Swimming is a great form of exercise as it uses all of the major muscle groups providing a good all round aerobic workout. But research into swimming and weight loss have produced inconsistent results.

Studies have found that some swimmers have lost weight, some stay the same and some have even gained a few pounds. In most cases where weight was actually gained it was found that this was due to increased muscle build up and not fat.

Swimming places a significant demand upon the heart and lungs potentially providing a valuable aerobic workout. The buoyancy of the water can be enormously useful to those who are overweight, pregnant women and people who may have injuries or disabilities. Aqua aerobics is a form of aerobics performed in the water where the buoyancy and support of the water provides cushioning and support. The water also offers resistance making it harder to move your arms and legs thus increasing the effort required to do so.

When looking into reasons why some swimmers didn’t experience any significant weight loss it was found that some were simply not doing it for long enough and not exerting themselves enough during their swimming routines. Also, exercise needs to be used in conjunction with a healthy, balanced diet in order for it to be effective in losing weight.

Weight Loss Tips

Here are a few tips to help you shed a few pounds through swimming and water based exercising:

1. Start by looking at your diet and making certain you are eating a healthy, balanced mixture of foods
2. Always start gently by warming up with some water based exercise and maybe a few freestyle lengths of the pool
3. Push yourself to swim as hard as you can for a short distance and then rest. Try 100 metres, take a rest and then repeat this several times
4. Try some aqua aerobics by walking through the water both forwards and backwards, running on the spot and swinging your arms in the water like a long distance skiier
5. Combine your water based exercise routines with some land based exercises. These may involve walking, stretching, arm swinging and regular aerobics
6. Vary your exercise routines in order to keep them interesting and challenging
7. Many people feel very hungry after a water based workout. Don’t give in to the fast-food temptation. Eat fruit and drink plenty of water.
8. Most importantly - have fun!

If you enjoy your exercise you will want to do it more so why not invite some friends over to share your pool and workout together. If you don’t already have a swimming pool you might like to consider our Wooden Exercise Pools. At only 3.9m by 2.4m they will fit into even the smallest of gardens.

     

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 9th, 2008 at 3:50 pm and is filed under Health. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.