You want to lose weight? In addition to reducing food portions and increasing the consumption of healthy foods, you also need to exercise. Well, one sport that is believed to be effective in helping you lose weight is swimming. However, many people who try to lose weight by swimming, but do not get optimal benefits. Therefore, let’s pay attention to the following tips so that swimming can be effective in losing weight.
Swimming is beneficial for weight loss because when you do this water sport, all the muscles in your body, starting from the muscles in the lower body, upper body, to the core muscles and back muscles are actively engaged. Using muscles while swimming can also train muscles to become stronger and increase muscle mass. This then makes the metabolic rate in the body increase, so that the body can burn more calories even though you are not swimming.
In addition, when swimming, the heart and lungs work harder to provide the oxygen that the body needs. The body will also burn a lot of calories to provide energy when you swim. Swimming for just 60 minutes can burn about 500-700 calories for energy. This is what can make you lose weight quickly.
However, the burning of calories while swimming depends on the style of swimming that is done, the distance and also the speed. Some of the following things can also make swimming more effective at reducing weight.
1. Swimming style
There are four swimming styles, namely breaststroke or frog, backstroke, freestyle and butterfly stroke. The four styles are actually equally beneficial for body health (Read also: Various Types of Swimming Styles and Their Benefits). However, for those of you who want to lose weight, you should swim using a butterfly style. Because, this swimming style can burn calories up to 150 calories in adults weighing 72.5 kilograms. Apart from the butterfly style, you can also swim freestyle to burn more calories. Meanwhile, for breaststroke and backstroke, the calorie burning is equivalent to brisk walking or jogging.
2. Intensity
Swimming intensity includes the distance, speed, and length of time you swam. The farther the distance you go swimming, of course, the more calories you can burn. Likewise with speed. Swimming using the right technique can quickly burn a large number of calories. When done casually, swimming using a butterfly style only burns 150-200 calories per 30 minutes. However, if you swim intensely, the calories burned can reach 350 calories.
If you want to lose weight quickly, you should swim at least 30 minutes per day. This is because in the early minutes of swimming, the intake that will be burned first is carbohydrates, then fat. Fat burning usually occurs after about 20 minutes of you swimming. However, for those of you who are trying to swim for the first time, do it for 10 minutes first, then after a while, you can gradually increase the duration. According to the American Heart Association, swimming for 30-60 minutes in 4-6 days a week can help you lose weight while reducing health risks, such as stroke, diabetes, and heart disease.
3. Heating and Cooling
Don’t forget to warm up before swimming and cool down after swimming. Warming up is useful for preventing the muscles of the body from cramping while swimming, so that you can train optimally. Meanwhile, cooling is useful for relaxing back the muscles of the body that have worked hard while you are swimming.
4. Limit the portion of food after swimming
It is natural for you to feel hungry after swimming. However, you should avoid eating large portions of food after swimming, because it will make your exercise in vain. If you feel hungry after swimming, eat healthy foods such as vegetables, fruits, or oatmeal in moderation. If you want to lose weight faster you can take proven pills, this supplement has been proven effective for weight loss, because it contains many substances that can maximize the body’s metabolism. For more complete information please see proven reviews.