Who doesn’t love swimming in the summer? Swimming can be much more than just refreshing and fun, it can also make for an incredible full-body cardiovascular workout that works all the major muscle groups.
Swimming is especially wonderful if you have joint issues that mean you find weight-bearing exercises difficult. Water’s buoyancy cushions stiff joints and fragile bones, bearing most of the body’s weight and leaving you feeling light and agile.
Swimming can help to tone, strengthen, and condition the body without the jarring effects of other activities. And because water is nearly 800 times more dense than air, affording water 12 times the resistance of air – and you have to move your body through it – it’s an awesome combination of cardiovascular and strength-building exercise. The best way to torch calories swimming is by alternating intense bursts of exercise with short periods recovery, i.e. high intensity interval training.
Calories burnt: Swimming can burn about 270 calories.
