Swimming makes you beautiful: how to fight imperfections lap after lap

Virtually every woman, when looking in the mirror, sees thousands of faults and is often at war with her own reflection, and trying to please yourself every day can become a challenge. A few simple steps would be enough to improve our perception, counteracting those little imperfections that annoy us: cellulite, water retention, loss of tone. These are most often caused by an incorrect and sedentary way of living. So hand in hand, with a balanced diet, we can devote ourselves to many activities in the pool, dynamic and fun, that also have the benefit of making us more beautiful.

Cellulite’s days are numbered with freestyle and breaststroke

It is one of the most painful marks for women, concerning more or less everything, regardless of weight and fat mass. It is the hated cellulite, aka panniculopatia edematofibrosclerotica (P.E.F.S.), so called because it comes from an alteration of the adipose membrane, subcutaneous tissue rich in fat cells. It passes through three stages, the last of which is also the most serious: it sometimes presents painful nodules, increases dilated capillaries and can even appear as bruises on the skin that take on the typical “mattress” aspect. Total regression at this stage is no longer possible, but the situation may still improve.

You can fight cellulite with nutrition and a healthy lifestyle and even genetics play a role. Swimming can be a great ally because the lengthening of the muscles effectively counteracts water retention in the legs. In addition, the element of water is beneficial for the skin and draining. The most suitable styles? The freestyle and the breaststroke are effective at training specific areas, such as the inside of the thighs and the upper part of the arms, where cellulite is normally most abundant.

Less fat more health

From the moment that cellulite affects the fatty tissue, in a lean and toned body, you will notice it very little, however, it loves to manifest itself where there are higher concentrations of fat. That’s why swimming is a very useful activity for losing weight, allowing you to fight, in addition to the hated cellulite, other imperfections such as loss of tone, localised fat (rolls, love handles, flabby thighs) and circulation problems.

Lap after lap you will be able to say goodbye to heavy legs, which benefit greatly from the horizontal position and the lymphatic massage performed by the water, good for microcirculation. The muscles in your arms, legs and torso are stressed all the time, but for beginners, a gradual approach is important: two weekly swimming sessions of 30 minutes may be sufficient.

To each his own style

Every style and discipline in the water has its benefits in helping us get back in shape. For example, the breast stroke strengthens the muscles in the legs, lower back and the chest, also helping to tone the B side; freestyle improves breathing; the backstroke tones the abdominals and strengthens shoulders and coordination.

Even water aerobics are very good for burning calories (about 400 for an hour of training) and help us to lose weight, but if we want to work a particular part of the body, we can use different tools: the kickboard for the legs, the pullbuoy, which is held between the legs to enhance the work of the arms, and flippers to stimulate the quadriceps and hamstrings.

Which imperfections would like to get rid of with swimming? Have you already tried these exercises?