Losing weight is no walk in the park. People try it all the time, and for one reason or the other, they seem not to get good results. Are you trying to lose weight? Are you feeling discouraged after a failed weight loss journey? Are you looking for inspiration to help you turn your body to a well-sculpted celebrity body? Hang in there a little while longer; we’ve got you.
There are a whole bunch of things you can do to lose weight, but for this post, we’re going to stick to how swimming can help you lose weight. Listed are secret tips on how you can lose weight by swimming. Know how swimming helps you to lose weight, and what kind of swimming can help you achieve your goals. Some of these tips are adopted by celebrities to help them keep their body in good shape all the time.
Swimming tips to help you lose weight faster
Here are some simple tips that can help you lose weight faster. Include them in your swimming routine and see visible results in a matter of weeks.
1. Swimming Interval Training
Swimming interval training is designed to push your body and challenge you in the pool while having some fun. To do this, go a whole lap vigorously then take the next lap at a more relaxed pace. The first lap, which may be tiring, offers you more resistance and increased calorie burning. While the second, more relaxed lap has lower impact and gives you the opportunity to relax while you get ready for another vigorous lap. You can do this as much as you can before stopping to take a rest.
For a start, you may want to try the swimming interval training for at least 10 minutes before stopping to relax. Do not forget to record your progress and keep working to increase how long you can swim before stopping to rest. The more you swim, the more strength you build, which makes it naturally easy to swim much longer than when you first started. You don’t have to push yourself if you don’t want to; just swim and you’ll be fine.
2. Wear a bathing cap
This is a tricky way of reducing resistance in the water, increasing your speed, and burning more calories. Swim caps are designed to reduce the hydrodynamic drag while swimming. It creates a smooth surface area for water to flow through and allows you to swim more quickly through water than you would without caps.
Also, wearing a swim cap will protect your hair from harmful pool chemicals, mainly chlorine. Swim caps are made from a variety of materials, but it is advised to go for those made from silicon, latex, or lycra.
3. Use a variety of strokes
Experts recommend using a variety of strokes while swimming to break up your routine and add some fun to it. You want to stay in the pool for as much time as possible in order to burn as many calories as possible. But you have to stay active while you’re at it.
Here are three different swim workouts you can adapt to help you lose weight.
4. Freestyle swimming
This variety of swimming stroke is what it is, freestyling. Just do what you can as a swimmer, at your own pace, in your own fashion, and that’s it. A lot of people prefer this freestyle swimming over any other form of strokes; which is why it is the first on this list. Most times, freestyle swimming is all about the basic swimming strokes like the butterfly, breaststroke, backstroke, etc.
5. High-intensity 25s
This is basically swimming full blast on the first lap and maintaining that intensity. This method of swimming requires as much energy as possible while doing it. And no, it doesn’t get easier. If it ever does, that means you’re not doing it right. It has to be highly intensive at all the time. The aim is for you to put in as much energy as you possibly can, and going as many reps as possible while maintaining the intensity. So, you see, there is no way it’ll ever get easier.
This may be a tough one, but in effect, you’ll create a skyrocketing metabolic reaction in your body. And that is a major way of burning calories to lose weight.
6. Vertical kicker’s delight
This style of swimming involves vertical kicking with some descending effort ladder swim set. Vertical kicking is done by swimming in a vertical direction while kicking your legs to keep your head out of the water. It is a great way to target your core and backside.
Be patient and consistent
Patience and consistency have always been the key to losing weight with swimming or with any other weight loss method you may adopt. Give it a little time, and do it as well as you can and you’ll see results with time.
Do not forget to be reasonable with your goals. Do not expect to see overnight results because you’ll be disappointed. Rather, have realistic goals, improve on your limits as you get stronger, and do not forget to appreciate and review the little progress you make.
How does swimming really help you to lose weight?
Each kick, push, and pull inside water is like a resistance exercise for the whole of your body. It involves your core, arms, legs, shoulders, hips, and glute. Almost every part of your body is benefiting from these moves, and that is why it is a great exercise for general weight loss. If you manage to stick to this exercise long enough, you’ll start to see results in a matter of time.
Swimming is also a low impact activity. This means it does not impact the joints and is a good exercise for those suffering from health conditions like arthritis or any kind of joint injuries. It is also a very good work out for pregnant women.
How much swimming do you need to lose weight?
Well, it all depends on how much time you spend swimming, how much you weight, and how vigorously you swim. One hour of swimming can help you lose up to 400 calories or more. If done more vigorously, you can lose up to 700 calories in a one-hour swimming session.
The more you weigh, the more calories you burn by swimming. That’s a fair measure, right? If you weigh 250 pounds, you’ll lose approximately 800 calories from swimming by lap for an hour. If you weight 200 pounds, you’ll burn around 637 calories from the same effect.
So, if you’ve been trying to lose weight and it’s not working, you can try swimming. Applying the tips mentioned above can give you great results if you do it right. You may also want to get an accountability partner or a coach to help you achieve your weight loss goals.
