Swimming to Burn Calories

Swimming is an excellent form of physical activity to burn calories. How many calories do you burn swimming shall however depend on the velocity of movements, strokes used, duration and skill of the swimmer.

How many Calories are Burned in Swimming

To achieve same calorie expenditure for a skilled and a non-skilled swimmer, skilled swimmer will need to cover a greater distance as he/she may require less energy to move through water. The table below shows calories burnt in swimming.

Irrespective of the skill level and weight, women in general expend fewer calories per mile swimming than man. This is due to in general greater bounciness and high body fat percentage in women. Due to more body fat percentage a person has an easy time to stay afloat, which in turn burns fewer calories.


This can be an advantage if you are a competitive swimmer as you can save these calories to fuel your distance and speed.

Besides burning calories to maintain weight or weight loss, swimming also offers many other health benefits. This relaxing and healthy activity helps you tone your body and also provides an excellent cardiovascular workout. As it helps to strengthen your heart muscles it also improves the delivery of oxygen to various parts of your body.


This sport when included in your daily fitness regime can offer marvelous results. Swimming not only provides many physical benefits but also offers social and mental benefits. Some of the physical benefits include improved strength and flexibility, improved physique or figure, stronger heart, and enhanced muscular stamina and balance.


Did you know that swimming is also a quick remedy to heal the muscles?

Swimming fuels your energy level to a larger extent and also relieves you from mental stress and tension. Swimming is particularly beneficial for individuals with lower back and leg problem and excess weight problem. As unlike other weight training programs for these problems, swimming doesn’t pose any strain on the connective tissue.


Swimming as a recreational activity can be enjoyed with your friends and family members. It helps to develop a spirit of sportsmanship and competition.

Swimming can particularly help pregnant women and a women post breast surgery. Pregnant women can make their abdominal muscles stronger by swimming which is an essential part while carrying a baby. It also strengthens the back muscles and thus women can carry excess weight gain during pregnancy more easily. High blood pressure, joint stiffness and discomfort associated commonly with pregnancy can be eased by exercising in water. However before commencing swimming as an exercise program (if you are pregnant or had a breast surgery) consult a health care professional.

Calories Burned Swimming

Swimming is an effective form of exercise for weight loss. It induces the burning of calories and helps to maintain healthy body weight. The benefits of swimming also include improved muscle strength and better endurance. It also helps to keep the heart healthy since it encourages cardiovascular health. Swimming can also be used as a warm-up routine before beginning a land workout session. It is also an excellent way to relax and cool down the body, especially during the hot summer months. Many individuals who wish to take up swimming as a form of exercise inquire about the calories burned swimming.

When calculating the number of calories burned in swimming, one needs to take into account various factors. The distance covered during swimming and the amount of time taken for the exercise determines the calories burned swimming 1 mile. The individual’s body weight, speed and style of swimming must also be taken into consideration. A person who weighs 200 pounds will burn about 40 percent more calories than a person who weighs 105 pounds even if they both are performing the same amount of exercise. A person who takes a leisurely swim for an hour will burn fewer calories than one who swims vigorously for ten minutes even if they both cover the same distance. There are different styles of swimming such as freestyle swim stroke, breast stroke and butterfly stroke. The style one adopts while swimming influences the amount of calories burned during the activity. The butterfly stroke is the most intensive styles of swimming and hence burns more calories. Those who swim in a lake or ocean tend to burn more calories than those who swim in swimming pools.

It is essential to use the right technique while swimming in order to obtain maximum benefits from the exercise. The correct way of breathing is also essential in order to master the process. With regular practice, one can increase the speed and intensity of the workout and this will help to bring about a greater loss of calories. Many people believe that swimming leads to higher calorie loss than running for the same amount of time. Experts maintain that since swimming involves the entire body even the arms, it leads to a more intense and exhaustive workout. Some are also of the opinion that runners should opt for swimming once they come to a plateau in their weight loss regimen.

Calories Swimming

Obesity is one of the biggest medical problems being keenly faced all over the world and the fact that a number of countries have taken the step of labeling it as a pandemic only serves to show that the condition should not be taken lightly. One of the biggest stumbling blocks that a number of medical experts face when trying to raise awareness about the effects of the condition revolve around the fact that there is a lot of misinformation circling the streets – with a number of people of the belief that the most dangerous effect that the condition has on an individual is restricted to his or her physical and aesthetic appeal.

This couldn’t be farther off the mark as the aesthetic effects of the condition are really the least of an obese individual’s problems. Some of the more serious effects of the condition include heart failure, chronic heart disease as well as other life threatening problems such as blood pressure and cholesterol problems. Moreover, the additional weight also takes its toll on your limbs, with a significant amount of difficulty and pain creeping in whenever the legs have to hold up the entire body weight. Although there are a few individuals that can point to the causes of the condition being factors out of their control – such as with hereditary and genetics, most people will have to point the finger at a lack of exercise combined with eating the wrong kinds of foods. An incorrect nutrition is a very common factor today because of the fact that a lot of us lead very hectic and fast paced lives – causing us to rely heavily on fast foods as a regular route of nutrition. While these burgers and hot dogs are admittedly rather tasty, one should not ignore the fact that they are completely lacking in the nutrients, vitamins and minerals that our bodies need in order to perform optimally. Instead, they contain a large number of empty calories that serve no purpose other than being converted into fat cells and stored in the fatty tissue of the body upon consumption – thereby leading to the development of obesity. Exercise plays a very important role in helping burn these additional calories contained within the body and also helps shape the body and give it a certain tone. As a result, it is the combination of these factors that ultimately decide the weight problems of an individual.

Swimming is widely considered to be one of the best exercises to take part in not only when it comes to weight loss, but also in regard to building up the endurance of the body. There have been a number of studies that have been designed to analyze the calories burned swimming, but a number of them appear to be conflicting at first glance. Before getting into the details of these conflicting results, it is important to understand the basic principle of weight loss. Some novices will suggest that in order to be able to lose weight, you should completely cut out any food consumption for a while – a technique often known as crash dieting. However, while crash dieting may see you slim down considerably in a matter of weeks, the effects it has on your system are quite substantial and unhealthy. Calorie counting is, by far, the healthiest method of weight loss as it ensures that you consume the right amount of calories to be able to let you perform your daily tasks without your body experiencing any kind of shortage in supplies. On top of that, most calorie counting methods will call for you to perform some kind of exercise to ensure that your body burns off a few more calories than it consumes leading to a somewhat slow, but regulated and constant loss of weight.

This is why swimming is most often talked about.Given the fact that swimming is widely known to be one of the most strenuous forms of exercises for the whole body, there shouldn’t be any doubt that it is the best way to lose weight. However, there are a number of other factors that one should also consider simultaneously. For instance, we spoke earlier about studies being carried out on the effectiveness of the sport and the disparity in readings between two of these studies, where one showed swimming to be just as effective as a brisk walk when it comes to losing weight. On the face of the reports, there seems to be nothing wrong in the readings. However, when one looked at the reports closer, one saw that the readings in the report that did show a significant difference in the effectiveness of swimming to walking, favoring swimming, the swim was conducted in a heated swimming tank while the one that showed no difference was performed in an outdoor swimming tank with relatively cool water.

The disparity was primarily because of the fact that when you swim in cold water, you are more likely to feel hungry just after the swim; prompting you to consume almost the same amount of calories you spent so much time trying to lose. As a result, asking yourself the question – ‘how many calories does swimming burn?’ or even ‘how many calories do you burn swimming?’ depends largely on the other factors that play a part in the situation. These other factors further encompass the amount of weight you lose include whether you follow a swimmers diet plan or not. You can always look up a number of highly recommended swimmers diet plans on the internet as well as in the healthy living area of your local bookstore. Keeping tabs on your workout routine is a great way to make sure that you push yourself harder each time you workout. For instance, keeping a record of the number of calories burned swimming laps will help you push to record a faster lap the next time around, thereby not only increasing your speed, but also the number of calories burned in the workout.