Burn Off Those Holiday Calories in Your Swimming Pool

11/21/2019

The Holiday season is here and so are all of those delicious treats and rich decadent celebratory foods we love to eat this time of year. Why not help burn off some of those extra calories and have fun doing it by getting out in your swimming pool?

There are many reasons why using your pool is a great way to stay in shape. Here are just a few:

Swimming is a Low Impact Exercise

Unlike other popular forms of exercise, such as running, swimming is very easy on your joints. Swimming is an ideal form of exercise for anyone with joint issues like arthritis, inflammation, or recovering from an injury.

Swimming is a Great Whole-Body Workout

It may not seem like it, but when you swim you are working the entire body both upper and lower as well as core. For a nice whole-body challenge to help speed up getting into shape try starting with a warm up like a lap or two of easy slow paced swimming then work up to a lap of faster swimming with a more difficult stroke, rest for 30 seconds then do another few laps of higher energy strokes like butterfly and finish off with a few slower cool down laps.

Swimming Burns a lot of Calories

The actual calories you burn in a workout is dependent upon your personal factors of weight, gender, body type, age, metabolism, and other things. The actual amount of calories burned during swimming will also change with the length of time you swim and how hard the stroke you do is, along with the speed you swim. All that being said you can burn a lot of calories by swimming. For example the average 155 pound person can burn 233 calories an hour at a normal pace, 372 calories an hour at a vigorous pace, and 409 calories an hour doing the breast stroke.

Swimming is Both Cardio and Strength Training

Swimming is of course great cardio work that strengthens the heart and the rest of the cardiovascular system, but it is also great resistance work that strengthens a number of muscles. Though water doesn’t seem super tough to move through, it is 780 times denser than air, so swimming is like running but with weight constantly pulling at you.

Water is a Mood Booster

All types of exercise have the ability to boost our mood, but in addition to the mood boosting adrenaline swimming can boost mental health as well. Since the time of Hippocrates, hydrotherapy has been recommended to sooth stress and anxiety. You will be surprised at how rejuvenating even a quick swim in your own backyard pool can be. We can all use a little less stress during the holidays.

You can do More than Just Swim in the Pool to Burn Calories

Maybe you are not in the mood to do laps today, that’s okay there are many other water activities you can do that are fun and will have you forget you are even exercising. Some of these activities include sports like volleyball and water polo, you can work in some water aerobics, or even get out he paddleboard and do some pool yoga.

If you plan to spend more time burning off those holiday calories and enjoying your pool, you will want to make sure the water is balanced and clean. Spend more time enjoying your pool and less time cleaning it by hiring a pool maintenance professional. For pool care in Lake Havasu City contact the team at EverClear Pool.