It’s a simple question, Can swimming improve your brain?
swimmers are pretty switched on kind of people
Can swimming improve your brain? Did you ever notice that most swimmers are pretty switched on the kind of people? So we ask the question, Can swimming improve your brain? Have you ever noticed that after you go for a swim you feel “refreshed”? Or that after a swim you seem to function better after a morning swim? Well, is it just a coincidence.?
The Benefits of Swimming Every Day
The effect that swimming every day has on your brain has been documented for years and studies. This includes the one by Dr. Howard Carter of the University of Western Australia, School of Sports Science. His study surmised that by being submerged in water up to your chest increased blood flow to your brain as opposed to exercising on land. If you would like more information about Dr. Howard Carter study then click here.
Due to the low impact on joints and bones of swimming, it is a far better exercise than running. This means that swimming can appeal to a larger sector of the community. Swimming every day can also be used as a form of meditation. You have to control your breathing as you would while meditating. On top of this, all other stimuli are removed. When you are swimming you can’t do anything but breathe in the water and submit it to your own thoughts. A lot like meditation.
This means that swimming is a lot like meditation, think about it, what do you do when you meditate? You focus on your breathing and try to empty your mind. It has also been proven that human brain cells are damaged by stress. However, swimming can fix that for you through the process of hippocampal neurogenesis. Hippocampal neurogenesis is a form of neural circuit plasticity that results in the generation of new neurons. In a nutshell, your brain rewires itself after you have killed off a few neural connections. Which can be caused by stressing out too much.
Baby swim lessons. Do they help the brain?
baby swim lessons at a young age can help with their brain development
As a bonus, it’s been found that by getting your little one into baby swim lessons at a young age can help with there development. This can include the development of their gross motor skills (coordination), visual motor skills (coloring), and some math problems too. So it’s not just good for your brain but good for your little one’s brain as well. When you were a baby between the age of 0 to 6 months of age your brain requires more stimulation.
During this time it needs more stimulation than any other time during your life and water is a great stimulus. Plus during your early years of growing up to the age of about 6 years of age, your brain is ready, keen, eager and primed to learn new skills such as swimming. This is why teaching a baby or small child to swim, is done at such an early age.
When a baby is learning to swim they get the opportunity to develop their mobility and coordination. Babies also begin to grasp the breathing aspect of swimming which has a huge effect on a baby’s communication. Did you know that when a babies breathing becomes deeper, more regular, and better, the results are more enhanced skills? This then helps the baby to make more sounds which helps their language development. If a baby can communicate in its environment better, generally studies have shown that the baby is happier.
How to Increase Serotonin in the Human Brain Without Drugs
Swimming every day increases the serotonin level in the brain. Serotonin is a chemical that is generated by the nerve cells in different parts of your body. Serotonin is responsible for a few things inside your body including maintaining bone health and healing wounds. But more importantly the regulation of anxiety and the reduction of depression. It’s pretty much a “make me feel better” drug.
Your brain creates Serotonin during swimming which is why you feel better after doing it. Plus chocolate is one of the foods that increase serotonin in your body. Because you get a hit of Serotonin every time you have a piece of that too.
Swimming is like Chocolate
So why not put down that decadent piece of dark chocolate. Go and dive into the pool and do some laps instead. You feel just as good and instead of adding calories, you will be burning them.