Swimming and Health Benefits: AQUA SPEED for Your Well-being!
Swimming and Health
What health benefits are associated with swimming and water activities? This question is addressed by the social campaign "AQUA SPEED for Your Well-being." Our experts and invited guests offer advice on how to use the swimming pool as a space for mental and physical recovery after illness, to manage chronic stress, and as a tool for health prevention.
Workday and Physical Activity
Aleksandra Zienowicz-Wielebska – Sports Psychologist: Training and physical activity help with time management and maintaining self-discipline. It becomes significantly easier to establish routines and find a daily rhythm. Ideally, training sessions should take place at fixed, scheduled times. In mental training, just as in physical training, athletes are encouraged to complete tasks at consistent times each day – and the same principle applies to all of us.
Especially now, in this disharmonious world, what helps us maintain mental health and well-being is finding a rhythm and creating routines. Every workout and every activity should be integrated into the daily plan. In fact, it is essential to create a plan and stick to it.
Training as a Way to Break Monotony
Many people live in a routine: wake up in the morning, eat something, go to work, come back tired, take care of things at home, and then go to bed. Training can serve as a stimulus that motivates and disciplines us, providing an opportunity to break the monotony of the day or week.
Additional benefits of training during the day include:
- The ability to release emotions and redirect focus to what I am doing in the present moment.
- Gaining an understanding of how I feel, how my body is functioning, and how this affects my emotional state.
- Becoming aware of what I think—or don’t think—during training, and noticing how I feel when I am not caught up in my thoughts but fully engaged in the activity I’m dedicating myself to at that moment.
This ties into increasingly popular concepts in business, such as mindfulness, which can be developed through training. It has been proven that the skills we cultivate through sports can transfer to our everyday life skills.
By increasing our awareness of how our mind and body function during training, we enhance our chances of becoming more conscious individuals in both daily life and work.
Aleksandra Zienowicz-Wielebska – sports psychologist working in both sports and film. She is a graduate of Clinical Psychology at SWPS University in Warsaw and completed postgraduate studies in Psychology in Positive Sport at SWPS University, Sopot Campus.
Swimming, Exercising, and Relaxing... All in the Water?
Mateusz Olasek – Physiotherapist: The swimming pool is the ideal place to start your journey with physical activity. Not everyone can run due to various strains, pains, and dysfunctions. Running requires preparation, and a lack of it can lead to injuries and outcomes opposite to what’s desired. On the other hand, you can visit the pool daily while diversifying your activities: swimming, exercising, relaxing… all in the water.
My experience as a physiotherapist shows that water-based activity is not just recreation but also rehabilitation and a way to improve health.
Especially now, in the pandemic era, water rehabilitation should be recommended and funded for people recovering from COVID. Everyone who has experienced the infection, whether symptomatic or asymptomatic, should exercise in the water. These sessions should be conducted with a physiotherapist or instructor to ensure they are safe and effectively accelerate the recovery process without unnecessary strain.
Is the Swimming Pool a Burden or Relief for the Body?
An athlete, when given a training program—whether for swimming or another sport—is capable of completing it independently because they have practiced those tasks over several years.
A patient, on the other hand, often cannot follow a physiotherapist's recommendations on their own because, after leaving the clinic, they may forget much of how to perform the exercises. There is also the risk that the exercises prescribed by the therapist might be done incorrectly at home. Even basic gymnastics isn’t suitable for everyone, as some may have contraindications such as high blood pressure, pain issues, or other ailments.
It’s different with water exercises. Here, even if the tasks are performed incorrectly, the patient won’t harm themselves. The body is supported by the water, allowing them to feel free and relaxed; they exercise while simultaneously relaxing, as the water has a calming effect.
When I used to lead aqua aerobics classes years ago, I saw how people of all ages—from their 20s to retirees—found a way to participate in the same sessions. Of course, they performed the exercises with varying dynamics and intensity, but age did not determine whether or not they could complete a given exercise.
It’s important to emphasize that not only now, and not only those with post-COVID-19 complications, should exercise and stay active—everyone should. A year of isolation, stress caused by the situation around us, working from home, and limitations on physical activity have led to a dramatic decline in people’s health, which I am observing firsthand.
A Challenge for Health – AQUA SPEED Open Water Series
The AQUA SPEED brand is committed to promoting swimming and physical activity in water. For the third year, we are proud to sponsor and support the unique open water swimming competitions.
What benefits do swimming and water activities offer?
"A sense of freedom – I immerse myself in the water and redirect my focus to training, to movement. It doesn’t have to be a conscious effort, but it naturally reduces the tension that builds up in the body. It also improves endurance and builds persistence in achieving goals, both athletic and non-athletic. Additionally, the feeling of freedom, exercising 'here and now,' and relaxing are crucial. Through movement, I release tension and regulate my emotions," advises Aleksandra Zienowicz-Wielebska.
Is it worth setting a goal or challenge to work toward?
"If it motivates someone to 'get moving,' then absolutely. The worst scenario is when someone becomes demotivated… They go to the pool once and expect to lose 5 kilograms after that one session. It doesn’t work that way. Similarly, after one swim, you can’t expect the pain you’ve been dealing with to disappear. The same goes for building fitness – it doesn’t happen after 2-3 sessions. It’s a long, tedious process, but one that is incredibly rewarding," adds Mateusz Olasek.
The AQUA SPEED Open Water Series competitions are a perfect opportunity to test your fitness, enjoy great fun, experience healthy competition, and connect with nature.
We invite you to take part in the AQUA SPEED Open Water Series 2024. The competitions will be held across three locations:
- Iconic Ślesin (June 1, 2024)
- Elbląg (July 6, 2024)
- Syców (July 13, 2024)
Anyone who can swim at least 475 meters (a new distance) is welcome to participate. Swimming in a triathlon wetsuit is allowed. Children can compete in shorter distances: 100 meters (ages 6-7), 200 meters (ages 8-11), 475 meters (ages 12-13). For more information, visit the event website.
