Why Swimming is Essential For Weight Loss
02/23/2021 | Written by Nikos Kaskaras in Fitness & Nutrition Tips
What will follow are frequent worries and questions around the world: How can I lose weight? Which is the best way to achieve it? Will I be able to do it and then preserve it? Well, there are effective solutions for almost everything in this life and the best of all for the above questions can be summarised in one word: swimming. Yes, my friends, swimming is essential for weight loss and can keep you fit and healthy for a lifetime. Keep on reading and find out why.
Method is significant
First of all, you should keep in mind the number one rule: Don't rush things. You must have a method of steadily losing weight. There's no point in spending all your energy in the first couple of days and then not being able to move your body for a week. There's not a magic formula that works the same for all. Apart from weight, factors like age, level of fitness and metabolism rate are important. Acquiring basic swimming skills could be helpful though it's not the most important factor. A person who is more willing to lose weight but does not know how to swim could have more effective results than someone who knows how to swim but is not that self-willed. Taking the first step is always the most important one. It's really up to you to make it happen, but you have to follow instructions from your swim teacher.
Why is swimming so good for losing weight?
The main reason why swimming is great for losing weight is that it's not weight-bearing, thus diminishing the possibility to get injured. This ensures the continuity of the practice and the constant burning of calories. Another great reason for choosing swimming to lose weight is because conditions of training remain stable all year if you are training indoors. This provides extra motivation for not losing any training sessions during winter time when it gets cold or wet. Similarly, if you get boiling in the summertime, you could avoid overheating in the swimming pool. Swimming brings broader positive effects because it endures body strength, facilitates muscle development and boosts mental health. The growing feelings of positivity and the self-confidence building that come along, are additional advantages that reinforce stability.
Swimming is ideal for burning calories
Burning calories is the ultimate way of losing weight, we all know that. What we probably don’t know that well is how our bodies burn the “unwanted” calories. It all has to do with the heart rate. The more you increase your heart rate, the more your body temperature increases and the outcome is that your body will burn calories. This happens because swimming is probably the optimal cardiovascular exercise that leads to calorie burning. To get a clearer picture, you need to know how many calories you burn via swimming. According to Tom Holland, an exercise physiologist and triathlete, a 150-pound person burns roughly during an hour-long swim at a moderate pace and 700 at a vigorous one. To get a clear picture of the advantages of aquatic activities in losing weight, check the following chart:
Swimming compared to other sports
Another point we need to address, is how swimming is compared to other sports when it comes to losing weight. Again you need to gain insight into different sports and different weights. You can see that swimming ranks among the top sports activities associated with burning calories, thus losing weight: For half an hour swimming, a 125-pound person will burn 180 calories, a 223-pound person will burn 223 calories and a 185-pound person will burn 266 calories. As you can see from the relevant graph, swimming burns more or equal calories compared to most training and sports activities. You should keep a significant factor in mind: Swimming is not that high-impact as most other sports activities. On the contrary, it's possibly the easiest and more refreshing one.
Swimming techniques for losing weight
Keeping a disciplined schedule in swimming training is the safest path for losing weight. How long that will take and how many lbs. you are going to lose depends heavily on the volume of your training as well as the swimming technique you would prefer to practice. If you choose backstroke, for example, your body will burn far fewer calories than doing a butterfly or hard front crawl.
As a general estimation, you will be burning 500-700 calories per hour when swimming. Men burn more calories than women and heavier people burn slightly more. The ideal duration of swimming is one hour, but of course, if you are a beginner or are not yet used to swimming for a long time you will take shorter sessions at first. Then, as your fitness levels gradually rise you could be able to expand your practice. You should keep in mind that the amount of time you spend swimming has a greater bearing on the number of calories you burn as opposed to the intensity.
Healthy diet and swimming
This is a very important notice for all swimmers who want to lose weight: Don't neglect your diet. Swimming will increase your appetite. There's no point swimming for a long time and then not taking care of your diet and eating excessively. There's a link where you can check more thoroughly what you should look after. As a short notice, you should know that self-made decisions for what diet to follow, never work. Skipping your breakfast, for example, as part of your weight loss plan will only make things worse because it will upset your hormone balance and you will not have the energy you need for the rest of the day.
Swimming provides physical and mental balance
Scheduling your swimming sessions is a major step for achieving your goals and losing weight. Not only for enjoying the physical benefits that swimming brings but also because it can provide further mental advantages. Interacting with your swim instructor will give you a brighter picture of the steps you need to make your wish a reality. This will lead you to set up your short and long term goals that will determine your actions. You should make sure that your goals are realistic. Another dimension of the whole process is the fun you can have. There are group lessons that can make you meet new people who have the same goals as you. Sharing your ambitions and the experience you acquire is a great psychological boost. Swimming could positively affect your mental balance, making you a better person as a whole.
Conclusion
Challenges are great for people. Losing weight is one very common human challenge in current societies. There's no doubt that it is an achievable challenge, no matter how difficult it may look. History is full of examples of obese people who managed to lose much weight and upgrade their standard of life. Making the right decisions and not being afraid to accept the challenge are the prerequisites of success. In the end, however, the whole experience can lead you to expand your horizons. Yes, losing weight is the primary goal but the road to get you there could transform you as an individual. Because it's not the destination that is as important as the journey to get there.
