If you are looking for a lifelong fitness activity for your kid, look no further than swimming! As well as being fun, swimming has numerous benefits, contributing to both physical and mental developments for kids. ILK Learning is here to introduce 8 reasons why your kids should start to learn swimming right away!

1. Swimming is the only sport for survival

   Among all the sports you may choose from, from ball games to running, swimming is the ONLY skill that is also life-saving. With drowning being one of the most common causes of accidental death in children of all-time, the ability to swim and knowledge of water safety is highly useful. Not to mention that around 70% of earth surfaces are bodies of water. While parents cannot always be there to supervise, the reality is that only one second of inattention could be fatal. Children becoming familiar and confident in swimming is essential to keep them safe.

2. Swimming helps build cardiovascular endurance

   There is no better sport for overall health than swimming. It’s great for children’s hearts and circulation with constant exercise. One of the major skills that is required for swimmers to excel at the sport, is to control their breaths underwater. Eventually it opens up a child’s lung capacity. Swimming helps to condition a child's heart and lungs to work together simultaneously with a better breathing pattern. Hence, it helps to ease asthma, while enhancing the flexibility, posture and balance of the body at the same time.

3. Encourage muscle development

   Swimming is one of the very few sports that utilises muscle movements of the entire body. From arms and upper body to the core and legs, swimming is an all-round training for your kid’s body development. Together with the power of water resistance, swimming is indeed an intense training for strength as your child kicks, pushes, pulls, stretches and reaches through the water. The magic behind is that also because of water resistance, it is actually a low-impact sport with less strain putting on joints. This makes the sports more approachable for overweight kids and minimizes injuries. Related Blog : The Tips to improve Health Quotient (HQ)

4. Swimming trains up motor skills

   Swimming helps children develop both fine and gross motor skills much faster when compared to their non-swimming peers. According to a study, young swimmers who pick up the skill before 5, are better at tasks such as coloring inside shapes, drawing lines and cutting paper. These tasks all required visual motor skills. Swimmers are also trained up to have better balance with constant exercises in water resistance. Hence, young swimmers gain developmental advantages over their peers with better visual and hand-eye coordination.

5. Swimming is good for cognitive growth

   Growing bodies of research prove that swimming helps to improve memory, understanding and other cognitive functions. Even when it comes to vocabulary-learning, they found that children’s accuracy was much higher for words learned following swimming compared with coloring and CrossFit. Young swimmers also showed more expertise when it comes to memorising short stories and paragraphs. They also had higher numerical proficiency, for example, identifying numbers, counting and solving arithmetic problems. In terms of language, they are also more advanced both in speaking and reading. These studies reveal a fact that swimming is definitely an amazing sport that indirectly helps with children’s academic performances.

6. Swimming helps children to concentrate

   To master swimming, one must practice repetitive steps and excel at them. It is almost impossible for swimmers to be distracted. They must use all of their energy to make sure they breathe and move properly to prevent choking. Being under water, swimmers are good at dismissing distractions around them and to only concentrate on going ahead. They gradually learn to focus on one thing at a time with the perseverance to complete laps. In fact, swimming has been widely recommended for kids with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). It allows them to burn off excess energy and to concentrate on what really matters.

7. Reduce stress and anxiety

   Swimming naturally releases endorphins in your body, a natural feel-good hormone that brings us a greater sense of happiness and well-being that could only be released with sports. According to a research conducted in the United Kingdom, physical activity such as swimming can lead to a 30% improvement in self-worth, increasing general satisfaction in life. In research carried out with the participation of 4,000 swimmers across the world, ¾ agreed that water-based activities helped release tension, while 68% of people felt being in the water made them feel happier in themselves. The practiced, regular breathing patterns also bring calming effects to the body and mind, with muscles relaxing in the water.

8. Improve sleep

   When we swim, we are constantly pushing against the water pressure to move ourselves forward. This repeated movement essentially translates into resistance training, which is in fact the perfect solution for a kid’s limitless energy to put him/her to sleep with a tiring effect..Aside from making swimmers more physically exhausted, swimming relaxes people. By taking the time to float over water, it is much easier for your kid to release tension in daily lives.

Conclusion

Related Courses: 

• Swimming Classes (September – October 2021)

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