Can swimming really lose weight?

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Tulipmelody
Tulipmelody Posts: 7
in Fitness and Exercise
I was a swimmer until realizing it was not helping me lose weight, as least not as fast as running and other exercise do. Well, maybe I can put it this way - I feel I lost weight after sweating from other exercises, and I don t feel like burning because I dont see my sweat after swimming. Do you really sweat when swimming and the water wash them off?

Is there a curriculum of how to swim in order to lose weight? At least feel like you have lost? I do all breast, free, back, and buttfly. Please suggest!

Replies

  • JustLindaLou
    JustLindaLou Posts: 376 Member
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    All I know is 25 minutes of non-stop movement in the pool - laps, kicks, side steps, treading water, etc - only burned 80 cals per my HRM. 25 minutes of the Walk At Home DVD burns about 200 cals.

    The pool workout seems to all be in the fat-burning zone, the DVD workout is about 25% fat burning 75% fitness. (I uses the Polar FT4).

    I have had 2 friends in the past who almost exclusively swam. The girl lost quite a bit of weight (I believe she was also watching her diet); the guy didn't really have any weight to lose. But neither one seemed to build any muscle tone (although the guy did have pretty toned legs from all the kicking laps). Otherwise they both were still "soft" if you will...

    The pool is great for me on the days when knee or back or other issues are troubling me, I can get some workout in without extra stress on the joints. But on most days, I'd rather work harder doing the DVD workout and then jump in the pool to cool off. I feel more results from the Walk At Home DVD.... :)
  • dvisser1
    dvisser1 Posts: 788 Member
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    Sweating is the body's response to an increase in core temperature. You exercise and get hot, you start to sweat to cool your body down. Swimming, you're generally doing that in cool water which is doing the cooling for your body.

    Losing weight is all about burning calories and eating at a calorie deficit. Swimming does burn calories pretty well, even though you're not sweating.

    Work a variety of strokes and vary your pace so you can get your heart rate up and then recover while still swimming. Some friends of mine took an adult masters swim class to train for a triathlon and said it was a tough but enjoyable workout. Maybe a local pool offers something like that around you?
  • LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo
    LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo Posts: 3,634 Member
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    No matter if you run or swim but if you're not eating on deficit then there will be no weight loss, simple as that. However in my experience, whenever I swim for 2 hours I tend to get really hungry after. Also just because you don't feel the sweat doesn't mean you're not burning calories. I notice my heart beat very fast after doing two laps.

    Nevertheless swimming is a great workout especially for those who have joint problems.
  • MrsBioChem
    MrsBioChem Posts: 80 Member
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    It can really help in weight loss and muscle definition. I used to be a competitive swimmer, and could eat whatever I wanted without gaining weight. Plus, I had an eight pack, and I was always around 15% body fat. However, that was on a rigorous one to one an a half hour training routine I did six days a week. I think the way most people "just swim" won't do as much.
  • kairisika
    kairisika Posts: 131 Member
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    Many people swim pretty slowly. If you're just cruising along, it doesn't burn a lot of calories.
    That doesn't mean it can't be used to burn, just that it often doesn't the way people use it.
    Try swimming intervals - sprint a length of the pool, then take it slow and easy on the length back. Then spring again, and recover.
    You swim continuously, but really push hard. Do it for 10/20/40 lengths - whatever works well for you.
    That should up your heart rate and your calorie burn.

    Paddles are another good idea. Paddles allow you to push more water, which takes more muscle work, so you are using more resistance, rather than just cruising through the water. Swimming hard with paddles is helpful for strength and burns more calories. (Note that fins don't do the same thing.)

    Butterfly is quite a workout, so doing that can be good. Breast stroke will just never compare to the others.
    Personally, my body never quite got the hang of butterfly, and I find breast an illogical inefficient movement. so I generally do my training all freestyle, and do some back crawl to balance out the front.

    If you enjoy swimming, you can certainly do it as a calorie-burning activity. If you are just looking for a cardiovascular activity to burn a lot of calories, you'll never burn as much in a 20minute swim as in a 20-minute run.

    As for sweat, as someone mentioned, because water efficiently moves heat away from your body, you don't need to sweat the way you do when trying to give off heat into the much-less-conductive air.
    But when I swim hard and then stop, I can feel the heat pouring off my face, and definitely sometimes sweat.
  • MireyGal76
    MireyGal76 Posts: 7,334 Member
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    I used to swim a mile at a time, three times a week. Front crawl, 30-35 mins. I pushed it and it was a crazy workout. I lost many inches all over, thighs, tummy, hips. It worked really well until I injured my shoulder.

    I think if you're training hard, yes. If you're floating, not so much.
  • matthew_b
    matthew_b Posts: 137 Member
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    I agree with the others, it's all about how hard you push yourself. I've lost almost 60 lbs with my primary workout being swimming.

    I also can get quite hot in the pool. If I do a 500 pushing myself as hard as I can, I'm burning up at the end. I'll sit on the stairs for 5 minutes to cool down before I can do anything. I've found that longer intervals mean a little less speed and I don't overheat, and shorter ones don't get me that hot.

    It was about 9 months of swimming before I built the strength and endurance that I got to the point that I could overheat in the pool.
  • matthew_b
    matthew_b Posts: 137 Member
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    I used to swim a mile at a time, three times a week. Front crawl, 30-35 mins.

    Right there is your example: under 35 minutes per mile is cruising along. If you're moving that fast then you're going to burn a lot AND build a lot of muscle.
  • Farburnfred
    Farburnfred Posts: 333 Member
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    And you do sweat in the pool! it is important to be aware of that and to drink. I swim alot and am always starving after swimming.
  • MerBear1985
    MerBear1985 Posts: 131
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    I have been swimming for over 20 years, was a lifeguard for 10 years and did competitive competitions for 9 years. When my coach would give us training routines to do before a lifesaving competition, trust me, it burned a lot of calories and I was panting and my limbs were jelly after.

    Not saying you have to get to this point for it to be a workout, just saying that swimming is an excellent cardio workout, if like others have said here, you push yourself so your heart rate actually increases.

    If you can push yourself to the point where your heart rate increases, you will most definitely sweat in the pool...obviously you won't notice the typical sign of wetness, but I find I tend to get a bit itchy on my legs/arms when I really start to get going. Just because you are in cool water doesn't mean you don't sweat...water is important.

    You will not build muscle from swimming necessarily, but you will burn calories, lots of them if you try!
  • LunaHare
    LunaHare Posts: 30 Member
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    Well I've lost weight, and gained muscle with swimming. I find freestyle doesn't work my whole body as well as breaststroke as its only really working the arms and the leggs are more for balance. I swim a mile 3 times a week in about 40 mins no breaks. It's working for me! I also use swim gloves for half my laps and I definitely notice a huge difference in my arms and legs too. For me I love it do I'll keep doing it :-)
  • starcyndycyn
    starcyndycyn Posts: 65
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    I've been swimming and doing a hardcore (not wimpy) Aquafit class for three months now, and I've lost two sizes in my swimsuit and built muscle.
  • med2017
    med2017 Posts: 192 Member
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    swimming is amazing i swam for 9 years clubs school etc and the trainings were intense. i had a 6 pac a very nice wide back and all it is a great work out, plus i used to live in the water... we swam like 5,000 m per practice. but as my coach said.. takes 3 weeks to get into shape and 2 weeks to loose your shape with swimming... i had an ex who swam.. before he had no muscles, after... eye candy ;)
  • matthew_b
    matthew_b Posts: 137 Member
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    Well I've lost weight, and gained muscle with swimming. I find freestyle doesn't work my whole body as well as breaststroke as its only really working the arms and the leggs are more for balance.

    It should be working your back if you reach for each stroke. Pivot your shoulders with each stroke to reach the forward arm further ahead of you and push the back arm further behind you when you push to the end of that arm's stroke. Since you're pivoting at the same time that the back arm is pushing, you're doing it against resistance and it should help build up your back.

    If you do strong dolphin kicks after push-off until you come up, it should be working your core. You have to have a strong core to be able to do strong dolphin kicks.
  • jerber160
    jerber160 Posts: 2,606 Member
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    i don't know the answer and I don't know it it's helped me, but I just started swimming a little and I LOVE how it makes my muscles feel.. stretching and lengthening with each stroke.. regardless of effect, it feels great on my body
  • tigerlinly
    tigerlinly Posts: 219 Member
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    i agree with lindalou i try to use it on days i hurt to bad to do anythign else because i can bring my grandbaby over and spend a couple of hours chasing her in the pool and use up some calories and then like today i went to store with mom whic used a few more calories (which was a good one considering i did kinda overdo it over the weekend and today
  • iluvprettyshoes
    iluvprettyshoes Posts: 605 Member
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    If you're really pushing yourself your heartrate is gonna go up!! Swim faster & harder!
  • KaleidoscopeEyes1056
    KaleidoscopeEyes1056 Posts: 2,996 Member
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    And you do sweat in the pool! it is important to be aware of that and to drink. I swim alot and am always starving after swimming.

    Same here! It's almost ridiculous how hungry I am after swimming for an hour. My primary exercises are swimming and lifting weights. I don't really like doing much cardio, so I stick with these two things (along with walking to class every day) because they're the most enjoyable for me
  • neetneetneets
    neetneetneets Posts: 95 Member
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    I lost a about 8kg swimming 3-4x a week for 45 mins, I did that for a semester then stopped because I hated getting up early in the morning! But definitely what everybody else has said - you should make sure you exert yourself. It's like running vs walking. Walking won't get your heart rate up like running will because you're going at a slower pace. Set swimming goals - see how many laps you can do now in a set amount of time, and aim to swim more than that in a month or so. That way you'll lift your pace because you'll be working towards something :)

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