Looking to add some splash to your summer workout routine? Experts suggest you should hit the pool to reap the cardio benefits of swimming. Selene Yeager of Women’s Health tells us why pool workouts burn more calories and tones more muscles than your average workout.
An effortless swim burns around 500 calories an hour, while a more intense swim can burn up to 700. Water is denser than air, so every motion your body performs under water takes more effort than it would on land, consequently burning more calories in less time. On top on burning more calories, your body is also developing lean muscle which results in a faster metabolism.
Swimming is also easy on the joints, making it an ideal daily workout. "You can swim almost every day without risking injury," says Joel Stager, Ph.D., director of the Counsilman Center for the Science of Swimming at Indiana University at Bloomington, who has studied the effects of swimming for years. "You can't say the same for running or strength training."
As an added bonus, swimming has been proven to help you stay younger. "Our research shows that habitual swimmers are biologically up to 20 years younger than their actual age," Stager says. The research concluded that a swimmer's blood pressure, cardiovascular performance and cognitive functioning are all equivalent to someone who is younger.
Ready to jump in? Try this beginners’ workout: swim the length of the pool four times at an easy pace. Take a short break then repeat this set five to ten times. Doing this workout a few times a week will get your body physically adapted to working in the water. Alternate different strokes by incorporating freestyle, breast stroke and back stroke.
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