What are the benefits of swimming once a week for 50 minutes to a teenage girl?
Same benefits as for anyone else–improved fitness and circulation, more self-confidence, time to yourself, etc. But as with everything in life, you get out what you put in. To get any physical benefit from it, you do need to push yourself a little (if you’re not getting a bit out of breath, it doesn’t count as exercise!). First time you go, just start swimming nice and easy, but try to do it for the whole 50 mins without stopping. If you have to stop and rest, keep the breaks short, i.e. just long enough to get your breath back. Even if you have to stop after every length, that’s OK. Then carry on. Count how many lengths you do–that way you can get a baseline for how far you can swim without getting completely exhausted, which you can build on next time. Each time you go, try and do a bit more than you did last time–aim to take fewer/shorter breaks, and/or swim, say, 5 more lengths. Go twice a week instead of just once, if possible. The trick is to make your next target realistic ea
