How To Lose Weight By Swimming

Who says you need to go to the gym to lose weight?

As it turns out, swimming is a particularly effective way for blokes to burn calories and unlike running, the impact on your joints is minimal.

With that in mind, here are a few tips to help you lose weight while swimming.

Waking up and going for a morning swim will leave your body in a fasted state, making it more likely to draw on your fat reserves for energy. Just save your Man Shake breakfast for after your dip!

Initially, swimming will burn a lot of calories for beginners. However, as you improve and become a more efficient swimmer, your heart rate won’t increase as much in the pool. That's why experts advise more experienced swimmers to push themselves harder in the pool, so their heart rate increases.

The more physically active you are, the more weight you’ll lose. Experts recommend that people wishing to lose weight should aim to swim four to five days per week to achieve the best results.

If you swim at the same speed and utilise the same technique repeatedly, your body and weight loss journey will eventually hit a plateau. Modifying your routine with different strokes and speeds is a great way to exercise a wide range of muscle groups, in turn maximising your results.

For example, you could try swimming freestyle one day, butterfly during your following session and then breaststroke in the session after that. Fun fact: butterfly is the most demanding stroke and will burn the most calories as it works the entire body!

If you start pushing yourself too hard right at the start, you’re likely to suffer from muscle soreness and fatigue – so it’s important that you pace yourself. At the beginning of your swimming journey, you should aim to swim about 15 to 20 minutes per session, gradually increasing to 30-minute sessions as you get more experienced.

If you’re feeling like you can’t swim every day due to the intensity of the exercise, try an aqua aerobics class. Aqua aerobics is low-stress and will help keep you moving. And fellas, you don't have to wear one of those flower swim caps for aqua aerobics (unless you really want to).

In many respects, diet is the most important aspect of a weight loss journey. Even if you do a stack of swimming, you won’t lose weight if you are taking in more calories than you are burning. Swimming can take a lot of energy, while cold water can increase your appetite. With that in mind, ensure you make the right choices with your food. The Man Shake is the perfect meal to consume after a swimming session, as its high-fibre content will make you feel fuller for longer, decreasing the likelihood of unhealthy snacking throughout the day.