swim workouts to lose weight: beginners guide

Are you looking for a workout to help you burn fat and lose weight? You probably heard that swimming is one of the most effective exercises for burning fat and losing weight since it involves all muscle groups. That is mostly right, except for one thing.

Swimming workouts are not all made equal, and your workout routine will ultimately affect your calorie expenditure. There are a lot of more complicated details to it.

In this article, you'll learn the following:

1. How to build an optimal weight loss routine
2. High-intensity workouts vs low-intensity workouts
3. Swim strokes and which burns most calories
4. How to track how many calories you've burnt

If you want to learn how to build an optimal swimming routine, this article is for you.

Let's dive in!

When you swim or do other cardio activities, your body burns off energy from calories.

➢ Calories are units of energy. Your body needs energy to function properly, and it gets that energy from the food you eat. So when you eat or drink, your body breaks down the food into nutrients like proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. These nutrients are then used by your cells for processes like growth and repair. Breaking down food and using its nutrients for energy is called digestion or metabolism.

You expand energy constantly throughout the day to get your body moving. And, even when you are resting. Yes, even when you supposedly don't do anything, you still burn calories. That process is called BMR - basal metabolic rate. It's a base rate of the energy that your body needs to keep you pretty much alive.

When you add exercise to your routine, you deplete energy sources more. That's called physical activity energy expenditure.

➢ Fun fact: To lose one pound of fat, you need to expend 3,500 calories above your daily calorie intake.

When you exercise, those calories are burned off from fat and carbohydrate reserves. Just as the number of calories burned depends on your activity level, the relative number of fat and carbs burned varies by activity. Both aerobic and anaerobic exercises burn fat and carbs at different rates.

Aerobic Zone

There's a famous stereotype that the aerobic zone is “a sweet spot for fat loss.” This is because when you exercise in that zone, your body can use fat as its primary fuel source to keep you fueled for longer. But aerobic swimming burns fewer calories.

To stay in the aerobic zone, aim for a heart rate between 50% and 70% of your maximum heart rate. For most people, this means keeping your heart rate around 120-140 beats per minute.

Remember, during an aerobic swim, you should be able to carry a conversation with ease.

Anaerobic Zone or HIIT

The anaerobic zone is where things start to get a little more intense. When you exercise in the anaerobic zone, your body will rely more on carbohydrates for energy. Aim for 70% and 90% of your maximum heart rate to stay in that heart rate zone. For most people, this means keeping your heart rate around 140-160 beats per minute.

This is where you won't be able to carry a conversation when swimming.

It is true that aerobic exercise relies upon more energy sources and therefore burns up more fat to provide that extra energy. However, it's important to remember that high-intensity interval training burns more total calories and therefore burns more total fat.

4 x length of the swimming pool easy swims with 20” rest in-between
4 x length of the swimming pool easy to moderate flutter kick with a kickboard with 20” rest
2 x easy swims of one swimming stroke of choice with 20-30” rest
1 x fast effort of the stroke of your choice with 1’ rest after
1 x easy swim of your choice
2 x easy swims of the different strokes of choice with 20-30” rest
1 x fast effort of the swimming stroke of your choice with 1’ rest after

4 x easy swims of your choice or flutter kick with a kickboard with the rest of your choice