It's
often said swimming is the best exercise you can do. After all, it works your
whole body, yet it's gentle on joints, reducing the risk of injury. And you
don't need to worry about the smell of hot sweaty armpits afterwards.
But
what if you're swimming with your waistline in mind? While it's great for
fitness and muscle tone, it's probably not the best choice if weight loss is
your main aim."If you want to lose weight, you're better off walking
around a pool than swimming in it," Cate says. "That's obviously a
bit extreme, but it does make the point. From a fat loss perspective, swimming
has some real negatives compared to other forms of exercise."
One of
the problems is buoyancy. When you're in the pool, your weight is supported by
water, so you don't burn as much energy to move. And the more body fat you
have, the more this applies – because fat floats. So someone with more body fat
will actually burn fewer kilojoules swimming than someone who is slimmer (all
other things being equal). Likewise, a woman's higher proportion of body fat
means she will burn fewer kilojoules than a man swimming under the same
conditions.
Temperature
is another possible issue. Whatever your size or gender, it's usually easier to
maintain your normal body temperature during and after a swim, compared to
exercising on land, Cate says. This may mean you burn comparatively less fuel,
because you don't have to work as hard to maintain your body temperature and
keep yourself cool. (But the effect of different water temperatures on fat loss
among swimmers has not been thoroughly tested.)
Finally,
it is quite likely you will eat more after a swim. Many people notice exercise
suppresses their appetite, but there's evidence this is less pronounced if you
exercise in water. Again, it's thought changes to body temperature play a role.
This might be one reason elite swimmers often have more body fat than their
counterparts who exercise on land, Cate says.
All
this doesn't mean you can't lose weight swimming, just that it will be more
difficult to do so than with most other land-based exercise (except cycling,
which like swimming, is not weight-bearing). Tables that compare kilojoules
burned per hour for different forms of exercise can be misleading and are not a
good guide, Cate says. This is because it's not easy to gauge equivalent
intensities of swimming versus, say walking.
But if
you enjoy swimming, don't throw in the towel. It is still great exercise and
certainly better for fat loss than sitting on the couch. And it's ideal for
people with injuries or for those who carry so much weight that they find
walking painful.
Using
the larger muscles in your legs intensely when you swim as well as your arms, alternating
laps where you go as fast as you can with laps where you swim more slowly to
catch your breath. Setting personal challenges, such as increasing your time to
complete a set number of laps. Trying some other water-based activities like
aqua-aerobics, shallow-water walking (aim for ankle to mid-thigh depth) and
deep-water running wearing a flotation vest.
Getting
your technique right so you can go faster and for longer Improving your fitness
(in the pool or elsewhere); the fitter you are, the better you are at burning
fat. Managing your appetite; eat only what you need to satisfy your hunger
after your swim and plan ahead so you're not tempted by unhealthy choices.
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