Swimming and elliptical training are both excellent workouts for individuals who want to get in a good cardiovascular workout without putting too much stress on the joints, particularly the ankles, knees and hips. In general, a workout on the elliptical trainer burns more calories in an hour than swimming; however, factors like your weight, intensity level and speed all have an impact.
Elliptical Trainer
Working out on an elliptical trainer burns more calories in an hour burns more calories than swimming, provided you are comparing workouts of the same length. In 60 minutes on an elliptical trainer -- which mimics the motion of jogging without the impact on the leg joints -- a 130-lb. person burns 671 calories. The more you weigh, the more calories you burn: a 155-lb. person burns 800 calories after an hour on the elliptical trainer, while a 180-lb. person burns 929 calories in that same amount of time. By increasing the resistance level on your elliptical trainer, you increase the total number of calories burned. Additionally, increasing your speed also increases the number of calories you burn.
Competitive Swimming
Training for competitive swimming burns more calories than any other aquatic activity. Each of the four competition strokes -- backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and freestyle -- has its own calorie-burn rate. Butterfly burns the most calories per hour, at 649 calories an hour for a 130-lb. person, 774 calories an hour for a 155-lb. person and 899 calories an hour for a 180-lb. person, while backstroke burns the fewest. Your intensity level still matters, just as it did for a workout on the elliptical. A 130-lb. person swimming freestyle at a leisurely pace burns 413 calories an hour; but up your workout to a fast pace, and that same person burns 590 calories in the same amount of time.
Leisurely Swimming
If you're not training for a competition, you're probably swimming at a more leisurely pace -- and burning fewer calories doing it. Performing a non-competition stroke -- such as the sidestroke -- burns just 472 calories an hour if you weigh 130 lbs.; it burns 654 calories in an hour if you weigh 180 lbs. Swimming without doing laps burns even less -- 354 calories an hour for a 130-lb. person -- while treading water leisurely for 60 minutes burns just 236 calories.
Non-Swimming Aquatic Activity
You don't have to swim in the pool to burn calories. Non-swimming aquatic activities -- such as aqua jogging and aqua aerobics -- also burn calories. Of these two, aqua jogging -- at 472 calories an hour for a 130-lb. person -- burns more calories than aqua aerobics, which burns just 236 calories an hour in a person of the same weight.
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