Swimming offers benefits for the whole body with low impact on joints and bones. But is swimming a good choice if you want to lose weight? Recent studies claim that swimming may not always be the best way to shed pounds. Is this true?
Some health and fitness specialists say that water’s cooling effects can slow the calorie-burning process. In the water, you don’t heat up as you would on land, so your body doesn’t have to work as hard to cool itself down. What’s more, some people claim to be so hungry after swimming that they eat more calories than they just burned. Other say that swimming makes them so exhausted they’re left with little energy for anything else.
Yes, Swimming Can Promote Weight Loss
Assuming those claims might be true for some people, can you swim to lose weight? Certainly—if you keep in mind some of the pitfalls.
There’s no argument that if you burn more calories than you eat, you’ll lose weight. Any exercise, including swimming, will burn calories. The fact is, if you weigh 150 pounds, you can burn 400 to 700 calories per hour while swimming. And a frequent, consistent, rigorous swimming regimen will “rev up” metabolism and improve the body’s ability to burn fat.
How to Make Swimming a Better Fat Burner
Get serious about your technique. Studies show that skilled swimmers who move with speed and ease in the water burn far more calories than less serious swimmers who just flail around.
Don’t eat high-fat meals after swimming. Avoid taking in all those calories you just burned. Go for high-fiber snacks that are filling but low in fat: fruits, vegetables, nuts and beans, for example.
Don’t exhaust yourself. Start with a couple of swimming sessions per week and gradually work up to five or more. Alternate rigorous strokes like freestyle or butterfly with more leisurely styles like breaststroke and backstroke. Doing so will raise and lower your heart rate, which burns calories more efficiently—and you won’t wear yourself out for the rest of the day.
