Kinesiologist Gets Grant for First Study of Swimming’s Cardiovascular Benefits - August 19th, 2009

Dr. Hirofumi Tanaka, a kinesiologist in The University of Texas at Austin’s College of Education, has received funding from the American Heart Association for a first-of-its-kind study on swimming and cardiovascular health.

He aims to uncover whether or not swimming yields health benefits like weight loss, body fat reduction and lowering of blood pressure in middle-aged and older individuals and, if it does, how and why the changes occur.

“Common wisdom has been that body weight, body fat and blood pressure can be lowered if you swim long enough,” says Tanaka, who is in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education and whose general area of expertise is the impact of exercise on the aging process. “Actually, there’s no empirical evidence that it does reduce those. Swimming has been lumped in with all other ‘cardiovascular exercise’ when people talk about health benefits, but there hasn’t been even one scientific study so far of swimming, specifically.”

Tanaka plans to begin his study this fall and is seeking 64 research subjects between 50 and 80 years of age. Study participants will need to be relatively healthy – no orthopedic problems or heart disease – and should be sedentary prior to the study, exercising no more than twice a week. (Those interested in being study participants may contact Tanaka at htanaka@mail.utexas.edu.)

“If our hypotheses are supported by the study results,” says Tanaka, “we will have much-needed information on which to base recommendations and guidelines for the use of regular swimming in the primary and secondary prevention of arterial stiffening in older adults. Swimming is an excellent exercise option for people over 50 or 60 years of age because other health issues might preclude them from engaging in land-based, weight-bearing physical activity. On a very practical level, older adults are migrating to warmer climates where swimming can be enjoyed most of the year and pools are plentiful, so swimming for better health is a desirable choice for that reason as well.”

In previous research funded by the National Institutes of Health, Tanaka conducted a five year study on the effects of resistance training on the heart and arteries. Tanaka is director of the Cardiovascular Aging Research Laboratory in the College of Education’s Department of Kinesiology and Health Education.

—Kay Randall, University Communications, 512-232-3910