SWIMMING!!!

Swimming is probably one of the best work outs, as it works your entire body, plus you get your cardio. From everything I have been reading lately, cardio is the best way to loose that belly fat. 

Belly fat is one of the hardest things to loose, and it is also one of the worst things to have. If your waist is larger than 35 for women or 40 for men, then you are at a higher risk for heart disease, diabetes, stroke and breast cancer. 

If you have access to a pool and can swim, I highly recommend this form of exercise.   Personally, when I swim, I like to switch it up a bit. I don't just go back and forth doing free style. I do free style, breast stroke and side stroke. Treading water is also a very good work out. 

For Christmas my husband got me some water gloves. I really like them because they not only allow me to swim faster, but also give me a much better upper body work out. 

They are kinda funny looking, but I love them. One thing I don't like about them is that they draw attention to me. I'm not one that really likes a lot of attention like that. It is positive, though, and most people ask where I got them. I have a feeling I might be seeing more of these at the pool. I'm thinking about even trying them in my water aerobics and water walking classes. Sure I will get more of a workout by using them in those classes too.

Back to the swimming as a form of exercise. Like I said, I highly recommend this sport, but with other forms of exercise. Just swimming will help you in your journey to loose weight and get healthy, but you do have to do other forms of exercise too. Swimming is good for cardio, flexibility, enhances joint mobility, builds muscles, and strengthens your lungs.---but is not a weight bearing exercise.  Weight bearing exercise is done on your feet, working against gravity. When you swim, you really don't work against gravity. Personally, once I started swimming again, that is when I started seeing the numbers on the scale go down. I believe swimming was the "icing on the cake" in my road to loosing weight.

Hope some of you will add swimming to your exercise repertoire. And those of you who are just beginning, well swimming would be great for you, especially if you have injuries or other problems being able to move. Once you get stronger, then you can add some of the other forms of exercise I've talked about in previous posts.