Everyone knows the benefits of physical exercise to achieve that improved quality of life. However when incorporated with a daily mental exercise , there can be no better way of keeping out Father time. Something about water and the brain, after all Dolphins are almost considered almost as smart as humans and if they determined the IQ test, they would probably favor themselves. Also the Dolphin's brain to body mass ratio is greater than most mammals. Swimming requires more simultaneous brain functions than running and other strenuous exercise .
Society has always obsessed over keeping young for as long as possible yet a majority of people focus primarily on the outside parts of the body, neglecting the brain altogether even though it's the potent force that can slow down the signs of aging . Nowadays people spend millions of dollars to go under the knife for cosmetic surgery to turn back the clock a few years, when a simple daily mental workout is free and will focus on re-energizing your total essence. The real force comes from within you, empower your inside and your outside will follow. Remember Rodin's Thinker sculpture and prior Renaissance hints?
Swimming is challenging because it carries that extra level of fear, water is known to cause drowning, however the brain loves to overcome fear. We all should take it upon ourselves to learn swimming, nature did send us a message, the Earth is 70% water. Our bodies contain about 70% water, the brain, 70%, our lungs 90%, and blood is 75% water. So that about explains the importance of water, also great for those of you that hate to have sweat pouring down you at the gym. Learning to be a strong swimmer could save your life at the next flood, tsunami or accident.
Swimming works out your entire body, improving cardiovascular conditioning, muscle strength, endurance, posture, and flexibility all at the same time. Who of us hasn't witnessed the amazing physiques of those Olympic water athletes. Swimming maximizes your body's use of oxygen without overworking your heart. We certainly don' want that. Swimming will enhance blood flow to the heart and make your lungs more efficient and as you get stronger, swimming underwater also works wonders because your brain takes on an increased workload. The brain craves for this type of work, ask Jack LaLanne.
You can kill two birds with one stone by swimming. It will give you a rigorous upper and lower body workout at the same time as long as you are doing those strokes correctly of course. The butterfly technique has been confirmed the most intense workout of any exercise. It's low impact, you don't have to worry about the possible tear and stress on your joints that running may cause. Equally important is that swimming is a great stress buster. It's hard for stress not to leave your body around water, like the tide washing away your anxieties, it improves your total circulation and forces stiff muscles to relax. Even if you are not ready to take the plunge and become a great swimmer, at least get in there, walk, run or paddle around in the water. Water refreshes, it rejuvenates, it revitalizes.
Henry Okwo is the Founder and CEO of SalesGymUSA, a Targeted Sales Training company. Henry is a graduate of University of California, Berkeley where he was a 2-time National Champion. He has over 15 years sales and management experience and has developed a specialized sales training program based on sports performance development. He also conducts a daily mental workout on his blog, www.salesgymusa.com/blog