Swimming is tough. Unless you are really good at it. The water is kind to your body. A swimming session burns a heck of a lot of calories. The butterfly is closely followed by the breaststroke in terms of being the biggest calorie crunchers.
Swimming has many benefits and these are exponentially raised when you are performing some form of aquatic resistance training. This can be anything from strapping on some wrist weights to playing some extreme underwater hockey.
Check out Tyera from the US National Underwater Hockey Team.
Sports like underwater hockey focus on the key components that make water so good for training. Setting aside the fact that water training is relatively safe it improves the following aspects related to health and fitness.
- speed
- force
- agility
- strength
- breathing
- cardio
- weight management
- coordination
- balance
- stamina
- works every muscle in body
- good for heart
- lowers risk of diabetes
- releases endorphins in brain which boost your mood
Swimming is so versatile as it can be performed solo or in a group. Swim-fit has even taken off in the UK, it’s basically a cardio class in the water under the tutelage of a qualified instructor.
There are also many apps you can download for free to track on your underwater smartwatch to track your swimming training stats. Everyone likes stat counters.
Swimming is great for increasing your lung power, something essential in this post covid-19 climate. It has numerous benefits for your physical and mental health. It reduces your risk of heart disease and can also help maintain healthy glucose levels which helps keep diabetes away, and can help manage the condition if you have it.
Swimming is also good for your bone density as the water provides natural resistance you are actively engaged in strength training and endurance training.
Strength training has be shown to improve bone health and this is essential to keeping your independence and preventing bone degeneration as you age.
Can You Lose Weight By Swimming?
Swimming can help you lose weight if part of a calorie controlled eating plan. Basically eat less than you use and you will lose weight. This can’t continue forever so it is a much better idea to focus on your weight loss goal, then once you achieve it you should work to maintain it.
A lot of people focus on weight loss being a perpetual thing. But if that were so you would reduce to nothing. This is an extremely simplified version of what happens with anorexia and bulimia.
The person gets so thin but there underlying structure their bones and organs carry weight so they assume they are still heavy.
Swimming first of all will tone and shape your body. If you want to increase the calorie bun add some swimming weights and resistance cords in. If you want to lose 10 pounds increase you swimming by up to 20 minutes per session and see if it does the trick.
Get a swimming tracking app to work out your calorie expenditure. Start counting your food calories and you will quickly garner what you need to maintain your body weight. Decreasing your calories and increasing your exercise sessions will start moving the needle on the digital scales.
Lower your calories and then watch the scales in a healthy way. You may find you like the new shapely you without needing to reduce any further weight.