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The Truth About Swimming And Weight Loss

Swimming is often touted as one of the best forms of exercise for weight loss. And when you think about it, it seems to make sense.

After all, swimming uses almost all of your major muscle groups. It places a vigorous demand on your heart and lungs. Swimming is also popular with people who are extremely overweight, pregnant, or suffering from some kind of injury.

When you swim breastroke or backstroke, you're burning about the same number of calories as a fast walk or a slow jog. However, swimming does have a reputation for being less effective than other forms of exercise when it comes to weight loss.

Is there any research to support the idea that swimming won’t help you lose weight?

Swimming weight loss

In one study, researchers compared collegiate swimmers and collegiate distance runners [2]. As you can see in the table below, the runners had lower body fat levels than swimmers. However, detailed three-day food records and one-day activity records offered no convincing explanation as to why.

Professor Louise Burke, Head of Nutrition at the Australian Institute of Sport, also points out that competitive swimmers typically have body fat levels that are higher than those of runners or cyclists who expend a similar amount of energy when they train.

"Many female swimmers have fought well-publicized battles with their body fat levels," says Burke. "They are generally prescribed 'land training' (running or cycling) in addition to their many laps of the pool in the belief that it is a necessary treatment to produce lower skinfold levels."

More interesting still, research published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine shows that swimming has no effect on weight loss [1].

Professor Grant Gwinup compared three exercise programs (walking, cycling and swimming) for three months. Each program began with up to 10 minutes of daily exercise. The length of each workout was increased by five minutes every week.

• Test subjects following the walking program lost 17 pounds of weight during the three-month study.
• Those following the cycling program lost 19 pounds of weight.
• However, subjects following the swimming program actually gained 5 pounds.

In other words, subjects who walked or cycled lost weight, while the swimmers gained weight.

But that’s only half the story.

In a similar study, University of Utah researchers compared the effects of aerobic exercise in water versus walking on land on weight loss [5].

A group of 38 middle-aged obese women was assigned to one of three groups:

• Walking on land.
• Swimming.
• Walking in water at the shallow end of a pool.

After 13 weeks, all three groups lost, on average, 5.9 kilograms (13 pounds) in weight. There were no significant differences between groups. In other words, the swimmers were able to lose just as much weight as those following the land-based walking program.

Why the conflicting results? Why does one study show that swimming is just as effective as walking when it comes to weight loss, while the other doesn't?

A closer look at the research reveals why...

The typical temperature range for a swimming pool is between 25.5 and 27.8 degrees Celsius.

But in the first study, subjects swam in an outdoor pool where the water temperature varied between 23 and 25.5 degrees Celsius. That's pretty cold. But in the University of Utah study, the temperature of the water was 27 degrees Celsius — much closer to the temperature of most heated swimming pools.

Why does this matter?

Swimming in cold water stimulates your appetite so that you want to eat more. Many people feel extremely hungry after they've been swimming, especially if the water is cold.

As a result they simply replace all the calories they've burned with a large post-exercise meal, completely wiping out any potential weight loss benefits of the swimming.

"Many people observe that they feel like 'eating a horse' after they have finished a swim training session, and may overcompensate for the energy they have just burned," says Professor Burke.

Some evidence for this comes from a University of Florida study, where researchers examined the effect of water temperature on calorie intake after exercise [3].

A group of 11 men exercised for 45 minutes in "neutral" and "cold" water temperatures. After the workout, they were allowed to eat as much food as they wanted.

The men burned a similar number of calories in the cold and neutral water conditions, averaging 505 and 517 calories, respectively. However, calorie intake after exercise in the cold water averaged 877 calories, which was 44% more than for the neutral temperature.

I should point out that the water temperature during the "cold" condition was extremely cold (20 degrees Celsius), and isn't really indicative of the water temperature of most pools (which is usually nearer 30 degrees Celsius).

However, it does show that cold water has the effect of making you hungry and goes some way to explaining why swimming doesn’t have a great reputation when it comes to weight loss.

The bottom line

I prefer to put all forms of exercise into one of three categories — good, better or best.

Any form of exercise, be it swimming, walking or lifting weights, is good if the alternative is doing nothing. A mixture of exercise and diet is better, while combining resistance exercise, cardio AND diet — in my opinion at least — is the best way to get in shape.

If you enjoy swimming, then stick with it. It's more important to be consistent with an exercise program you enjoy than to be inconsistent with one you hate. When you boil it down, losing weight is all about burning more calories than you eat. Any form of exercise, swimming included, will get the job done. Just make sure to guard against the urge to eat more after you get out of the pool.

About The Author
Christian Finn holds a master's degree in exercise science, is a certified personal trainer and has been featured on BBC TV and radio, as well as in Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Muscle & Fitness, Fit Pro, Zest and other popular fitness magazines.

If you're stuck in a rut with your current exercise and diet plan... fed up with only losing a pound here and there... or still skinny after months (or even years) of trying to build muscle and gain weight... click here now for instant access to his step-by-step muscle-building and fat-burning workout routines.

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References
1. Gwinup, G. (1987). Weight loss without dietary restriction: Efficacy of different forms of aerobic exercise. American Journal of Sports Medicine, 15, 275-279
2. Jang, K.T., Flynn, M.G., Costill, D.L., Kirwan, J.P., Houmard, J.A., Mitchell, J.B., & D'Acquisto, L.J. (1987). Energy balance in competitive swimmers and runners. Journal of Swimming Research, 3, 19-23
3. White, L.J., Dressendorfer, R.H., Holland, E., McCoy, S.C., & Ferguson, M.A. (2005). Increased caloric intake soon after exercise in cold water. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 15, 38-47
4. Schuenke, M.D., Mikat, R.P., & McBride, J.M. (2002). Effect of an acute period of resistance exercise on excess post-exercise oxygen consumption: implications for body mass management. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 86, 411-417
5. Gappmaier, E., Lake, W., Nelson, A.G., & Fisher, A.G. (2006). Aerobic exercise in water versus walking on land: effects on indices of fat reduction and weight loss of obese women. Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, 46, 564-569