Swimming is a water activity that burns more calories. It is easy for joints and supports weight, builds endurance and muscular strength. It also enhances cardiovascular fitness, cools down the body in summer, and is safely done in old age also.
This article will provide more information on how swimming aid weight loss.
Not everyone knows that a swimming pool is also a way to get into shape. Swimming burns fat and helps in weight loss. It also makes you fit, healthier, and stronger. There is a no different exercise, which makes you as fit, burns more calories, and promotes metabolism.
Does swimming work for Weight loss?
Table of Contents
Water is 800 times dense than the air, that is why every kick, pull, and push is like a resistance exercise for the complete body. Swimming exercises work well for arms, core, hips, glutes, and shoulders. An easy and relaxed swim help to burn around 500 calories in one hour while a rigorous one may burn around 700 calories. Therefore, while swimming, you burn calories and grow lean muscles. These lean muscles improve your metabolism and prevent excess calories.
How long should you swim to lose weight
The duration of swimming for weight loss completely depends on different body weights, speeds, and swimming strokes.
According to Centre-for-Disease-Control-and-Prevention, one should do at least 2 hours and 30-minutes of swimming per week. It helps in weight loss and maintains your weight once you lose the needed amount. The 3,500 calories are equal to a half kg of weight. Therefore, you need to burn around 3,500 calories more than what you are consuming to lower that half kg.
What Does A Swimming Workout Look Like?
There are different levels of swimming workout, but here is what a beginner’s time in the water:
Beginner swim workout: 500 yards
Warmup
Do 4 x 25 yards swimming and take 40 seconds to rest in between
Do 2 x 25 yards butterfly stroke swimming with 2 strokes right and 2 strokes left arm
Do 2 x 25 yards backstroke swimming with 2 strokes right and 2 strokes left arm
Do 2 x 25 yards breaststroke swimming with 2 kicks and 1 stroke
Do 2 x 25 yards freestyle stroke swimming catchup (keep one arm extended while the other strokes and connects the hand on the opposing arm)
Do 2rounds of the following, making a quicker interval for the 2ndround (or taking less rest).
1 x 50 yards
2 x 25 yards
How To Get Effective Results From A Swimming Workout?
Swimming for a workout might be a little rough if you have never done it before, but having started it is easy. Here are some expert tips:
Begin With A Simple Stroke
Freestyle and breaststroke are the easiest to master, so they tend to work well for beginners, mentioned former USA-Swimming-National-competitor Stella Metsovas. Once you get those down, you can feel with more difficult like butterfly or backstroke.
Get a kickboard
Tight hips can create kicking feel difficult and even uncomfortable. But you can loosen up and extend your range of motion by performing laps with a kickboard.
Add some speed
Intervals are the best way to raise the intensity of your exercise and burn extra calories. Try adding fast and hard for one lap and recovering at a slower pace for two laps, repeating as desired.
Check Your Breathing
The wrong breathing method can make it difficult to get into a rhythm and tire you quickly. Different people will raise their heads higher every time they breathe and it affects the flow of their stroke.
Try practicing moving your head enough so you can breathe without rising your head out of water.
Benefits Of Swimming
Aids Weight Loss
Swimming is the best way to burn extra calories in your body. Burning more calories helps to mobilize body fat. As a result, you will begin to lower extra flab in the body. According to Korean scientists, an experiment on obese children discovered that swimming and other water exercises helped to lower fat mass in their bodies.
Builds Bone Strength
Bone mass is lower with age, especially in females. Swimming can help to stop bone loss induced by age and different types of aerobic workouts. It is also good for those with arthritis and joint pain. Scientists have discovered that swimming ameliorates osteoporosis helps to increase bone mass and strength.
Improves Heart Health
The number of people experiencing heart diseases has increased in the recent past. Therefore, if you are living an inactive lifestyle and feel that going to the gym is dreadful, try getting fun in the cool blue water. This aerobic workout will help to enhance your heart health and save you from risky cardiovascular diseases. Different research has discovered that swimming is a good exercise for a good health condition.
Helps Children with Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral palsy is a regular movement disability in children, and it affects around 4 in 1000 newborns or children of different age groups. Working out can help children with cerebral palsy to enhance their motor functions. However, the fun element of the workout also has to work to offer the children a positive feel. Australian scientists have discovered that swimming is enjoyed by kids with cerebral palsy, and they also did not feel fatigued by it.
Improves Flexibility
Flexibility is the ability to get movement in your joints to their full range. When you swim, you use the core and limbs to propel your body front and stay afloat. Swimming each day helps to improve complete body flexibility and lower joint pain.
Enhances Body Coordination
Swimming also improves coordination between arms, legs, chest, head, and eyes. Be it for recreational, therapeutic, or competition reasons, swimming helps to increase whole body moves and coordination between the core and limbs.
Reduce Triglyceride In Elderly
The higher triglyceride levels cause a risk of heart problems and early death. Scientists’ research on middle-aged females found that females who swam 60 minutes per day for 3 weeks had a better body composition, lower weight, and improved their blood lipid profiles. They also recorded a drop in their blood triglyceride levels.
May Increase Neurogenesis
Temporal lobe epilepsy is a type of neurological ailment, which is caused by brain cell death. In most cases, antiseizure drugs do not work. To get alternative treatments, a research study by Prof. Vasavi R. Gorantla has discovered that swimming boosts neurogenesis in laboratory rats.
Improves Asthma
Asthma occurred due to airways inflammations, which block them and cause difficulty in breathing. Research has discovered that swimming can help to lower asthma attacks. It is also more helpful than a land workout.
Improves Sleep Quality
If you experiencing sleep difficulty, you must be swimming. Swimming is a full-body aerobic workout, and if you get some time in the water, you know how tiring it can be. That is because your complete body with the brain regularly works while swimming. It is why you should sleep better.
Supports Mental Health
Anxiety, stress, and depression are mental health problems that should never ignore. Scientists have discovered that swimming can help to boost mood and treat different psychological problems.
Slows Down Aging
Going back in time is not possible for anyone, but swimming can help you look younger. And that is because it helps to promote mood, which lowers oxidative stress in the body. As a result, your body functions commonly without slowing down.
Tones And Strengthens Muscles
You already know that swimming aids fat loss. But it also helps tone and strengthen your muscles. The repeated movement of your head, legs, hands, chest, abs, and neck helps you build slender muscles instead of bulky ones. Plus, your muscles’ strength and power also increase as you practice swimming, which requires you to push your body forward by constantly displacing the water surrounding you.
Swimming Exercise to aid in Weight loss
Freestyle
It is a fast stroke and is suitable for beginners.
Float over the water keeping face down, and hands stretched over the head on the water surface.
Take your right hand under the water, and push back the water, raise the right hand over the water and get it back to the beginning position.
Quickly, keep your left hand under the water and do the same. Ensure to move head side to side to breath in and breath out.
Breaststroke
Float in the water keeping face down, keep the body flat, and arms stretched above the head.
Keep your arms level and pull water above the head to the chest.
As your palms reach chest level, fold your arms back and move both of them on your head to the beginning point.
Reach your arms front, submerge your head in the water, and breathe out slowly from your nose or mouth.
Push the water back to help your body move front.
Butterfly
Float in the water keeping face down, arms reached overhead, and palms facing downward.
Pull arms down and move hands in a semicircular motion near the body.
Recover both arms in a sweeping motion out of water.
Keep hands re-enter in water and come back to the beginning point.
As your arms come out of the water, raise your chin, loos level, and take a breath.
Your leg action should be like that of a mermaid. Keep both legs together, and toes pointed out, and kick down.
The second kick should be extra strong to help you move in front when your arms are in the recovery phase.
Backstroke
Float over the water on the back. Keep hands by your side.
Raise your right hand, move it in a circle, and drop it back in the water.
Push the water back to move the body front.
Recover the right hand toward the surface.
Simultaneously, perform the similar with your left hand.
Dog Paddle
Float in the water keeping your head up.
Paddle your hands and legs in an alternative manner similar to dogs swimming.
Sidestroke.
Sidestroke
Float on the right side. Keep right arm stretched and legs together. Tilt your head up and look your sideways.
Do the scissor action using your legs. Bend both legs and move the top leg front and bottom leg back and get them back to the beginning point in a circular motion.
Right arm to pull the water from above head. Your top arm is the swiping arm that helps push the dragged water down.
Swimming Tips For Beginners
Here are some swimming tricks and tips that might help to improve your swimming style:
- Keep your swim goggles on an hour before entering the pool so that you get used to them. Keep an extra pair of goggles handy.
- Once clear set for foggy days, cloudy days, and another dark set for bright sunny days.
- Try practicing and focus on pulling straight back as you breathe in or roll your shoulder.
- Get a pair of swimming fins to keep up the efficiency of kicking without crossing one another foot.
- Swim fins also help to boost the ankle’s flexibility.
- Use a snorkel of the swimmer to help you focus on body rotation and arm strokes easily.
- Use silicon earplugs to stop ear infections and lower irritation.
- Keep a small towel around for drying, wiping, and cleaning purposes.
- Interact with expert swimmers for tips and guidance.
A Few General Swimming Tips
It is suggested to select a safe environment, with on-duty lifeguards for swimming. Make sure to do a warm-up workout and stretch your joints and muscles before getting into the water.
Keep more fluids around and remain hydrated.
If you are a beginner, do normal and limited swimming.
Check with your doctor before you start swimming if you have a sedentary lifestyle and have not done a workout.
Although swimming is a low-impact workout, swimming injuries may happen because of incorrect methods or over-demanding exercise. Some of these are:
- Neck injuries
- Swimmer’s shoulder
- Breaststroke knee
- Lower back injuries
Prevention Of Swimming Injuries
Warm-up and do stretching before your swimming session.
After the swimming session, remember to stretch and cool down.
Grow your functional strength by following a common program.
Swimming is the best way to work out without feeling like you are doing exercise. You will begin to feel good inside and out if you swim normally. And now that you have every information about swimming, tips, benefits, and how to prevent injuries, try swimming to aid weight loss.