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This is why swimming is the golden exercise

A funny thing happened last summer. After years of skin diving, suddenly I was afraid of the water.
Woman swimming in the ocean
Shot of a cheerful senior woman enjoying herself while swimming outdoors in the ocean

 

  

A funny thing happened last summer. After years of skin diving, suddenly I was afraid of the water. Were there more dangerous sea animals now? Stronger tides? Colder water? No! It was a fearful mindset, besieged by intense media coverage of the pandemic. So I had a little talk with myself and guess what? I’m back to daily swimming again. 

Last week I swam around a harem of seals, keeping my distance so as not to disrupt their land leisure time, yet they all jumped in the water anyway. Why? My guess is that they never knew humans could swim. What a shame. 

Ocean swimming is among the best forms of exercise for any age. Over time, gravity pulls our vertical bodies downward, creating compression forces that negatively affect our posture. Swimming negates these pressures by elongating our bodies. Plus, it’s great for building heart and lung strength and the resistance component is like doing every strength machine in the gym…at the same time. Phenomenally efficient! 

It is also highly motivational because, physically, it provides a terrific workout while, mentally, the mind is stimulated with unbelievable sea life all around and fun waves to play in. Yet the best part is you don’t need anything to do it. Of course, one should always be cognizant of tides, as currents can be strong, so it’s never a bad idea to go with a buddy. 

For best results, I recommend two things: 

1)    Goggles that look like a hybrid scuba mask (but don’t cover the nose) are far superior to traditional tiny, oval-shaped swim goggles. This allows one to explore the wondrous undersea world of Jacques Cousteau without even leaving the surface. 

2)    Zoomers are normally used by swim clubs. They are a modified version of scuba fins but quite a bit shorter; great for entering and exiting the water. 

Tyler at Trail Bay Sports sold me both for about $100 and I found him to be quite knowledgeable about this and most sporting equipment. 

Summer is truly the golden time for Canadians so now is the best time to swim in our (relatively) warm waters. It’s never easy to find the motivation to exercise so, this summer, why not try tricking the body into doing something that is fun and exhilarating and you’ll get an amazing workout in return.