When planning the fitness aspect of one's weight loss plan, most people immediately feel forced into aerobics, running, walking, and going to the gym. These are not your only options. In fact, if you limit yourself to these options, you will get burnt out and end up giving up far sooner than if you were to vary your workout plan with other sports and activities. For example, most people do not realize how much of a workout can be derived from a good swim. Swimming actually burns more calories than running, if you put some effort into it. So if you are looking for a good way to exercise for weight loss without feeling overwhelmed by outdated aerobics, complicated gym workouts and long runs, then swimming for weight loss is a worthy option to consider.
There are a number of different ways that you can use swimming as a means of losing weight. Consider the following information and you may end up with a unique way to lose weight that is fun, challenging and highly effective.
- Swimming is all about resistance. Think about what weight training accomplishes: It involves lifting weight, or capitalizing on resistance in order to build long, lean muscles and lose weight. Swimming follows the same principles in terms of weight loss, because you are fighting resistance in the water, and this allows you to burn more calories and works your body more effectively.
- One trick that will allow you to utilize resistance more fully is to walk or crawl along the edge of the pool in circles, either clockwise or counterclockwise. As you go around, the water will begin to swirl in the same direction, and you will find it easier to move around after a few laps. After this happens, turn around and move in the other direction. You will feel the water's resistance grow exponentially, and it will suddenly be harder to move. Push through it and keep making laps in this alternate direction. Your body will feel the burn, because you are putting out much more energy than before.
- Swimming laps can easily burn more calories than walking or running, because of the water resistance, and the fact that your entire body is burning calories. The resistance will help you build strength in your arms and legs, and the effort will burn calories throughout your entire body. If you are looking for an excellent all over workout, swimming is a great way to go. You do not need to be Michael Phelps to get the most out of a swimming workout, but if you want to know what swimming can do for your and your weight loss efforts, then he may be an excellent role model to look to. Take advantage of the natural resistance that the water lends, and make use of different techniques to lose weight. Heck, if you are not a good swimmer, then another excellent option is water aerobics.
Photo Credits: 1
Originally posted 2008-12-29 05:49:35. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Related Posts -
Weight Loss Tips and Tricks When it comes to losing weight, you probably know the drill. Burn more calories than you consume, eat healthy, and be healthy and the results will happen. Most diets and weight loss plans do not have much substance which is why dieting in general is far from healthy for you....... -
Water and Weight Loss Does drinking water help in weight loss? If you are simply increasing the amount of water that you drink without making any changes to your diet or your exercise, then no, simply drinking water is not going to help with your weight loss effort. On the other hand, you should...... -
Weight Loss Secrets pt 3 The right weight loss secrets can go really far in helping you achieve the healthful and natural weight loss that you are looking for. Here are some healthy and natural weight loss secrets. Weight Loss Secret #1 - Chunk up your salad using chopped up carrots, sweet potatoes, celery, zucchini...... -
Bento Weight Loss - It's all About Portion Control There is a revolution that is going right now, in families especially and individuals as they begin to make their own choices regarding meals. Bento boxes are small lap-top style lunch boxes with dividers that allow you to sort small portions of food into each divider, creating a unique lunch....... -
The Dangers of Rapid Weight Loss Although losing weight is important, it is important to make sure that you are not losing weight too rapidly. There are many dangers that can come with rapid weight loss, and while some may not be health threatening, they can impact your overall self image, and your mental state. Let’s......
Related Websites -
Fishing Report: February 25, 2011 Lakes and Saltwater Anderson: If you are looking for bass in the one to two pound region you are going to want to head to the south end of the lake. If you want to see the best bite possible you are going to want to use strong finesse tactics....... -
Five Yoga Principles Here is a look at the five most important principles of yoga. These five yoga principles are absolutely essential to the practice of this ancient art. If you want to get the most out of yoga then you need to understand that it is more than just for weight loss...... -
Effective Swim Workouts for Triathletes Training for a triathlon is never an easy task. You not only push your body to the edge, you need to engage in specialized forms of training to get the performance you need. This is as true for swim workouts for triathletes as for any other section of the race....... -
Triathlon Terms Here is a brief glossary of terms used in triathlon training and triathlon racing. 70.3 - This term is used to describe a Half Ironman race distance, which is a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike an 13.1 mile run. 140.6 - This term is used to describe an...... -
Fishing Report: March 24th, 2011 Lakes and Saltwater Anderson: If you are looking for bass, you are going to want to head to the shallows. They are heading there during warmer temperatures but move to deeper waters when it gets colder. Berryessa: Bass are going to move up toward the top thanks to rising water......
- Irish Walking & Trekking Sticks Clothing, Shoes & Accessories Camping & Hiking
- Body Champ Gravity Inversion Tables Fitness Equipment Gym, Workout & Yoga Exercise & Fitness
- 1941-47 Liberty Walking (1916-47) Halves Coins: US Coins & Paper Money
- Discount Resistance Bands Fitness Equipment Gym, Workout & Yoga Exercise & Fitness
- Brooks Burn Women S Shoes Running Deals
Categories:
activities, alternative ideas, exercise, weight loss, Weight Loss Journal
Tags:
4 comments ↓
Swimming is definitely a great exercise. It works the whole body, and is very easy on the joints. I’m not sure how effective it is to lose weight if you are already overweight, however. The reasons for this are:
1) Fat floats. This makes swimming less of a workout than for those with little bodyfat.
2) Water is very effective at cooling your body down. This makes it more difficult to sweat and reach that optimum fat burning state.
To me, I suspect swimming is excellent to maintain whatever fitness level you are at. However, to lose weight, I’m not so sure. Has anyone out there lost a lot of weight by simply swimming? I’d be curious to know.
Swimming is definitely one of the best workouts out there. First off its fun, you never get bored of it. Second, its very cardio intensive, and it also works nearly every muscle in your body (depending on the type of swim you do)
Great post!
This post is full of really valuable information. I have used swinmming as a means of exercise many of times and I was wondering if you were going to mention anything about the whole whirpool technique. That has always worked really well for me. One would think that after one or two laps of going the opposite way of the flow of water, the resistance would become weaker. But that is not the case. After getting the whirpool to start, it seems as though it last forever.I really feel like this is one of the best exercise techniques.
Like what BetterBody said, what really great about swimming that it’s fun, not boring and it works every single muscle in your body not to mention that it’s great for the chest muscles as well. One of my friends who practice swimming since he was a kid has an impressive cheat muscles better than the rest of the Gym Guys!
Leave a Comment