Swimming: A Unique Fitness Advantage
First, let's understand swimming. Swimming is a full-body exercise that helps improve your cardiorespiratory function and exercises almost all of your muscles. Especially with consistent and regular intensive training, within a few months, you can experience a "rebirth." In water, your bones get fully relaxed, giving them the chance to "stretch," which is very beneficial for maintaining an upright figure. For teenagers who are still growing, regularly persisting in swimming exercises can also help them grow taller.
Water has a greater density and heat transfer capacity than air, so swimming consumes more energy than other forms of exercise. Experiments show that the calories burned from staying in 12-degree Celsius water for four minutes equals the calories burned on land at the same temperature for one hour. Clearly, in equal time and intensity, the calories burned in water far exceed those on land. The energy consumed during exercise is replenished by sugar and fat within the body, so frequent swimming will gradually reduce excess fat.
The resistance encountered while moving in water is 12 times greater than on land. You can definitely feel the strong resistance when moving your hands and feet in the water, so the muscles in your back, chest, abdomen, buttocks, and legs get excellent exercise while swimming. The well-defined muscles of swimmers are the best evidence of this.
During swimming, the human body's metabolic rate is very fast, burning over 260 calories in just 30 minutes. Moreover, this metabolic rate continues for some time even after leaving the water, making swimming an ideal method for weight loss.
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Overcoming Some Common Misconceptions
Since swimming has such great effects for weight loss and body shaping, why do some people not lose weight despite swimming? Veteran fitness coach Zhou Kai believes that when discussing exercise and weight loss issues, it’s important first to understand the relationship between exercise and energy consumption. During exercise, energy consumption is completed in three stages: carbohydrate metabolism, fat metabolism, and protein metabolism. Weight loss achieves its effect through fat consumption.
Some people may not see good weight loss results after swimming, possibly due to insufficient exercise volume. At the start of swimming, it is in the anaerobic exercise stage. Energy consumption mainly relies on anaerobic glycolysis, where the exercise is intense, breathing is short, oxygen supply is insufficient, and fat is not utilized at all. As the exercise continues, the body enters the aerobic exercise stage. In the subsequent hour, under moderate-intensity exercise, energy supply comes from aerobic carbohydrate metabolism. To lose weight, each swimming session should last over 40 minutes to begin consuming fat.
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As for swimming leading to increased fat layers, only professional swimmers who train long-term in water adaptively increase their subcutaneous fat thickness to prevent heat loss. For ordinary swimming enthusiasts, swimming does not increase fat; rather, failing to control diet after swimming prevents weight loss. After exercise, there is a phenomenon called "supercompensation." Simply put, to adapt to the improvement of the next stage of exercise, after each exercise, the body needs to intake more energy than before. This is a form of self-protection by the human body. Therefore, people often feel they eat well and sleep well after swimming, and the consumed calories are replenished, sometimes even exceeding what was consumed. Obese individuals often feel hungrier after swimming and consume more energy. If diet control is not observed, especially if exercise stops after a period, it is easy for weight to exceed the original level.
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Proper Technique for Better Results
Swimming coach Wu Jing points out that technique is very important during swimming. If the technique is not standardized, not only will the exercise goals not be achieved, but the muscles intended to be exercised won’t be worked either—this is what people commonly refer to as "training incorrectly." For example, swimming mainly relies on leg strength. Enhancing leg strength plays a crucial role in improving performance, but many people focus only on upper limb movements while neglecting leg movements. This makes swimming not only strenuous but also turns the legs, which could provide power, into a burden instead.
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Because the four swimming strokes emphasize different parts of the body, swimmers can choose their preferred stroke to focus on strengthening specific areas and target the removal of unwanted fat.
Breaststroke — Leg Strength
In breaststroke, the legs perform a kick-and-clamp motion, unlike the up-and-down kicks in freestyle and backstroke. The former makes the legs longer and slimmer, while the latter uses the quadriceps more effectively, thus enhancing leg strength.
Butterfly — Chest Strength
When performing butterfly, the arms pull inward, similar to doing a chest-expanding exercise. It primarily uses the pectoralis major, latissimus dorsi, and rectus abdominis muscles, providing the best workout for these areas.
Freestyle — Arm Strength
In freestyle, the biceps and triceps of the upper arm are used extensively, effectively exercising the arm muscles and promoting shoulder muscle strength.
Backstroke — Back Strength
In backstroke, the latissimus dorsi muscles are used more, allowing the back muscles to stretch. Additionally, lifting the hips during backstroke exercises the buttocks.
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Tips
Secrets from American Team Coaches
How to Slim Down Faster
The American magazine "Health" once published several secrets recommended by U.S. National Swim Team head coach Schubert, which can be useful to follow.
1. Use kickboards, paddles, fins, and life rings. These aquatic toys not only help burn more calories but also exercise the limbs' muscles.
2. Short-distance, fast swimming. Many people swim slowly, which burns far fewer calories compared to short-distance, fast swimming. However, fast swimming shouldn't last throughout, or it would deplete energy too quickly. Alternate slow swimming with fast bursts, then two segments of slow swimming followed by two fast segments, etc.
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3. Time-segmented practice. Like professional swimmers, divide swimming into four sessions with 15 to 30 seconds of rest between each. Swim one lap, then two laps, followed by two more laps, and finally one lap again, ensuring the last segment includes fast swimming.
4. Minimize rest time. Halve the rest time during swimming until one lap or interval reduces to 10 seconds.
Article organized by: LeShou Weight Loss Network: http://www.jianfeijiaonang.com