This is a point that was recently printed in Australia’s ABC online news by writer Cathy Johnson who says that some believe that you are better off walking around a pool than swimming in it if you hope to lose weight. Part of the problem is that if you are overweight, then you are more buoyant and thereby will expend less energy to stay afloat than if you were relatively leaner.
While such doubts that swimming is not as effective as walking toward weight loss may have some merit, Ms. Johnson points to a 2010 study that pitted swimmers against walkers with respect to weight loss as a measure.
The study, published in the journal Metabolism―Clinical and Experimental, compared two groups of women who stuck to a year-long exercise regime of either walking or swimming at equal levels of intensity three times per week. At the end of the study, the data showed that the swimmers had lost more weight (about 2 and one-half pounds) and more off their waistlines (just under an inch) than those on the walking program.
The lead author, Dr. Kay Cox― School of Medicine and Pharmacology (Royal Perth Hospital Unit), University of Western Australia―noted that part of the reason why the swimmers may have lost more weight had to do with exercising under cooler conditions in the water can result in an elevated metabolism to keep the body’s inner core warm. This concurs with a NASA scientist and inventor of The Cold Shoulder Vest, who says that swimming in cold water can be a major contributor to the amount of daily calories burned.
However, the other side of the coin of this cool conditioning phenomenon is that it can also lead to a tendency of increased eating to help warm the body after swimming, which unlike exercising under warm conditions, leads to decreased appetite. Hence, here is an important swimming secret to weight loss―be sure to not allow yourself to turn to food after a swimming workout to warm your body advises the ABC news article.
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