If you’re looking for ways to stay active, there’s no better way than to find activities like rock climbing and swimming. Rock climbing and swimming are great ways to not only stay in shape, but these are activities you can either do on your own or with a group of friends or family. Both activities put you in touch with nature and provide many benefits for your mind and body. To learn more about such benefits, read on from our insight.
They Can Replace Harmful Obsessions
Humans are adventurous people at times. Being such high-level thinkers, we may sometimes sit there and get bored and look for different ways to break that boredom. In other words, people may easily develop harmful obsessions that can not only harm them but other people around them. Take, for example, drug and alcohol abuse.
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with having a drink or two with family or friends. After all, happy hour is called happy hour for a reason. With the holidays coming up, champagne, spiked eggnog and rum drinks will be flowing even more. There’s nothing wrong with participating in an alcoholic beverage or using a prescription painkiller or medicinal CBD to help with pain relief. What happens when you become addicted to such substances?
Instead of having a drink or two with friends, you may find yourself not being able to socialize or feel at peace without downing a whole bottle of wine or hard liquor on your own. What if taking one or two prescription pain pills for a short time turns into illegally getting multiple prescriptions of the same drug so you can stay high?
Sometimes people resort to addiction to fill an empty hole inside. People may be feeling emotionally or spiritually empty or in pain due to relationships or financial problems. Luckily, you can always seek addiction treatment services to help you with these issues. In addition, you can seek out nature and positive activities like rock climbing to help you through such situations. Rock climbing and swimming several laps can give you a sense of accomplishment and when others, you can have a sense of belonging.
Many people use drugs or alcohol to feel high or happy and get away from the stresses of life. Did you know that a good workout can give you that same sense of high or a better one? When you exert your body, your brain releases feel-good hormones called “endorphins”. When you take a dip in a public or residential pool and swim for 30 minutes or go rock climbing as far as your body can take you, you’ll be releasing several endorphins before your activity is over.
They Make Your Bones Strong
When you think of a house, you can’t have a house without the foundation that holds it up underneath. Well, guess what? Your skeleton is the equivalent of your home’s foundation. Your skeleton is made of bones that need the right nutrients and amount of activity to stay strong and viral. Activities like rock climbing and swimming, or great ways to apply the right amount of pressure on your muscles, ligaments, and bones so that they have a healthy amount of resistance to stay strong. Your bones aren’t just the ones in your limbs and ribs. Your teeth are also, technically, bones.
Practicing good oral hygiene is the basis of keeping your teeth strong and healthy so you always have a beautiful smile and can eat properly. You should also take your children to a kids dentist so they can check out any issues that may be developing in your child’s teeth. After all, children love sweets, which can wreak havoc on teeth and cause premature cavities. However, getting your children active, in addition to maintaining good oral hygiene, can help keep their teeth and bones strong. Keeping those teeth and bones strong from a young age, you’ll be less likely to need a tooth implant later on due to loss from decay.
With activities like rock climbing and swimming, kids can also be more encouraged to participate in other activities like running or joining a sports team. Once kids get active in sports, become part of a team, and realize just how good it feels to stay active and look good, they may be more likely to stay away from sweets. They may realize bad foods can cause them to gain weight, affect teeth, and cause them to not be able to participate in the sports they’ve come to love.
They Can Get You Out and Moving
Unfortunately, Americans are more sedentary than ever. Young kids to residents in senior living facilities have too many options to sit all day and watch TV, play video games, or be attached to an electronic device. That’s why activities like rock climbing and swimming are important to participate in. According to Healthline, people should get at least 30 minutes of regular activity a day.
Such an activity could be something as simple as power walking, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, or biking to work or school. However, too many people can sit down all day, especially with more people working from home or working from a computer screen. Plus, more socialization is still taking place online with social media. Would access to various online spaces? It’s too easy for people to get lazy and not be as active as they may have been a generation or two ago.
Sure, everybody may not physically be capable of rock climbing. However, you may do something a little more simple, like hiking on flatter land. Taking advantage of a bike rental has never been easier, and there are more bike paths in America than ever before. Many cities have plenty of parks, even one as urban as New York. In New York, you could easily spend the day walking through Central Park and burning all the calories you need.
They Can Strengthen Your Hands
Have you ever thought about how activities like rock climbing and swimming can strengthen your hands? These activities are great for doing that because your hands play an important role in what you’re doing. When you exercise, you may focus on your legs and your feet. After all, running, walking, and biking are all activities that rely mostly on the strength of your lower body. Even at the gym, people are often on the treadmills, elliptical climbers, and things that may rely on working their glutes or bending their knees. Luckily, the weight lifters do rely on their hands and arms.
When you go rock climbing, you must use your hands to grasp each rock and support yourself. You can build body strength by pulling yourself up, and you may surprise yourself with how many rocks you’re able to get over. In addition to building hand strength, you may end up building confidence. It’s the same thing with swimming. Swimming is a full-body, low-impact workout where you must move your hands, legs, and feet in various motions. Whether you’re doing the doggy paddle, backstroke, or a full dive off a plank, your hands play as equal a role as your legs and feet in swimming.
If you’re worried about sanitation when you’re climbing, those slightly dusty rocks, don’t concern yourself. There are many hand washing stations and rock climbing areas so you can keep your hands germ-free and don’t have to wipe dust off on your clothing. However, you can also protect your hands by wearing climbing gloves.
They Can Clear Up Your Face
Did you know the right activities like rock climbing and swimming can help you clear up your face? If you have hormonal problems or issues where acne treatments haven’t worked, getting active may help you with that. When you go rock climbing or swimming, you’re exerting yourself and working up a sweat.
Sweat releases toxins from the skin and body. As a result, the release of those toxins and built-up dirt, along with making your body more fit, can go a long way in clearing up your face and achieving a natural glow. Plus, if you’re rock climbing, you’re going to be outside. As long as you protect yourself with sunscreen, the natural energy and rays of the sun can also provide a natural glow, tan, or sunkiss to your skin. Before you know it, makeup won’t be needed.
You’ll Feel a Muscular Difference
When you participate in activities like rock climbing and swimming long enough, it’ll show up in how you feel and look. Have you ever seen the bodies of professional swimmers or people who go rock climbing? You’ll notice these people are often very naturally lean and fit. They often have very noticeable toned muscles that often result from their particular activities. So if you’re looking for a way to get fit, but you don’t feel like lifting like Arnold Schwarzenegger, then swimming and rock climbing are good activities to try.
So why are rock climbing and swimming so good for feeling a muscular difference? When you understand the power of resistance, you’ll know why. The buoyancy of water provides a natural resistance against your muscles and ligaments without hurting them. That’s why aquatherapy is very effective for people of various ages who are recovering from injuries or are experiencing reduced mobility.
Of course, when you first start rock climbing, it may take some time to build up your endurance. However, don’t let those initial sore muscles detract you. Even when you work out at the gym, you’ll have some soreness as you build up regular workouts. You can always take advantage of local massage therapy to ease your sore muscles and get ready for your next activity. If you experience some soreness or injuries when rock climbing, don’t forget to keep a medic first aid kit on hand in case you need to wrap up a sore muscle or a bruise.
They’re Great for Your Heart
Speaking of muscles, there’s no greater muscle than your heart. Your heart is the center of life, and once it stops pumping, you won’t be able to do anything. That’s why it’s important to keep your heart as healthy as possible with regular activities like rock climbing, swimming, and others that you feel comfortable participating in. Regular cardiovascular activity can help prevent high blood pressure, heart attacks, stroke, and other issues that can affect the heart. You can avoid having to deal with pulmonary rehab by staying active with these activities that give your heart and veins a good workout.
Further take care of your heart and body with regular visits to your chiropractic office. A professional chiropractor has the skills to reduce headaches, back pain, neck pain, and other structural soreness that may prevent you from being as active as possible. When you go in for an initial consultation, tell them where your soreness or stiffness is. They can create a regular therapy program to help reduce such stiffness so you can increase your quality of life.
They Help You Sleep
Last but not least, did you know that activities like rock climbing and swimming can help you get a good night’s sleep? According to the Sleep Foundation, adults should get seven to nine hours of restful sleep each night. Without quality sleep, you’ll experience fatigue, inflammation, weight problems, anxiety, and more. With these regular intense or low-impact activities, you’ll give your body a good workout and stretch your muscles. Then when it’s time to go to sleep, you’ll have no problem doing so.
As you can see, staying active is one of the best things people can do at any age. Whether it’s rock climbing, swimming, jogging, biking, hiking, or going to the gym, keeping your body fit and active can increase your lifespan and life quality. Even if you don’t enjoy rock climbing or swimming, there are plenty of activities that are similar in terms of how you’ll work your body and the type of fun that you can have that you should give a try. You only have one life, so make sure you do what you can to increase it and enjoy it.
