The Benefits of Swimming
- sustainable cardiovascular workout
- promotes lean, long muscles
- develops core strength
- increases flexibility
Unlike running or other cardio workouts, swimming can be sustained for much longer and is lower impact. This makes it a much faster way to develop your cardio without a lot of conditioning. Your ability to swim for longer periods of time also allows you to burn lots of calories without feeling as much like you’re burning lots of calories.
How Many Calories Can You Burn Swimming?
According to a Harvard University Study, a person who is 185 pounds, doing 30 minutes of freestyle can burn 488 calories, butterfly can burn 488, backstroke can burn 355, and breaststroke can burn 440 calories.
Swimming engages numerous muscle groups at once and is an excellent way to enhance your core workout. Swimming in a heated pool in particular can do great things for the muscles as well as your flexibility. The warm water relaxes you as well as your muscles. If you swim after a more intense workout it also burns lactic acid, which helps you avoid soreness the following day.
Get Started Today!
Adding swimming to your routine is easy. A gym with an indoor pool allows you to do your swimming year round. How much swimming and what type of swimming you should do depends largely upon your current workout regimen as well as your fitness goals. MediPlan can help determine the perfect exercise routine to get you started!