Various studies have been documented on swimming and almost all of them have established swimming as one of the most complete and the best exercise. Swimming is said to burn 3 calories per pound of body weight per mile of swimming which is more than any other form of exercise. However, when people take swimming as an exercise, they complain of not getting the kind of benefits that they read about in magazines and health articles. They complain about the progress being too slow. Well, in most cases, the reason is lack of proper technique while doing swimming.
To get the maximum benefits of it, swimming must be done with the right technique, otherwise it can do more harm than good. Here are some things to keep in mind:
- Improve Your Technique: Studies have shown that people who do swimming with swift and effortless strokes are able to burn more calories than others who just paddle in the water. Get the basic strokes of swimming like the backstroke and the freestyle right in order to burn the maximum amount of calories.
- Don’t burn yourself out: Most people make the mistake of believing that the faster they swim, the more calories they will burn. That’s not true. Research has shown that people who alternate between intensive form of swimming and a slightly more relaxed form are able to burn more body fat faster. Thus, it is always a good idea to mix freestyle with backstroke or butterfly with side stroke.
- Keep improving: While swimming, always take note of the time it takes you to complete a lap. As you adapt to your schedule, keep increasing your speed gradually and keep improving on your time. This helps you stay motivated and interested in the exercise and helps you burn calories faster. Increasing the intensity of swimming every week or every couple of weeks helps to counter that tendency.
- Watch your diet: Like any other exercise, swimming too won’t help you much if you don’t control your diet. We always feel hungry after taking a bath and you can feel starved after swimming. However, don’t gorge on anything that comes your way after your swimming session. That will outdo the calories you have burnt while swimming.
- Use a partner to keep yourself motivated: This is the foremost reason why many complain of swimming being ineffective. They skip their sessions because they lack the motivation to go swimming. Using a partner can be a great way to keep yourself motivated and achieve your goal of losing fat and burning calories.
There is no better exercise than swimming but you need to stay consistent and you need to stay motivated in order to reap the benefits of this great exercise.
Always use best Women’s swimming goggles for safe swimming. Women’s swim goggles are designed to be narrower and fit more softly on the face so that female swimmers are more comfortable. Find women’s swim goggles, including the Tier Fin, the View Selene and the Speedo Women’s Vanquisher, with tips from the owner of a swimwear shop in this free video on swimming goggles.
