Winston Salem Gyms : Swimming – Good for weight loss?
July 15th, 2010 by Winston Salem, under winston salem gyms. No Comments
Swimming may be a wonderful form of exercise. It uses almost all the major muscle groups, and places a vigorous demand on your heart and lungs. It develops muscle strength and endurance, and improves posture and flexibility.
The buoyancy factor makes it namely useful for individuals who are pregnant, have injuries like leg or lower back problems, or who find high-impact exercise uncomfortable. It is a great sport for individuals of all ages and all proficiency levels.
In order to lose weight, you might want to keep your swimming regime (speeding up your pace a little bit and increasing the length of your swimming sessions, if necessary), and supplement it with some good-paced, arm-swinging walks.
Research shows that swimming and weight loss, nevertheless, has produced inconsistent and contradictory results.
Studies show that swimmers lost weight (and body fat), gained several pounds, and had no weight changes at all.
In most of the cases where swimmers gained weight, it was lean body mass (muscle) and not fat.
One research study found that people who swim in cold water may consume more calories post-workout than people who swim in warmer water.
So if you are swimming mainly to lose weight, make certain that you aren’t inadvertently consuming unneeded calories during post-workout snacks and meals.
In addition, the number of calories you burn while swimming depends on how fast you go and for how long.
At a slow pace, twenty laps might burn only fifty calories – little more than simply staying afloat. In contrast, a swimmer doing a brisk forward crawl will often burn as much as eleven calories per minute.
Swimming in a pool might be more conducive to the kind of workout you are looking for than swimming at a beach or lake; pools often have lap swim hours, and you will not have to contend with rolling waves or boats.
For a guaranteed workout, you can also join up with a U.S. Masters Swimming group near you.
In the end, weight loss is dependent on a simple formula; more calories are burned than are consumed. No one exercise is necessarily better than another for weight loss; what matters is that you eat a healthy, well balanced diet and remain regularly physically active.
Swimming may be a fun activity to add to your workout routine, whether you are a novice or a master. Enjoy!
Tags: exercise, Fitness, Fitness Tips