Swimming is an effective calorie burner, but your diet and how your body reacts to exercise influences whether or not those calories burned result in weight loss. The frustration some swimmers feel when trying to lose weight can explain the bad rap swimming sometimes gets as an ineffective weight-loss exercise. However, when done right, swimming is a valid form of weight loss exercise.
Myth Busters
Like any intense form of exercise, swimming requires energy. You'll burn an impressive 635 calories per hour swimming at a moderate pace if you weigh 175 lbs. Also, swimming one hour is less taxing than running for the same length of time, due in part to the cooling and buoyant effect of water. No matter how many calories you burn up in exercise, unless you eat fewer calories than you burn, the weight stays on.
Success
Swimming with a group can help you boost your fitness. Keeping yourself from taking long breaks or slackening your pace is easier when you have a swimmer right in front of you and another on your heels. William Sax found himself in a health rut in his 30s. A smoker who led a sedentary lifestyle, Sax started a vigorous swim routine, ramping up to 3,000-yard workouts and joining a Masters swim team. He lost 30 lbs., and gave up smoking in the process. "I knew I must leave this bad habit behind in order to exercise effectively. Swimming was a key part of the process of quitting." Sax explains in an interview by Cheryl Wagner, which originally appeared in "The Swimmer's Ear."
Fat Loss/Weight Gain
The harder you swim, the stronger you get, exchanging fat tissue for muscle. Since muscle is denser than fat tissue you might not lose as much weight as you expect, or even not lose any weight at all when you ramp up your workouts. Exchanging fat for fitness makes your clothes fit better and you look sleeker. Firm muscles improve your appearance as well as your performance in the pool. Recent running converts might notice a change in their weight-loss rate when they switch to swimming. The cooling effect of water might limit any extended metabolism boost you typically get from land-based exercise, says the Merck Manual, making swimming less effective at overall weight loss than running.
Lightness of Being
Swimming has mood-elevating properties that leave you feeling lighter after you get out of the pool, regardless of what the scale reads. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says people who engage in water-based exercise report enjoying their sport more than those who work out on land. They also report being able to work out longer, with fewer injuries and less perceived exertion. Swimming boosts your mental health too, says the CDC, explaining that it helps alleviate symptoms of anxiety and depression.
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