Is swimming a good form of exercise?

Recently, I've been on a vacation away from the city. Surrounded by beach and nature, the goal is to calm down the nervous system and reboot my adrenals. The mind and soul play a huge role in health, a holistic getaway is needed after all the stress from regular lifestyle, and I believe that everyone requires a 'adrenals-reboot' vacation once in a while, preferably every couple years or so.

When I was sun-bathing in the sea, one thing came across my mind. Swimming. There have been a number of people who asked me about this physical movement, is it good or bad? From my honest point of view, it is good but could be bad if executed in a wrong way. How can swimming be bad? Well, the fact is, swimming itself, is a good form of exercise if it's performed safely in nature, meaning, swim in sea, lake, waterfall or river. In other words, to swim in god-made water environment, and not man-made pool. 

How could swimming in man-made pool be bad? Well, it's simple. Swimming pool, typical contaminated with chemicals and toxins such as heavy metals, pesticides, fluoride, chlorine, etc. Some water supply which fill the pool, may contain even pharmaceutical drugs. As scary as it sound, this is the hidden truth which most people are not aware. As I've blogged about chlorine and fluoride previously, both these neurotoxins are potent and harmful to humans. Chlorine is shown to damage vital organs such as lungs, eyes, hair, skin, liver, etc. And fluoride has been shown in countless studies to cause long list of serious health effects including lowered IQ, increased risk of bone cancer and fractures. 

Imagine going for a routine or regular swimming sessions in the pool. An hour of presumably relaxing dip in the pool may cause more harm then good to the body one can imagine. Have you wondered how humans were evolved to swim for thousands if not millions of years? Yes, we dip, wash, bath and swim in the sea, lake, river and waterfall. Clean, non/low contaminated water, loaded with minerals which has healing effects to the body. We used to sun-bathed in the sea, soaked in Vitamin D, stimulate the nervous system in AM, boosting the reproductive systems and blood flow, and the list of the benefits goes on. 

Swimming, is part of human evolution. The movement simulate the natural contralateral pattern which we were born to physically interact. Swim, run/sprint, walk, swinging from trees, all these movements are primal, and it involve how our t-spine, hip, glutes, obliques and the entire core system work in sync. Can you imagine if you are taken back to caveman era, how would you survive and move? From trees swinging to barefoot walking, sprinting while hunting or getting away from predators, and mountain climbing to perhaps swimming in deep sea to catch sea animals or even just a routine bath. Non of that typical bicep curls, tricep extension nor steady state cardio activities. 

If you are passionate about swimming, ensure you spend most of your time in nature-based water. Find a cleaner, lower-contaminated sea or river and enjoy your dip or diving skills. Unless you are training for a competition or sports, you will most likely need to train in swimming pool. There are some pools which uses saline water, a cleaner form of water, but most commercial pools are loaded with chlorine and other nasty chemicals. 

For whoever cant swim in the sea, I've list down some of the 'workouts' drills you can enjoy while you dip yourself in chest-height water level. I've tried these drills myself while having some fun in the sea, and you will be surprise the sweat dripping down from your forehead. Give it a try, and let me know if you like it. Happy sea workout! 

Drill 1: Underwater sprint

Think of sprinting, but you will be doing it underwater at chest-height. Ensure both your legs moves really fast and paddle both your shoulders and arms too at the same time. Repeat as many times as possible, with 10 secs intervals. 

Drill 2: Chest Flyes & Explosive Push

Instead of typical dumbells flye done in the gym, you will be crossing and opening both arms as fast as possible. As soon as the flye movement of 10 reps completed, go straight into explosive chest pushing movement of 10 reps. Ensure both palms are facing away from you, and perform the repetitive pushing movement as explosive and fast as possible without stopping. In conclusion, it will be a combination of 20 reps both flye and pushing in the least amount of time. To perform as many rounds as desired. 

Drill 3: Iso-Hold Floating Reverse Plank

You need to be in a shallower water level, about upper tricep to shoulder height (when you are on a reverse plank both palms pressing and anchoring the surface of the sand). Embrace your core muscles and ensure your glutes and legs do not touch the surface of the sand. The wave will continously shaking you off balance and your entire arms, abs and core muscles will fight hard to keep it afloat while your elbows are locked the entire period.

Drill 4: One leg iso-hold

One leg standing on the base of the sea, preferably at chest-height. The goal is try to be on one leg as long as possible, 60-180 seconds. Your muscle stabilizers and core muscles too will be on fire the entire time due to waves in the water constantly trying to throw you off balance.