2023-07-12 17:02:00
Any long-term sports practice promotes the natural release of endorphins, the hormones of well-being. The immersion and the feeling of floating and weightlessness that swimming provides facilitate relaxation of the muscles as well as the mind. Here is the advice of a specialist in this sport.
Parole d’expert : Latif Diouane
Health manager at the French Swimming Federation
France Dimanche: What are the benefits of swimming?
Latif Diouane: Swimming is a carried activity, carried out in a non-traumatic environment. In the water, you can move easily. There is little stress on the joints; we expend a lot of energy. The respiratory and circulatory system is developed with an important venous return.
FD: How effective is it?
LD: The World Health Organization recommends practicing thirty minutes a day. But as it is sometimes complicated to swim every day, you can go to the pool three times a week and complete with another activity, such as Nordic walking for example, or gardening, or climbing stairs. Swimming also reduces the risk of cancer recurrence by 40% and prevents diabetes. We were created to be active. Overall, swimming practiced on a regular basis preserves our health capital at any age.
FD: Is swimming an ally for mental well-being?
LD: Water has effects on our sensations, on our emotions, on our well-being. We empty our minds. The water temperature also allows this zenitude (whether at 25°C in swimming pools for adults or at 33°C for babies). We then swim almost at room temperature. Our body makes a small effort of thermoregulation and after the activity, the pleasure is there. We found calm, even when we just let ourselves float like a star on the surface of the water. Swimming is a great escape from the worries of everyday life and allows you to evacuate the stress and tensions of life.
FD: Which swimming discipline should be favored?
LD: It’s up to everyone to see what suits them and what they master best. The most important thing is to be horizontal. Do not let your legs, pelvis or upper back hang, so you can feel the resistance of the water and move in harmony. If you have too much of an arch, the breaststroke is not recommended. If you don’t breathe properly underwater, you shouldn’t start with the front crawl. Above all, it is important to position the head well in line with the body.
FD: Since water is denser than air, it adds resistance to our movements and improves its strength…
LD: Of course. The density of water is 700 times greater than that of air. And the resistance that this environment includes allows you to obtain significant muscle strengthening, whether in the arms, legs and back.
FD: Does swimming help control weight?
LD: Swimming is an energy-intensive activity. A 70 kg person who swims for one hour burns 550 kcal. But to lose weight, it is necessary above all to pay attention to the number of calories that one ingests. In any case, it is obvious that we transform fat into muscles!
FD: It is recommended for back problems. For what ?
LD: In horizontality, the weight of the body is beautifully distributed over the surface of the water. We are no longer vertical. We float. The tension is no longer exerted on the discs, the vertebrae, the lower back. The coordination of movements makes it possible to strengthen all the parts of the back, in particular the lumbar region, often damaged by bad positions or excess weight.
FD: Is swimming the most complete and accessible sport?
LD: The most complete for sure. But we lack basins in France. Clubs are often overwhelmed. There are only 3,800 public swimming pools in France, comprising 6,300 pools.
FD: What do you think of swimming with fins?
LD: It is effective if the objective is to strengthen the muscles of the lower limbs because it increases overall energy expenditure by almost 30%. We then solicit more the largest muscle chain, that of the ischios and quadriceps.
Alicia COMET
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