Use Your Swimming Pool to Lose Weight with These Water Exercises

Swimming is one of the most popular physically active pastimes, especially in the summer months. Did you know water exercises can also help you stay in shape and lose weight? Many different swimming exercises can help improve your energy levels, speed up your metabolism, and control your weight, keeping you in tip-top shape.

The Overall Benefits of Water Exercises

Beyond losing weight, there is a vast spectrum of health and general benefits to incorporating water exercises into your life.  You don’t need to do it all that often to be able to get a lot out of this activity.  Once or twice per week is all you need to make a difference that you’ll be able to feel in your body.

Physical Health Advantages

Consider the following benefits of heading to the pool, river, lake or even ocean for your next workout.

• You get a great all-around workout boosted by the resistance of the water
• Your heart rate increases from moving your entire body, but the water keeps the impact of stress off your joints, making it a great way to work out even if you have sore or achy joints
• It won’t take long before you start to discover you are building muscle strength and endurance, while you simultaneously boost your cardiovascular fitness through water exercises
• While you get stronger, you will also be toning your muscles
• Every major muscle group can get a workout from swimming as almost every muscle is used fort his activity. If you’re doing laps, try for different types of strokes such as front stroke, back stroke, breaststroke, and butterfly.  You don’t necessarily need to choose those specific moves, but by switching up your movements throughout your workout, you will work your muscles in different ways

Other Benefits You May Enjoy

Aside from boosting your physical health, there are many other benefits that you can enjoy from water exercises, too.  Check out the following added advantages you may discover from swimming more often:

• Exercising in a way that can feel peaceful and relaxing
• Easing your stress, reducing anxiety and depression symptoms and potentially preventing stress and anxiety in the first place
• Enhancing your balance, coordination and posture
• Improving your flexibility
• Providing a great low-impact workout even if you suffer from certain conditions or injuries. Swimming can even be used as a part of physiotherapy for certain injuries or conditions.
• Exercising in a way that will cool you down instead of making you feel hotter, which is great news on hot summer days.
• Swimming can be done socially, or it can be done on your own. This gives you lots of choices regarding the experience you want from your water exercises.

Great Water Exercises for Fun and Fat Burning

The following swimming exercises are the top three options that anyone can try:

Swimming at a Moderate Pace for 200 Meters

Whether you’re new to swimming or a veteran swimmer, this is the ideal swimming exercise. You don’t have to swim fast–or slow. Swimming at a moderate pace helps you maintain your energy while allowing you to burn calories. You can swim for 200 meters and stop, or you can repeat this five times for effective results.

The Spiderman

Ever want to be like Spiderman? Well, you are able to–in a way. This exercise is easy on your body, burns a lot of fat, and also helps you build your metabolism and energy. You simply move your arms back and forth quickly while your legs kick from the edge of the pool and make their way to the bottom of the pool. This can be repeated for 10 minutes for an intense and effective workout.

The One-Legged Balance

Another of the best water exercises, the one-legged balance not only strengthens your legs but also works on strengthening your core and your buttocks. This exercise is simple, and it’s easy on your body as well. This helps you to improve balance and can burn a ton of fat while boosting your metabolism, too. To do this exercise, you need to be in waist-deep water and have a foam water toy. Put your foot on the foam toy while keeping your other leg planted firmly on the bottom of the pool floor and your arms to your sides. As the toy rises up with your leg, hold your leg in place for up to a minute and repeat with the other leg. This exercise can be repeated five times per leg.

Swimming pool exercises are fun, safe, and totally effective. You can really keep control of your weight while boosting your metabolism. It helps you to gain energy and muscle as well. Try out these three popular water exercises and see what a difference they will make for your health and fitness level. Of course, that’s only the start. Don’t hesitate to try new things as you become more confident in the water.