Swimming for Weight Loss | How to Burn Calories with Swimming

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The challenge is to not eat as much as your body wants to eat after exercise. If you exercise and eat as much as you want you will often just break even. Eat a balanced diet but be especially careful when you start eating after exercising.

Pete Raines March 13, 2023

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Are you looking for a fun and effective way to lose weight? The Swimming pool is the perfect place to go! Swimming is a great way to burn calories, build muscle, and improve your overall fitness. Swimming is a very unique activity as it provides a lot of health and wellness benefits all the while remaining light and soft on your joints. Whether you’re an avid swimmer or a novice, you’ll learn exactly how to use swimming in order to lose weight more effectively. 

Here are some tips on how to use swimming as a tool for weight loss.

Swim Longer

Swimming is a low-impact exercise that can be done for long periods of time without putting stress on your joints. To maximize your calorie burn, try to swim for longer periods of time. Aim for a minimum of 30 minutes per session, gradually increasing to 45 minutes or an hour as you build endurance. This will help you to challenge yourself and push your body to new levels of fitness.

Mix up Your Routine

To keep things interesting and to help prevent boredom, mix up your swimming routine. Swim all of the strokes like freestyle, breaststroke, and backstroke. Swim with a partner or group: Swimming with a partner or group can add a social element to your workout and make it more enjoyable. You can challenge each other to try new strokes, set goals together, or even race each other.

Additionally, swimming in different locations, such as a lake or ocean, can provide a change of scenery and add some more excitement to your workouts. 

Increase Intensity

To burn more calories, increase the intensity of your workouts. Increasing intensity can look different for everyone depending on your level of proficiency as a swimmer. You can raise intensity by swimming faster, or for longer.

Or you can experiment with different strokes and incorporate some dryland into your workouts. If you're comfortable with the strokes you already know, try swimming at a faster pace, which will increase your heart rate and boost your calorie burn. As you become more proficient, you can try swimming longer distances or even adding more laps to your workout routine. Other ideas include incorporating interval training, or adding resistance with equipment like ankle weights or resistance bands.

Fuel Your Body

Swimming is a great way to burn calories, but you still need to fuel your body properly to see results. Make sure you're eating a balanced diet with plenty of protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats. Avoid eating heavy meals before swimming, but make sure to have a small snack or meal with carbohydrates and protein about 30 minutes before your workout.

To ensure that you are getting the right balance of nutrients, aim to eat a variety of nutrient-dense foods such as lean proteins, whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and healthy fats like avocados and nuts. Avoid processed foods or sugary snacks.

Incorporate High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is a technique that involves alternating between short bursts of intense activity and periods of rest or low intensity. Incorporating HIIT into your swimming routine can increase your calorie burn and improve your overall fitness. For example, you can swim at max speed for one lap, then rest for 30 seconds before repeating, do this for a set amount of time.

Use Resistance Equipment

Resistance equipment like paddles, pull buoys, and ankle weights can provide additional resistance to your movements, making your body work harder and burning more calories. For example, using paddles can help build upper body strength, while ankle weights can provide additional resistance to leg movements.

Now that you have some knowledge on the ways you can use swimming to burn calories and help with weight loss, be sure to stay consistent and set realistic goals. 

Happy swimming!

( 1 ) Comments

The challenge is to not eat as much as your body wants to eat after exercise. If you exercise and eat as much as you want you will often just break even. Eat a balanced diet but be especially careful when you start eating after exercising.

Pete Raines

Leave a comment