Make Your Recovery Go Swimmingly

We’re very thorough at our Kingsland physio clinic. Whatever your injury, we’ll map out a full recovery program , including some exercises you can do in the comfort of your own home. In some cases, we might even suggest you venture out to your local swimming pool to add a further layer to your recovery program. Swimming is recognised as a wonderful all-round exercise and it could be very beneficial in so many ways as you recover from your injury.

The most obvious benefit is that swimming is a low impact activity. The buoyancy of water means you can only bear up to 10% of your body weight, which makes swimming ideal during rehab as there is much less strain on muscles and joints. Swimming is classified as an aerobic activity, so it’s a great way to stay on top of your cardiovascular fitness throughout your recovery period. This is especially good if you’re worried about weight gain during your injury-enforced downtime.

How much energy you burn obviously depends on the intensity of the exercise. But almost all of the research available to us indicates that the amount of calories you will burn during a 30-minute swim is equal to, if not more, than running. As far as weight management is concerned, this is music to the ears of many of our clients, with the additional advantage of gaining strength in otherwise neglected muscles, as the resistance of water is 44 times greater than air.

Finally, let’s look at a benefit that has mental implications instead of physical ones. Many of our patients feel a bit down when they can’t be as active as they want to, but a survey shows that swimming could make them feel so much better within themselves. The survey was carried out by a world-famous swimwear company and revealed that 74% of respondents feel that swimming releases stress and tension, 68% say it helps them to feel good about themselves, and 70% feel mentally refreshed after swimming. Anyone suffering from the rehab blues should note those statistics with interest.

Any recovery program we work out for you would have been completed with great care, and will be designed to help you recover as quickly as possible and as fully as possible. It’s important you follow that program closely, and there might be occasions when we will suggest that swimming shouldn’t be a part of it. However, if it is possible for you to swim as part of your recovery, we urge you to do so. If you’re currently working with us to manage your injury, and if you want to confirm that swimming would be OK, get in touch and ask. If we agree that it’s a good addition to your recovery program, then dive right in and reap the physical and mental rewards.