5 Tips To Losing Weight In The Water

It’s no secret that swimming is an intense and powerful form of exercise, and what makes it so effective is that it’s non-impact and non-weight-bearing cardio. For individuals who have difficulty with their range of motion or are severely overweight, this type of exercise can be the most valuable.

While burning calories in the water are easy, it’s important to know the right form and technique to make your workout the most effective it can be. Here are 5 tips for making the most out of your swimming workout!

Swim for time

Just like you would spend a particular amount of time working out at the gym, you should stick to a time schedule when you’re in the pool in order to get the most out of this cardiovascular exercise. Stretch before getting into the pool to warm up and then set your time for 30-45 minutes.

Keep in mind, you want to perform some dynamic stretches before exerting yourself in a pool. Dynamic stretches include arm swings, side steps, deep knee bends, and lunges. Once you’ve completed these stretches, jump into a lap pool and swim back and forth during your allotted time, this way you’ll be getting an effective cardio workout that will prove to be just as effective as running on the treadmill but without the knee pain.

Do intervals

Intervals are a proven way to lose weight quickly by revving up your metabolism. You can do this by swimming a number of laps at a low intensity and then kicking it up a few notches for the last lap and swimming as hard and as fast as you can. Alternate laps of high and low intensity 10 to 12 times and finish off the workout with five low-intensity laps.

Circuit training

Circuit training has always been a great way to exercise and build up endurance. Similar to triathlon, you perform circuit training by doing a run, then biking, doing quick cardio such as jump rope, and then jumping into the pool for a quick set of laps.

Water aerobics

You may look at water aerobics as a silly form of exercise, but there’s a reason people have been doing it for decades – it works! The problem with this is that you need to make sure you are using a pool with shallow ends, which not every gym can offer you. For water aerobics, you start by swimming for about 10 minutes.

After that swim period is over, enter the shallow end and tread water back and forth from one side to the other for five times total. Once you’ve completed this, give yourself a minute break, and then repeat swimming and running for 45 minutes to an hour. You might leave the pool feeling exhausted, but your body will get one incredible workout.

Swim regularly

The same as with any other exercise regimen, you need to commit to a consistent plan in order to see results. Doing an exercise just once a week will not result in you losing weight, however if you do swim at least three times a week and mix up your routine, you will certainly see results quickly.