While swimming’s benefits to our bodies are well-documented, new research shows its effects go much further than just helping to firm up our muscles. One Harvard scholarly study places swimming at top of beneficial sports with deep improvements in cognitive and mental health, offering several empirical studies to back it up.
Now, it had been corroborated upon by a very famous neurobiologist, Dr. Seena Mathew, working in the area of cerebral physiology through an article for TED, a platform of high repute in terms of expert opinion. She quotes, “Regular swimming has been shown to improve memory, enhance cognitive functions, increase immune responses, and improve mood. Swimming can also help in the repair of stress-related damage to the brain cells and in the development of new neuronal connections.” She concludes, “Human beings have searched for decades for the fountain of youth. Swimming just might be the closest thing we get.”
The Interrelationship between Aerobic Exercise and Body and Mind
The vocabulary of athletics is peppered with the terms “anaerobic” and “aerobic” exertions. Anaerobic activities, as manifested through weightlifting, HIIT, and Tabata, mean a very focused, very brief, energetic activity with little oxygen intake that leaves one gasping for breath. In sharp contrast, aerobic activities—representatively speaking, swimming, running, and dancing—imply a long-term but moderate degree of exercise and are therefore more efficient for the cardiorespiratory system by supplies of oxygen to the muscles.
Aerobic exercises increase not only stamina but also play a very integral role in neurogenesis—the production of new neurons. These exercises, according to Dr. Seena Mathew, are imperative in reversing or repairing neuronal loss and spines and their connections. This strengthens neuronal plasticity, hence sharpening cognition, particularly skills related to memory and learning.
Aerobic exercise has also substantial mental health benefits. “Aerobic activity also promotes the release of certain neurotransmitters,” says Dr. Mathew. Among those is serotonin, which, when raised, is believed to reduce depression and anxiety while promoting general feelings of well-being.
The Three Mental Advantages of Swimming
Researchers are really just in the early throes of discovering what it is about swimming—in particular, compared to other aerobic exercises—that makes it such a boon for the brain. The good news is that one doesn’t have to churn out 400 meters of Olympic-caliber medley to realize those mental gains. A study among young adults found that a mere 20 minutes of moderate-intensity breaststroke swimming was enough to significantly enhance cognitive function.
Swimming Strengthens Memory
Research has established that swimming for a mere twenty minutes each day can improve concentration, boost short- and long-term memory, and even slow down age-related cognitive decline. Citing the TED site, “Swimming has been shown to activate brain pathways that suppress inflammation in the hippocampus and reduce apoptosis or cell death. The study further showed that swimming may promote neuronal survival and attenuate the cognitive impairment associated with aging.”
Swimming Can Boost Your Mood
Swimming is a holistic exercise. It involves tugging at the major muscle groups, hastening the heartbeats and blood flow. The enhanced blood flow impetus in angiogenesis, or the formation of new blood vessels, told the neurobiologist. Heightened blood flow may also cause the substantive release of endorphins, which are the body’s natural painkillers, leading to the euphoric feeling that most people generally experience immediately after exercising. In other words, swimming floods the body with mood-elevating hormones.
Swimming and Enhanced Learning Ability
As mentioned above, the impacts of swimming on cellular growth and development of neuronal connections increase our learning capacity, assimilation of new information, and even the rate at which it can be retrieved correctly in the future.
This article was originally published on vogue. Read the original article.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Will swimming benefit my mental health?
Yes. Swimming offers excellent benefits to mental health by helping reduce stress, anxiety, and depression and improving mood and cognitive functions.
2. How often must I swim to experience benefits to the brain?
To obtain cognitive benefits, one must be able to swim at least 2-3 times a week for 20-30 minutes per session.
3. Is swimming better than other forms of exercise for brain health?
Swimming is indeed unique in its low-impact, resistance produced by water, and the meditative nature involved in the exercise.
4. What are some immediate mental benefits from swimming?
Some of the immediate mental benefits of swimming include reduction in stress, improved mood, and increased mental clarity.
5. How does swimming compare to meditation for stress relief?
While swimming and meditation are both great ways to get rid of stress, swimming performs the functions of both a workout and a meditative state combined, thus easing the mind comprehensively.