Concern about weight has been growing for decades. But with the appearance of the Coronavirus, there’s even more to fear when it comes to being overweight. There’s been a significant increase in walking and jogging to make up for the lack of access to gyms and team sports, but what about swimming? How much weight can you lose if you swim every day? It turns out that swimming can be a very effective exercise if you’re looking to burn extra calories. In this article we’ll look at some of the specifics.
How Many Calories Are Burned by Swimming?
Compared with walking and jogging, swimming is a very efficient form of exercise for burning calories. It’s thought that the resistance provided by the water forces your muscles to work harder. Swimming is also known for providing a full body workout. Both your arms and legs are activated while your core is also engaged to keep yourself afloat. The number of calories burned during swimming depends on the stroke you’re performing combined with the intensity of your movements. A half hour of medium intensity breaststroke will burn around 350 calories while the front crawl will burn 400 or more. Compare this with the 100 calories you’d burn with a half hour of walking or the 300 calories burned during a half hour jog and you can see that swimming can quickly help with your weight loss efforts.
Does Swimming Burn Body Fat?
When it comes to actually burning fat, the way in which you exercise will have a considerable influence. It’s been found that swimming at a medium pace over a long period of time is far less effective at burning fat than striving for high intensity swimming over shorter periods of time. Also known as HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training), this type of high intensity swimming over short intervals is the best training method for targeting body fat. It’s been found to burn 25 to 30% more calories than regular swimming while stimulating your metabolism to continue working even after your exercise is done. Swim spas are a great way to get a full body swim workout in your backyard.
Creating A Calorie Deficit
Creating a calorie deficit is essential when trying to lose weight. What this means is that you need to burn more calories than you’re taking in by eating and drinking. You could exercise as much as you want, but if you’re consuming more calories than the exercise is burning, you’re still going to gain weight. So, while swimming using HIIT may be an effective exercise method for burning calories and body fat, you need to pair the exercise with a healthy and sensible diet.
How Much Weight Can You Lose If You Swim Every day?
To calculate the amount of weight you can lose if you swim every day, you need to compare the number of calories you’re burning with the number of calories you’re consuming. If you assume that you’re taking in the recommended amount of calories per day (between 2000 and 2500) and performing high intensity workouts that burn 800 calories per session, you might expect to lose between five and seven pounds in a month. A moderately paced workout will result in much less weight loss. An example of burning 250 calories per session could see a loss of two to three pounds in a month. That said, it must be remembered that everyone is different and simply copying someone else’s workout routine will not necessarily yield the exact same results. Finding your own tipping point through a regular and consistent exercise program is key.