Swimming and the Brain: Ways to Give Yourself a Mental Boost
Aerobic exercise has been proven to help diminish the ravages of time on the body, and now we’re finding that swimming and brain health are linked! Swimming regularly has demonstrated a marked effect on mental health, cognitive function, memory, mood, and immune response. It may even help reverse damage caused by stress and create new cognitive connections.
How Swimming Affects the Brain
Relieves Stress and Elevates Your Mood
Exercise releases endorphins, the hormones that boost your mood and well-being and block pain. And a 2003 study shows that swimming can enhance your mood even more than other exercises like yoga or dancing (though those are always encouraged as well!). Tip: swim routinely for long stretches to trigger your brain to undergo hippocampal neurogenesis, the process of regrowing cells in atrophied areas of the brain from chronic stress.
Improves Your Mental Health
While emotions may feel close to your heart, they actually reside in your brain. Not only does swimming promote a healthy brain and strong mental health through the release of serotonin, the neurotransmitter that acts as a “happy” chemical, but it also creates a positive social impact. Taking swimming classes with a group or playing in the pool with your peers reduces loneliness and social isolation, which can lead to anxiety and depression.
Improves Your Sleep
Roughly half of older adults experience sleep disorders like insomnia and restless leg syndrome. Aerobic exercise like swimming is a great way to tire you out during the day to sleep better at night, allowing your body’s internal clock to rest and restore your circadian rhythm, the mental, behavioral, and physical changes we experience in a 24-hour cycle.
Improves Your Immune Response
Not only does cold water help you sleep, it can improve your ability to resist infection. Despite the common belief that cold winter weather leads to catching the cold and flu, it’s actually because people congregate together indoors for warmth, making it easier to spread pathogens. Cold water swimming can boost the number of white blood cells circulating in your blood, which are the part of your immune system that helps you fight infection. This is because cold water stresses our body in a way that stimulates the production and release of white blood cells. Consistent swimming can also keep these immune soldiers at the ready for longer, so you’re prepared for any cold that may come your way!
Enhances Your Cognitive Function and Memory
Swimming is also a great exercise that improves your circulatory system, which transports oxygen and nutrients to cells in need and carries away waste products, improving your overall brain function. And a 2019 study on the impact of swimming on the cognitive abilities of older adults found that those who swim had stronger attention and mental speed than non-swimming counterparts. Tip: 20 minutes of moderate breaststroke swimming can have the greatest effects on improving cognitive function.
A 2021 study also found participants experienced improved short- and long-term memories after swimming. This exercise stimulates neural growth in the brain, particularly in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus, where learning and memory are stored.
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