How swimming will make you a better singer
By now, most people know that swimming is an excellent source of exercise. Being in the water limits the level of impact on the joints and muscles, thus protecting them from many sports-related injuries on land. Also, while running focuses your attention on the lower body and lifting weights focuses on the upper body, swimming allows for a comprehensive full-body workout. But did you know that swimming can also make you a better singer?
Being a quality singer requires more than just a beautiful voice and an accurate ear for tonality. To pull off those long, flowing phrases found in everything from pop to opera, a healthy lung capacity is essential. Exercise in general will increase the amount of air going into your lungs, but swimming in particular can have a big impact. The reason is that the air capacity is reduced by about 75% during aquatic exercise due to the pressure of the water on your body. This is not just limited to swimming, but also includes underwater aerobics, aqua therapy, weight lifting, and other water exercise routines. With regular workouts lasting a reasonable amount of time (no, five minutes isn’t enough), the body’s compensation for lack of lung capacity underwater will in turn increase capacity on dry land.
Increased lung capacity not only benefits singers, but also swimming’s ability to strengthen core muscles. There isn’t much advantage to having a ton of air in your lungs if it’s expelled too quickly. Controlling the exhalation is crucial for a soulful vocal performance. It’s the abdominal muscles that manage the airflow being expelled at any given time, so with a toned core, breathing can be stretched for a longer period of time.
Have you ever heard that singers are good divers? A singer will use much less of the air tank compared to a non-singer because they are used to controlling exhalations with their abdominal muscles, muscles that are strengthened through a regular water aerobic routine, whether in the ocean, pool, or even in a swimming spa
The benefits of a regular swim workout are endless. It’s no wonder so many athletes have hydrotherapy pools in their gyms to work on their collective injuries. However, for athletes it is the weightlessness of water that offers the benefits for a low-impact workout, but for a singer the opposite is true. It is the weight of the water that strengthens and expands the lungs’ ability to take in air, and that same weight offers resistance in building a core that can hold the air in. So whether you want to be an NBA point guard or the next Andrea Bocelli, put on that bathing suit and get in the water.