It is summertime and all roads lead to the pools and beaches. This is that time of the year when one gets to flaunt their perfect bodies. But is your body really perfect? There’s really no sense in body shaming but then, it is important that you’re confident in the skin you’re in.

This is why it is highly recommended that you Swim all year round and not just during summer. Swimming is a great way to stay fit and fabulous as it gives your body the full exercise that it needs. It can get you toned without breaking a sweat. Swimming can definitely give you the best of both worlds.

How Long Do You Have to Swim?

Swimming is a great cardiovascular exercise. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends at least two hours and thirty minutes of cardiovascular exercise weekly. So if you spend the same amount of time swimming in the pool, then you’re sure that you’re getting your weekly workout quota. For best results, one hour of exercise daily is highly recommended. Studies show that the people who exercise daily have higher chances of losing up to 66 pounds and keep them off for at least five years.

By swimming laps for at least an hour every day, you can burn around 510 calories. Burning 3,500 calories means losing one pound of weight. You don’t have to swim for seven hours to lose one pound. You can accelerate the results through dieting.

Swimming is a great exercise because it moves all the muscles of your body. An hour of swimming is comparable to almost all other types of land-based exercise, only better. A certain study was conducted at the University of Utah comparing the result of swimming and walking on overweight women. They found out that the women who swim 4 times a week for at least 40 minutes each time slim down just like the women who walked for the same amount of time and frequency weekly.

How to Make Swimming Work for You

To ensure that you get the best effect from swimming, you must learn different strokes. The butterfly stroke is the most potent of all. It helps you maximize the calories that your body will burn. The butterfly stroke puts the arm in a windmill motion and the feet on a constant dolphin kick. The whole action burns around 150 calories for 10 minutes. You may also use other strokes like the breaststroke and backstroke. The freestyle stroke, on the other hand, is the easiest and the most popular ones used for exercise. However, it won’t deliver as much result as the others.

Try to apply interval training when swimming. For the first lap, swim as fast as you can. For the second lap, try to swim at a more relaxed pace. Increase your workout intensity for short spurts of time. Doing so will increase the number of calories burned and improve your metabolic rate.

Wearing a shower cap will also help, as it will reduce your resistance to the water. Less resistance means faster swimming. Faster swimming means more calories burned. Aside from shower caps, try to use fins, kickboards, and hand paddles as well. All of these are going to help you improve your swimming workout.

Why Choose Swimming 

Swimming sculpts your body like no other exercise can. It burns calories and boosts your metabolism. Swimming is tough on the calories but mild on your body. Water neutralizes gravity so you’re basically weightless when you’re in the water. Less gravity means less resistance, which leads to more results.

Swimming is also gentle on the joints. Unlike running or walking, swimming won’t add tension in these delicate body parts. You also won’t be at any risk of injury even if you choose to swim every day. Sweating on the water is also not an issue. Swimming is the only exercise where you can feel refreshed instead of feeling drained.

Swimming gives you leaner muscles, trimer waists, and sexier hips. It will work out your core, arms, shoulders, and glutes. And because your metabolism is so much faster after swimming, you tend to burn calories even when you’re sleeping. A certain study shows that swimming can make you look younger; up to 20 years younger, as a matter of fact. Such study showed that a swimmer’s blood pressure, cardiovascular performance, and cholesterol level are comparable to younger people. Even the functions of the cognitive and central nervous system remain optimal.

Swimming is Not Easy

But don’t get it wrong. There’s nothing easy about swimming. Newbies think that swimming laps for an hour is easy. Unless you’re trained, you may only last four minutes in the water before feeling exhausted. Swimming as an exercise requires training. For starters, your lungs should be strong as you can’t breathe in air at any time you like when swimming. It’s not the same like you’re running or walking.

So never push yourself too hard on your first try. The one-hour workout may not happen immediately and that’s okay. If you’re just starting out, swim four lengths of the pool then rest for a few seconds. Then try to repeat the sequence five to ten times. For the first two weeks, swim at least two to three times. Just increase frequency as you go along.

It’s all going to be hard work but you’ll benefit greatly in the end. Regular swimming will not just help you lose weight, improve your strength, make you flexible, but it will also reduce the risks of chronic illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes, and stroke. It will also help you recover faster from past injuries.

Swimming may be tough but it is definitely fun. It is one workout that you can share with family and friends. While many people will give you reasons not to go to the gym, they’ll rarely say the same things if you ask them to swim. So make the most of it this summer. As you plan your vacations, consider giving yourself a good swimming workout. By doing so, you won’t just have a beautiful body for the summer. You’ll look fit, toned, and sexy all year round.