However, you can search online for lifeguard training near me or check with your local swimming and lifeguard pools or community centers for information on lifeguard training programs in your area.
Now a growing amount of research indicates that swimming can also give brain health a unique boost.
Regular swimming has been shown to improve memory, cognitive function, immune response and mood.
Swimming and lifeguard can also help repair damage from stress as well as create new neural connections in the brain.
But researchers are still trying to uncover how and why swimming in particular produces these brain-enhancing effects.
Jump in the pool
I am a neurobiologist trained in brain physiology, a fitness enthusiast and a mother, and I spend many hours at the local swimming pool during the summer.
you can easily search for lifeguard training near me using a search engine or contacting your local swimming pools or beaches.
It is not unusual to see children splashing and swimming merrily while their parents sunbathe from a distance – and I myself have been one of those parents who observed the swimming and lifeguard pool from the sidelines plenty of times.
But if more adults knew about the cognitive and mental health benefits of swimming, they might be more likely to jump in the pool with their children.
New, improved brain cells and connections
Until the 1960s, researchers believed that the number of neurons (nerve cells in the brain, ed.) and so-called synaptic connections in the human brain was limited , and that these brain cells could not be replaced once they were damaged.
Neurons and synapses
The brain is an advanced organ, which in humans consists of about 86 billion nerve cells, also called neurons, connected in a network.
Why is swimming and lifeguard something special?
The researchers do not yet know what it is that makes swimming and lifeguard so special, but they are getting closer to the answer.
We have long known about the cardiovascular benefits of swimming. Because swimming involves all the major muscle groups, the heart has to work hard , which increases blood flow throughout the body. It leads to the formation of new blood vessels, a process called angiogenesis.
The increased blood flow can also lead to a large release of endorphins – hormones that act as natural pain relievers throughout the body.
This increase brings about the feeling of euphoria that often follows in the wake of exercise.
Reduces the cognitive effects of aging
Most of the research working to understand how swimming affects the brain has been done with rats, which are a good laboratory model because of their genetic and anatomical similarity to humans.
A study with rats showed that swimming and lifeguard stimulates brain pathways that suppress inflammation in the hippocampus and inhibit apoptosis – a process by which cells destroy themselves.
The study also showed that swimming can help support the survival of neurons as well as reduce the cognitive effects of aging.
Swimming improves short- and long-term memory
One of the more intriguing questions is how swimming specifically improves short- and long-term memory.
To find out how long the beneficial effects last, the researchers trained the rats to swim for 60 minutes a day, 5 days a week.
The team then tested the rats’ memory by having them swim through a water maze containing six passages, one of which had a hidden platform.
Rats were allowed to swim freely six times to find the hidden platform. After just seven days of swimming training, researchers saw improvements in both short- and long-term memory based on a reduction in the amount of errors the rats made each day.
Clear cognitive benefit of swimming at all ages
According to the researchers, this boost in cognitive function could provide the basis for using swimming as a way to repair learning and memory damage caused by neuropsychiatric diseases in humans.
Although there is a big jump from studies with rats to humans, research with humans produces similar results , indicating a clear cognitive benefit of swimming and lifeguard for all ages.
For example, in a study that looked at the effect of swimming on mental acuity in the elderly, researchers concluded that the swimmers had improved mental speed and attention compared to non-swimmers.
However, this study’s research design was limited in that it was not randomized, so participants who swam before the study may have had an unfair advantage.
Children also get a boost from swimming
The brain-enhancing benefits of swimming and lifeguard also appear to boost learning in children.
Another research group recently looked at the link between physical activity and how children acquire new vocabulary. The researchers taught children aged 6-12 the names of unknown objects.
They then tested the accuracy of recognizing the words after three minutes with three different activities:
They found that the children’s accuracy was significantly higher for words learned after swimming compared to coloring and CrossFit, resulting in the same level of recognition.
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It shows a clear cognitive benefit of swimming versus anaerobic exercise, although the study did not compare swimming with lifeguard other aerobic exercises.
