I know that excersise is a healthy way to stay fit...and that some excersises are less beneficial than others..for example running is bad on the joints from the constant impacting on the legs..do any of you know the downside of swimming excersises or is it all gravy...im 37 and fitter than i was at 20!!!!!!!
Former Member
Well, swimming can be hard on your shoulders, particularly if you have flaws in your technique -- as I've learned the hard way :(.
I also sense, although I can't prove this, that swimmers may be more susceptible to sinus and other upper respiratory problems (judging by the frequency of posts about that on this forum and comparison to my non-swimming friends).
But these are minor, compared to the benefits. :)
Phil Whitten, swimming guru and gerontologist, has demonstrated that Masters swimmers show much less decrease in VO2max with age than the rest of the population. There is a 1% decline per year (after which age, I forget) in the average person, but in Masters swimmers there is actually an increase until 40, then the yearly drop is almost imperceptible until the 70s.
This is consistent with the emerging belief that many of the physical declines we usually associate with aging are actually the rest of a sedentary lifestyle.
It's only anecdotal, but my childhood asthma problems disappeared when I began swimming in high school As an adult with a tendency to repeated and frequent sinus infections, since returning to the water after a 30 year absence a year ago, I have not had a single such infection, and my wife says my snoring has greatly decreased. So, as for me personally, I would have to say that my sinus and lung health are improved along with strength, heart rate and weight loss.
