Swimming is one of the best ways to lose weight. Swimming forces you to work against resistance which helps you lose weight, build lean muscle, and speed up your metabolism because water is 800 times denser than air.
It is a cardiovascular workout that pushes the body forward by utilizing the arms, legs, core, and back. It promotes superior overall muscle definition than other cardio sports like jogging and tones the lower, upper, and core.
Swimming is a great full-body workout that has little negative effect on joints. Every movement you make when going through water is in opposition to the water’s inherent resistance; every pull, push, stroke, and kick demand energy to push the water aside.
Swimming Exercises to Lose Weight
Here are a few swimming exercises to participate in
1. Running
Start by walking, slowly. Keep your arms at your sides in the water. As you walk, swing them back and forth exactly the way race walkers do.
Engage your core, and be sure to remain standing tall. proceed to running. Running at the edge of the water is healthy.
The shallower the water the heavier the feel of your body weight. Run from one end of the water to the other end at the shallow part of the water.
Swim parachutes (a piece of fabric you attach to your waist that creates drag behind you as you move through the water) can provide a bit of weight that enables you to be heavier and put in more effort.
2. Squat Jumps
Just like regular squats, Squat down by sitting back into your hips and heels with flat feet, then straighten your hips, knees, and ankles to drive through the balls of your feet and jump up as high as possible into the air.
To make the exercise harder, move faster. It will create more resistance, and it’ll require you to complete more reps in the same amount of time. The added resistance from the pool water makes the exercise even more effective than the dry-land version.
3. Breaststroke
Breaststroke is a low-burning cardiovascular workout. The breaststroke is a fun and easy-to-learn swimming technique.
Swimming breaststroke is a great form of exercise that engages the arms, legs, shoulders, and neck.
You start by Keeping your body flat and lying facing down in the water with your body kept in line with the water surface.
With arms out straight and palms facing downwards, press down and out at the same time.
Starting with your legs straightened, bend your knees to bring your heel towards your bottom and make a circular motion outward with your feet until they return to the starting position.
4. Backstroke
Backstroke assists in lengthening your spine and helping with your posture while toning the stomach, shoulders, arms, legs, and buttocks, and also developing the flexibility of your hips.
You start by lying face-up in the water, move your arms in an asynchronous motion, and kick your legs in a continuous flutter kick.
5. Freestyle
Freestyle is a faster workout that assists in toning your shoulders, buttocks, and stomach and has the best impact of the strokes in toning the muscles in your back.
The freestyle stroke is swum in a horizontal position with the body facing down. The body rolls from one side to the other, always turning to the side of the arm that is currently pulling in the water. The head remains in a neutral position, face down, except when breathing.
6. Butterfly
The butterfly stroke is effective in building and toning muscles, increasing upper body strength, and improving flexibility.
It is difficult to learn and master and, as such, is not recommended for beginners. You Start with your arms extended above your head (shoulder width apart), pull your hands towards your body in a motion, palms facing outwards.
Remember to keep your elbows higher than your hands. This is the pull. At the end of the pull, begin pushing your palms backwards through the water, along your sides and past your hips.
This is the fastest part of the arm movement and provides the momentum necessary to complete the release.
7. Bicycle
The bicycle movement requires imagination. To start, you will stand facing the interior of the pool, then start by laying back toward the side of the pool.
Bend your arms, and rest your elbows on the deck. You will need your elbows to help stabilize your body. Then, standing with both legs extended, begin bending your knees to pedal an imaginary bicycle.
Conclusion
Swimming is considered as a total body workout, it allows your upper body and lower body to be fully engaged and benefit from the exercise that swimming provides, raising your heart rate and providing an opportunity for you to burn calories and weight.
You can engage in any of these swimming exercise to lose weight.
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