibility.
5. It strengthens the heart.
6. It’s one of the biggest calorie burners.  Here’s the approximate calories per 10 minutes

Breaststroke	60
Backstroke	80
Freestyle/crawl	100
Butterfly	150

     7.  It helps improve asthma symptoms
     8.  It can balance your cholesterol
     9.  It Lowers your risk of diabetes
    10.  It relaxes you in the same way yoga does
    11.  It can keep you from dying.

Take a look at those articles and you’ll see some of the reasons why I love swimming.  What are your feelings about swimming?

Tomorrow:  Farmer’s Market Friday!!