Swim To Lose Weight

I want to swim to lose weight. How can it help me? I am now 30 years of age, and my stomach/belly is developing big. I want to embark on swimming to prevent this problem.

Swimming is an excellent form of exercise! If you are a non-swimmer, I recommend you contact your local swimming school and enrol in some lessons.

If you can swim, I recommend trying a new swimming stroke. Swimming is easy to 'take it easy', and if you swim the same stroke all the time, you will not burn so many calories after a while. You must take yourself out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself for your swimming and, therefore, weight loss to be effective.

However, please remember that weight loss is most effective with a carefully controlled diet and varied forms of exercise. Swimming is one of the most effective forms of exercise.

If you have any medical conditions or have never exercised regularly before, it is best to consult your doctor or medical practitioner before you start.

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Professional guidance and support to help you through every stage of learning how to swim.

Discover everything you need from first entering the pool and building confidence to floating and breathing. Plus, 82 exercises to master the four basic swimming strokes.(click here for an instant preview) 

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Lose Weight Swimming Breaststroke

I swim breaststroke pretty well. I want to know how I can utilize it to get maximum exercise so that I swim to tone up and lose weight. Is minimum strokes to go from one end to the other better, or are the more times I do the stroke, the better? I can do both, but the latter gets me tired sooner. I can go from one end to the other in 3 strokes, but if I do the regular one stroke after the other with timed breathing, it takes me 10-12 strokes.

If your main aim is to tone up and lose weight, we are talking about working your muscles and burning calories.

If you swim from one end of the pool to the other using the minimum number of strokes possible, you are not working your muscles hard enough to tone them up or burn enough calories to lose weight.

Swimming the length of the pool using more strokes burns more calories, and tones your muscles, and this is immediately evident in the fact that you get tired. Unfortunately, when it comes to exercise and weight loss, the old saying goes, it is pain to gain! It is, therefore, very important that you swim out of your comfort zone.

The biggest and most common mistake people make when it comes to exercise is that they do the same routine for too long. This then results in the body becoming used to the exercise, and therefore, it is no longer a challenge. Fitness and weight loss then plateaus, and then people tend to give up.

Have you ever tried swimming a different stroke, maybe front crawl or backstroke? That would take you out of your comfort zone and burn some serious calories. You don’t have to swim continuous lengths of a different stroke, swim one length of front crawl, for every four lengths of breaststroke.

That would be just enough to make you work harder and in a different way from how you usually exercise. The result: increased muscle tone and decrease body fat percentage. Just don’t fall into the trap of doing the same routine for too long.

When it becomes manageable, then change it so that it becomes a challenge again, and your results will continue to come.

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Lose Weight Swimming Breaststroke

Will I lose weight swimming breaststroke? I want to start swimming for weight loss, and the most enjoyable style for me is the breaststroke. But I'm not particularly eager to put my face in the water. Will I look like a dummy if I swim laps like this?

Swimming breaststroke without putting your face in the water is probably one of the most common ways of swimming. The fact that it is technically incorrect is of no importance if that is how you wish to swim.

My dilemma is whether to advise you about your swimming or assess your appearance as a dummy!

Joking aside, if weight loss is your goal, then go for it. Swimming is arguably one of the best ways of burning calories, toning your muscles and changing your body shape. But keep one very important thing in mind…

Swim Out Of Your Comfort Zone

Swimming is easy to take it easy. If your poodle up and down the pool at a gentle pace, it will not be a challenge to your body. You will then burn very few calories, resulting in little or no weight loss.

So, you absolutely must take yourself out of your comfort zone. In other words, get out of breath like you would if you were to do a workout at the gym.

To achieve this in the pool, try swimming one length as fast as possible, followed by a slower length to recover. Repeat this as many times as you can for at least 20 minutes.

As you become fitter and your weight decreases, you will find it easy again, so change the pattern. Maybe do two lengths at speed and only one to recover. Maybe take a float and use your legs to give them a workout. Try one length full speed, one medium pace and then one slow.

Keep It Varied

There are hundreds of ways of varying your swimming, even if you only swim one stroke one way. The point is to keep it challenging for your body, and at the same time, it remains interesting. Also, your weight loss is less likely to plateau, and your fitness and body shape will continue to change how you want them to.

Then you can look back at all those swimmers gently swimming up and down, trying to convince themselves they are doing a workout. Who will be the dummies, then?

Try A Different Swimming Stroke

The easiest way to swim out of your comfort zone is to try a more difficult swimming stroke. Giving your body and, ultimately, your muscles something different to do will burn tons of calories.

Click on a stroke for more information on how to swim it.

Front Crawl Stroke

Breaststroke 

Backstroke

Butterfly Swimming Stroke