Swimming is a great form of exercise, as it uses all the major muscle groups, develops muscle strength and endurance, and finally improves posture and flexibility. It is especially beneficial for pregnant women, who find high-impact exercises uncomfortable. Swimming also puts a little stress on your body.

Benefits of Swimming

It burns calories, so you will automatically lose weight. Swimming for weight loss has worked wonders due to its cardiovascular health benefits. As swimming uses almost all your muscles, your heart and lungs must work hard to supply them with oxygen.
Remember one thing, any exercise that makes you breathe a little heavier is good because this means your body is working hard. If your heart and lungs get stronger, you will not get tired easily. Those who swim regularly, not only lose weight but their overall health also improves. This reduces the risk of chronic illnesses such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
Learn More: 11 Tips To Strengthen Your Heart Health

Swimming Only to Lose Weight

If you have started swimming only to shed those extra kilos, make sure that you aren’t inadvertently consuming unneeded calories post the workout. In addition, the number of calories you burn while swimming depends on how fast you go and for how long. At a slow pace, 20 laps may burn only 50 calories. On the other hand, if you are doing a brisk forward crawl, you will burn as much as 11 calories per minute.
These days, many public pools offer swimming combined with aerobics, known as aqua-aerobics, that helps lose weight. This is high-impact aerobics without the high-impact.
Read More: Find Amazing List of Low-Calorie Recipes

Best Swimming Strokes for Weight Loss

Butterfly

Average calorie burn: Around 450 calories in 30 minutes. This stroke is effective for toning and building muscles. It helps with upper body strength, toning your chest, stomach, arms (particularly your triceps), and back muscles. It also increases your flexibility and improves posture.

Freestyle

Average calorie burn: Around 300 calories in 30 minutes. Freestyle stroke tones your stomach, buttocks, and shoulders. Of all the strokes, freestyle has the maximum impact on toning the back muscles.

Backstroke

Average calorie burn: Around 250 calories in 30 minutes. Practicing keeping yourself straight in the water can help you to lengthen your spine, helping you look taller and less hunched. That’s where backstroke comes into place. It tones the stomach, legs, arms, shoulders, and buttocks.

Breaststroke

Average calorie burn: Around 200 calories in 30 minutes. Breaststroke is a much better cardiovascular workout than the other strokes as it strengthens heart and lungs and at the same time tones thighs, upper back, triceps, hamstrings and lower legs.
Note: You can tailor your swimming sessions to exercise specific areas of your body.