How Many Calories Burnt Swimming?

AsaThorsWoman

Hey guys!

I'm getting back into swimming laps again.

I have no ideas how many kcal I'm burning out there. Today I started out by swimming laps for 20 minutes.

Female
Five feet seven and a half inches
Currently 184 lbs :-(
%32 Body Fat (measured two different ways, same answer)
I'm 31 years old

What do you think? Is there a calculator or formula?

Thanks!

47Jacqueline

Check the MFP database for cardio. I'm sure swimming is there.

AsaThorsWoman

It is, but all MFP recommended Calorie Burns are grossly over-estimated.

I'm looking for something closer to a correct approximation.

alathIN

Here are a few different swimming kCal calculators:

http://www.swimmingcalculator.com/swim_calories_calculator.php
http://www.everydayhealth.com/Calories-Burned-Swimming.htm
http://caloriesburnedhq.com/calories-burned-swimming/

I have usually gotten similar results from these and from the MFP calculator, with the following caveats:
1) I always select the lower intensity option on MFP, despite the fact that I swim at a pretty high intensity
2) I am vigilant about only counting the time I am actually swimming, not recovery time in between sets
3) I only "eat back" about half the exercise calories that MFP gives me credit for.

Energy expenditure in swimming is not linear to speed - small increases in speed create huge differences in energy burn - so your accuracy will depend on how hard you're swimming. Because water is so high resistance (compared to air, for instance), you have exponentially more drag as you increase your speed.

AusAshMommy

I estimated & Allowed MFP to input the calories burned while trying to stay afloat in the ocean last weekend - the surf was pretty moderate (not harsh like when a storm is brewing, but not calm either) during tide change and I wasn't actively swimming, for 30 Mins it showed a 349 Calorie Burn - not 100% sure how accurate that was but I used the Everydayhealth Calculator alathIN posted and the results were similar - I think it gave me 329 Calories burned for 45 Mins.

pita7317

Agree with ausashmommy.
MFP over estimates cals burned but only a 100 or so....in my experience anyway.

pita7317

Also, I hand track my calorie deficit daily and it is always right on track to actual loss.
Give or take sodium intake....

kirkor

Doesn't matter -- log your calories per your goals and don't eat back exercise cals

tracydr

Oops, double post!

tracydr

Doesn't matter -- log your calories per your goals and don't eat back exercise cals

I thought we were supposed to eat back at least half?
I swim for exercise and do a lot of breaststroke so I count it as swimming,breaststroke. I know when I swim hard for 30 minutes that I'm famished. I'm not losing fast but I am losing at about .75 pounds a week. I eat at least half or sometimes all my calories back but I set MFP for sedentary,too.
What I would like to know is how to calculate an accurate amount when I swim both freestyle and crawl, some backstroke and even a little butterfly, plus 100-200 meters using the kick board and all the kicks,too.