Swimming is a simple exercise that anyone can do. Its low impact and it can burn calories and build muscle all at the same time. And the best part is you don’t even know your exercising because it’s so fun to do.
By nature swimming is a cardiovascular activity. That means it will help you burn the fat right off of your body. What most people don’t realize is how much resistance water gives you. While you feel weightless in the water, truth is you are not. So every move you make does burn calories and builds muscle.
Of course, the calories burned are not as much as with other types of cardio and aerobic exercise because of the buoyancy of the water, but, when you swim fast and do laps back and forth across the pool it is a great workout. It’s also great for fitness beginners because it is so low impact in nature.
The number of calories that can be burned with swimming depends on the pace and intensity of the workout and also your current weight.
Someone walking in the pool is not going to burn as many calories as some actually swimming. Longer, more intense workouts will, of course, burn more calories. The average person weighing 150 pounds can burn over 400 calories in one 60 minute swimming workout.
Benefits Of Swimming
We have already said swimming can help you burn fat and build muscle. But, those aren’t the only benefits associated with swimming, here are three more great benefits.
Benefit #1 — It Can Improve Your Cholesterol
There are two types of cholesterol. The good cholesterol, known as HDL, and the bad cholesterol known as LDL. To be healthy it’s you need to have the right amount of the good kind in your system.
Because swimming is an aerobic exercise it can help get your cholesterol levels balanced. For every 1 percent you are able to raise your HDL you will love your risk of dying from heart disease by 3.5 percent.
Benefit #2 — It Improves Heart Health
Swimming will do much more than tone up the muscles everyone can see. It will also improve one of the most important muscles in your body. Your heart!
When you swim it strengthens your heart. It enlarges your heart and makes it more efficient at pumping blood throughout your body. It also helps combat your body’s inflammatory response. The result is a reduced risk of heart disease.
Benefit #3 — It Improves Flexibility
When you use exercise machines in the gym you are basically isolating one muscle at a time. When you swim your whole body gets a workout at the same time.
Swimming requires a broad range of motion which means your joints and ligaments stay flexible. If you actually swim around the pool you will be lengthening your body with every stroke.
To get a good swimming workout start by treading water in the deep end. This is the perfect warm up as it will get the blood flowing and warm up your muscles.
After you have warmed up for a few minutes you can grab a kickboard and swim with it for about 10 minutes. To isolate your leg muscles don’t use your arms.
The key is to switch up your workout every other week. This way you won’t get bored and will be more likely to stick with it for a long time.
