Are you fond of swimming? A way to move around the water, allowing yourself to enjoy the serenity it brings. If you enjoy swimming, you might have thought: why not use it to your benefit as a cardio workout? Yes, swimming is a great way to indulge in a cardio workout, but it is more challenging than running or cycling. It may seem pretty easy, but you will wind up pretty tired and breathless pretty quickly. So, how many calories does swimming burn? Carry on reading this blog to learn all about it!
How Many Calories Do You Burn When Swimming?
The unit used to estimate how much energy your body uses during physical activity is called MET, short for metabolic equivalent. It helps measure how hard your body works relative to rest. Your body burns 1 MET when you are at rest on a couch, which is equivalent to 1 calorie per kilogram of body weight in an hour.
You can calculate the number of calories your body has burned during an activity if you are aware of your weight and the METs that activity would cost. You can also use an online calculator to do the maths and determine the amount of calories you burn.
To calculate your calorie burn, you will need to consider the type of strokes you performed. Your body is likely to burn 3.5 METs or 223 calories per hour treading water at a moderate effort, 3 Mets or 528 calories per hour for a crawl that is medium speed and vigorous, and 13.8 METs or 8 calories for butterfly strokes. These estimates are for an adult who weighs around 10 pounds.
Factors that Affect Calorie Burn When Swimming
Some factors affect how much calories you burn while swimming, such as:
- Your Body: Moving a larger body requires more energy, so someone who weighs more will probably expend more calories than someone who weighs less. Additionally, people who weigh more create more surface space, which means more energy is needed to push through drag resistance.
- Swim Speed: Your speed while swimming also affects the mounts of calories you burn. The faster the speed, the more calories are burned since it uses more energy. Using swim devices also helps you utilize more energy.
- Swim Stroke: The kind of stroke you use also factors into calories burned while swimming. For instance, the butterfly stroke is the hardest and most technical — which is why it burns the most amount of calories. In short, the stroke you choose will also play a major role in your calorie burn.
The Final Word
Swimming helps you move your body forward in the water against resistance by using your arms and legs —- which makes it an effective cardio workout. In fact, it might be more challenging than cycling or running, burning more calories as well. So, you can enjoy your favorite pastime and use it as a cardio workout!
Let our experts at Town & Country Pools build you a swimming pool that you can use to swim and burn calories! Contact us today at (281) 252-6337.