The presence of constant physical activity in a person's life has a positive effect on his health, appearance and well-being in general.

In practice, it has been proven that systematic sports activities help strengthen muscles, reduce the risk of various diseases(including obesity), strengthen the immune system and improve mood.

Modern fitness trends offer a versatile workout for the whole body in order to work out a large number of muscles of the whole body during training, thus increasing the intensity of the exercise. Swimming is one of these types of physical activity.

In this article, we will talk in detail about the benefits of this direction, tell you in detail about the existing swimming styles, and also give an answer to the question of interest to many - how to swim in order to lose weight and at the same time not harm your health.

You will need:

The benefits of swimming

If we consider swimming from the point of view of benefits, then you can find that this type of activity has a small number of contraindications, is suitable for different age groups (from infants to the elderly), is very popular all over the world, and most importantly, it is suitable for people different levels physical fitness.

9 good reasons why you should go swimming:

• Reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease.

During swimming, it is carried out positive influence on the circulatory system, arterial pressure decreases, heart rate and blood circulation return to normal, and the whole body is saturated with oxygen.

• Contributes to the formation of a beautiful posture.

FROM early childhood it is recommended to visit the pool a couple of times a week, not only for general health improvement, but also for the prevention of back problems. In everyday life, our spine experiences various loads (walking in heels, lifting and carrying weights), which constantly changes throughout the day.

Regular swimming will help relieve tension from the vertebrae, relieving stress on the intervertebral discs.

• Calories are actively burned, which contributes to weight loss (weight loss).

If your swimming lessons are systematic, about 3-4 times a week and lasting about 60 minutes, then over time you will notice that there will be much less body fat, muscle tone will increase and the body will become more elastic and fit.

All this is achieved with regular active swimming.

• The body is better able to resist colds.

Frequent training helps to strengthen the immune system, hardening, which leads to a decrease in ARVI, FLU and other infectious diseases.

• The work of the respiratory system improves.

During swimming, breathing becomes deep due to the active inclusion of the entire area of ​​the lungs. Over time, you will notice changes in your body in the form of no shortness of breath, normalization of your heart rate and well-being.

• Has a complex effect.

Swimming is a great way to work many muscles in your body in one workout!

Due to this, the efficiency of the exercises increases, and the muscles adapt faster to stress.

• The shock effect on the spine is reduced.

Unlike other types of physical activity (for example, running or), swimming affects the vertebrae in a different way. The load is distributed horizontally by enveloping the water from all sides, which helps to stretch the vertebrae.

• Perfectly relieves stress.

Any physical activity contributes to the release of hormones into the human body, which, in turn, leads to an uplifting of mood, an improvement in well-being and, as a result, a decrease in stress levels.

• Prevents insomnia.

If you are having trouble falling asleep, a calm swim for no more than 40 minutes a couple of hours before bed is a great solution. Most importantly, don't active training! On the contrary, it will agitate the body and return insomnia.

From the examples above, the benefits of swimming are obvious. And this is a serious reason to think about how to make this look physical activity into your daily life.

Contraindications

However, even here it will not do without contraindications. They look like this:

1. acute viral infections during an exacerbation (FLU, ARVI);
2. congenital heart disease;
3. allergic reactions;
4. paralysis;
5. recently suffered a heart attack and stroke;
6. epilepsy.

Indications

Swimming is a great exercise if you have:

• obesity;
• violation of posture;
• spinal problems (including hernia);
• osteochondrosis;
• joint diseases;
• phlebeurysm;
• everything is generally good with health, but I want to diversify my workouts.

Swimming styles and their characteristics

Swimming is an excellent way to help solve various problems, ranging from simple health improvement to complex preparation for competitions. high level... The content of the training, its intensity and swimming style will depend on the tasks set. Now we will talk in detail about each of them.

Breaststroke

This style is one of the most common. It is used not only by professional athletes, but also ordinary people who do not swim. During the movement, simultaneous sliding with arms and legs is carried out in different directions near the surface of the water, as if pushing it away from itself.

The technique will look like this: you push your body slightly upward at the expense of the body, take in air (while the hands are near the chest), then lower your face into the water, exhaling, at the same time push your arms forward, and kick to the sides with your feet (the movement is performed only by the lower leg, and knee joints fixed). After pushing off from the water, you fully stretch out with your whole body on the surface and swim for a few seconds, and then from this position through the sides you make strokes with your hands in the water to your chest and again push your body up in order to take in air. And then a new cycle of movement begins again.

Breaststroke is the slowest style possible, but despite this, it is used everywhere.

This type of swimming is widely used in the pool, in open water and is suitable not only for training in speed and technique, but also for relaxation.

Using breaststroke, you can swim long distances without worrying about the onset of quick fatigue and seizures.

You can also swim and not lower your head under the water, leaving it above the surface.

Crawl

This style is also called free, and it is the fastest of all. The peculiarity of the crawl is that the hands and feet work continuously in the water.

The technique will look like this: the legs always work continuously up and down in short movements, and the body - due to active strokes of the arms (the hand is led across the side above the water, captures the water, pushes it down and comes out to the surface near the thigh with a powerful movement and is again led through the side). Inhalation can be done in different ways. For example, you can count to yourself the number of hand movements to three, and the third time you turn your head to the side to take in air. The exhalation takes place into the water through the mouth.

Crawl swimming will result in the active loss of a lot of calories, but this way you will not be able to swim for a long time.

The freestyle goes well with breaststroke. By constantly alternating between these two styles per workout, you will give your body a little rest, as well as the opportunity to lower your heart rate and restore breathing.

It is best to start your freestyle training with your feet. Once they learn how to do their job well, you can add a corpus. For these purposes, foam boards are usually used in the pool. A person holds onto it with his hands, carrying out movements with his feet in the water.

Backstroke

This style is similar to the free style, but just the opposite. The athlete's movements are carried out with straight arms, they take turns making powerful strokes, pushing the water under their body, while the legs work up and down in short movements. The athlete's face is above the water most of the time, except for the start from the side of the pool and turns.

You can also swim on your back without using your hands. They either extend upwards parallel to the surface of the water, or are located along the body.

Backstroke works well as a warm-up before your main workout. This style is not the fastest, but it is significantly faster than the breaststroke.

Butterfly (Dolphin)

The most difficult swimming style due to its inherent technique.

It will look like this: the athlete makes the same movements with his hands (a strong stroke, pushing the body over the water to take in air), then pushing off and diving under the water occurs, at the same time the legs are included in the work, performing a wave-like movement.

Butterfly is considered to be the most technically difficult and energy-intensive swimming style to perform. The athlete must have excellent technique, be able to synchronously move the body and legs.

Butterfly swimming actively develops the shoulder girdle, increases overall body endurance and burns the most calories per workout.

This swimming style is used only among experienced athletes and is in second place in speed after the crawl.

Complex style

A special type of swimming that includes all the styles listed above.

The essence of such a swimming is to alternately change styles at a given distance (every 25/50/100 meters).

Most often, the distance is as follows: first butterfly, as the most energy-consuming style, then backstroke, breaststroke, and completes the crawl (for better acceleration before the finish).

The complex style, of course, is used only among professional athletes with a powerful strong body, enduring body and technical training.

You can also use this swimming style in your training, but focus on activities that are appropriate for your fitness level and specific technical skills (for example, breaststroke, crawl and backstroke).

How many calories can you burn per workout using different swimming styles

If we talk about the amount of energy that we spend during training, then in each case there will be different indicators.

Calorie consumption depends on the activity of the workout itself in the pool, on body weight and on the chosen style.

Nobody knows the exact data! To get them, you need to purchase special gadgets (bracelets, wristwatches) that will track your activity during your workout. But if you are still concerned about this issue, then there are various calorie calculators on the Internet, finding which, you can enter your training characteristics (weight, swimming style, intensity and time) in the input field.

For an hour of active activity, on average, you can spend up to 500 kcal.

The approximate calorie consumption for each swimming style will look like this:

• Butterfly (dolphin) 580 kcal / h;
• crawl (freestyle) 520 kcal / h;
• backstroke 500 kcal / h;
• breaststroke 480 kcal / h.

How to swim to lose weight

In order to reduce overall body weight, a pool is a great way to achieve the results you want, but only when combined with other activities. In other words, swimming should be combined with basic training, but not a priority!

Why is it so? Simply because swimming by itself will not give the necessary load on the body if your goal is to lose more than 10 kilograms. In this case, it will not bring the desired results and, most likely, you will be disappointed.

And if your goal is to lose up to 5-10 kg or just maintain muscle tone, then you can easily get by with the pool as one priority, subject to the training regimen (3-4 times a week) and proper balanced nutrition.

Swimming can be combined with strength training in the gym. For example, after an active exercise with dumbbells and barbells, go to the pool. But not just swim slowly, barely moving your arms and legs, but at an average pace, with a certain plan in your head, swim 1 kilometer or 30-40 minutes actively alternate different styles.

Or do your pool workout on a separate day. For example, you work out on Monday / Wednesday / Friday at the gym, and on Sunday morning go to the pool for a full-fledged lesson, lasting at least 1 hour.

Or, for example, you have two power training per week, and you add 1-2 more pool workouts to them.

And only with such an integrated approach, swimming will really give tangible results that will motivate you for further work!

Here are examples of what a workout in a pool might look like (let's take a 25 m track length as a basis, 1 pool is the back and forth distance, that is, 50 meters):

Option 1.

1. Warm-up (2 swimming pools with breaststrokes, 2 swimming pools lying on your back, 1 swimming pool with a crawl) at an average pace;
2. Basic training:
   - alternation of 1 swimming pool with a breaststroke - 1 crawl and so on 8 times (a total of 16 pools), then rest for 2-3 minutes;
   - 10 breaststroke pools at an average pace, rest 2-3 minutes;
3. Cool down (1 pool with brace, 1 pool lying on the back).

Option 2 (for advanced).

1. Warm-up (2 swimming pools with crawl, 2 swimming pools with brace, 1 swimming pool lying on your back);
2. Basic workout (using special tools that can be found in the pool):
   - 5 pools with one hand crawl, and a foam block is inserted between the legs and they are not included in the work;
   - 5 pools with one crawl feet, and a foam board is taken in the hands;
   - 5 swimming pools with a crawl with special “weighting paws”;
   - 5 swimming pools by crawl;
   - 5 swimming pools with brass;
3. Cool down (3 swimming pools with brasses).

Remember to breathe correctly during the session, watch your pulse and drink water from a bottle during breaks.

If you have any medical conditions, then you need to see a doctor, and then a professional trainer, so that he draws up a training plan for you, focusing on your health condition and initial data.

At the end of the 20th century, scientists generally did not recognize that swimming somehow helped in the fight against excess weight.

In research Weight loss without dietary restriction: efficacy of different forms of aerobic exercise In 1987, the weight of the participants did not change after six months of swimming. In 1997, subjects who swam for 2.5 months for 45 minutes three times a week also failed to lose weight. Effects of swim training on body weight, carbohydrate metabolism, lipid and lipoprotein profile.

The results of modern research are more optimistic. In 2006, scientists proved Aerobic exercise in water versus walking on land: effects on indices of fat reduction and weight loss of obese women that swimming in combination with a diet still helps to lose weight: after 13 weeks of exercise, the subjects lost an average of 5.9 kg and reduced the percentage of body fat by 3%.

Study Effect of regular swimming exercise on the physical composition, strength, and blood lipid of middle-aged women 2015 also confirms that swimming can help you lose fat and build endurance. Its participants were engaged in swimming for one hour three times a week. After 12 weeks, the women had lost 4.3% body fat and had increased muscle strength, flexibility and endurance.

Yes, swimming is not the most effective exercise for losing weight in comparison with the same running, interval training or, but it has a big plus: no load on the joints and spine.

This is of great importance for overweight people who put their knees at great risk when going for a run. Swimming provides a gentle exercise while helping to burn calories, develop strength, endurance and flexibility.

And if you also love swimming, you should definitely choose this sport for losing weight, because the ideal workout is regular training.

How many calories can you burn while swimming

According to the data Calories burned in 30 minutes for people of three different weights Harvard Medical School, 30 minutes of swimming burns different calories depending on weight:

As you can see, the most energy-intensive, and therefore useful for weight loss, styles are breaststroke, crawl and butterfly. It turns out that it is not enough just to splash in the pool. You need to learn to swim and do active training.

How to swim to lose weight

These tips will help you burn more calories in your swimming workout.

Buy your gear

A swimsuit that is not intended for sports will always untie and interfere with training, and water will flow under the poorly fitting elastic bands of poor-quality glasses.

All these little things terribly enrage and spoil the impression of the class. Therefore, if you are heading to the pool, buy a sports swimsuit, a matching cap, perfect glasses and fins. All this will help you forget about equipment and give all your best.

Learn to swim in different styles

When you learn to crawl, you will want to use only this style: familiar movements, high speed and a lot of pleasure from swimming. However, it's best not to dwell on one style and try breaststroke, backstroke, or even a difficult butterfly stroke.

Different styles help to harmoniously develop all the muscles in the body. For example, backstroke can help you strengthen your back and shoulder muscles, which can have a positive effect on posture, and breaststroke can help you inner part hips.

Work out with a coach

If you can only swim like a dog, take a few lessons with a trainer. He will show the basics, teach you how to breathe into the water, point out mistakes.

You can learn to crawl in 3-4 lessons, and then hone your skills on your own, finding programs on the Internet and periodically consulting with a trainer.

How to design a workout

As with a regular gym workout, a pool workout should consist of several parts:

1. Warm up... In this part, you tune in to the lesson, the body remembers how to behave in the water, the muscles are warmed up for further efforts. As a rule, it is 200-400 meters in a calm crawl.
2. Working out movements... In this part, you can do some exercises to strengthen the muscles and practice the technique. For example, it can be leg-only swimming using a floating board, swimming with a buckle between the legs, swimming on one side, swimming with a minimum number of strokes, and so on.
3. Interval training. This is the hardest part where you will build your stamina and burn the most calories. You can sprint 50 meters and then rest for 30 seconds, or swim at a maximum speed of 100 meters and then rest for a minute. The number and length of sprints in a workout depends on your fitness level.
4. Hitch... 200 meters of quiet crawl swimming.

Here's an example of a workout plan like this:

1. 200 meters of quiet crawl swimming. Rest every 50 meters if necessary.
2. 4 × 50 meters crawl with stroke count. Try to make fewer strokes in each next segment than in the previous one.
3. 100 meters of strokes only with hands with a buckle sandwiched between the legs.
4. 100 meters with a board in hand: only legs move.
5. 4 sprints of 50 meters each, rest between sprints - 30 seconds.
6. 200 meters of quiet crawl swimming.

Exercise at least 3-4 times a week for 45-60 minutes, do not rest too long between periods and combine exercise with diet - and you will be able to get rid of excess fat. Let not be as fast as in the case of running or cycling, but without any risk to joints and spine.

Classes in the water are a unique opportunity for those who are overweight and over 30 years old. In the pool, the body is immersed in a dense viscous medium, which resists our movements 12 times stronger than air. And that's great! Water reduces gravity and relieves stress on the joints. When we swim, muscles and ligaments work, strengthen, and knees, elbows, hip joints unloaded, as in weightlessness. There is no support, no blows, and no pressure on the intervertebral discs. Therefore, swimming is great for both weight loss and injury recovery.

We look further. In water, simply lifting an arm will require much more effort from you (read - you will burn more calories) than on land. That is, for weight loss in water, you can make fewer movements than in air. In addition, water pressure from all directions improves circulation. This will benefit those who are prone to cellulite, edema, varicose veins, or gain weight due to excess fluid in the body. With some diseases, losing weight in a regular gym or just running is harmful, but in the pool, on the contrary, it is useful.

Personal mistakes

After swimming for 1-2 months, some complain that they have recovered. In fact, water does not negate a simple truth: in order to lose weight, you need to move more and eat less than the usual regime!

Typical behavior in the pool: a person does not swim, but swims, hanging for a long time by the side or by the path. In water, we cool 20 times faster than in air. Barely moving, many notice that they are getting cold. Biologically, for our body, cold is the trigger for appetite. The animal logic is simple: if it is cold, then there is not enough thermal insulation and energy. Thermal insulation is our subcutaneous fat, energy is food. So a failed swimmer comes out of the pool with a wild appetite, and he wants, according to the same animal logic, fat and sweet. So make it a rule: if you have no strength or desire to swim, do not go to the pool, otherwise you will provoke a set of fat.

To make swimming fun, turn this action into a game. Set yourself a goal: swim 5 (10, 15, 20 ...) pools without a break. Or swim 10-20 pools per session. Or argue with a friend: who will swim this number first?

Another important point: you can burn a lot of fats and carbohydrates in training, and then eat the same, if not more ... Try to eat a dense meal 40-60 minutes before swimming, and after that endure with food for an hour and a half. But in unsweetened and preferably hot drink - tea, water, milk - do not deny yourself.

Fat Burning Plan

Even just keeping ourselves afloat, we spend about 300 kcal per hour. However, in practice, this "method" of burning fat is too boring, because it involves only "hanging" at the side. Therefore, it is still better not to go with the flow, but to think over your own fat burning bathing plan. To begin with, train yourself to move in the water all the time. Swimming with a pulse of 120-150, you can burn from 600 to 1300 kcal. The exact number depends on the chosen swimming style, speed and ... your weight! The more muscle you have, the more energy you use up.

If you don't have a heart rate monitor, you can count your heart rate by simply stopping at the side and looking at the large digital clock found in all pools. It is possible and even easier - to focus on sensations. It shouldn't be easy for you. When doing strokes, you should feel that the water is bothering you and you push off from it. Take a deep, long breath through your mouth and an equally long exhale through your mouth and nose at the same time. Whether to lower your head in water or not is a matter of taste. Of course, exhaling into the water is more effective in terms of propelling and helps not to overload the neck. But if you are categorically against wetting your face, swim as conveniently, just roll over on your back more often so as not to get a spasm of the neck muscles.

The most effective way to lose weight is to alternate styles and intensity. The most energy-intensive is the butterfly (dolphin), it is also the most difficult and difficult. If preparation allows, swim them for 3-6 minutes and switch to any other. Krol - the style that is optimal in terms of energy consumption and movement technique. We try to swim them for 20-30 minutes per workout. If it's hard - alternate styles:

5 minutes crawl, 5 minutes breaststroke or backstroke, and all over again. Do not neglect the breaststroke, it is quite possible to work with it with full dedication, the main thing is to push off with the heels to the sides with force.

With this approach, absolutely all the muscles of the body will work, including the abs and deep core muscles, which support the internal organs and "tighten" the waist. And they will all burn calories. If you swim 2-3 times a week, you won't even have to cut back on your usual diet - you will more than burn what was previously stored in fat. The main thing is not to eat more than before.

Swim or dance?

In addition to swimming, many pools also offer aqua aerobics. The slimming effect and health safety of these activities are the same, so choose what you like best.

For aqua aerobics, you do not need to be able to swim: during classes, they wear special support belts. In addition, aqua aerobics is accompanied by music, it is more fun, there are many dance moves. In the classroom, fun implements are used, such as gloves with membranes, fins, floating dumbbells, inflatable sticks ... These accessories increase the load due to greater water resistance and give variety to the activities.

Safety engineering

The following problems may lie in wait for visitors to the pool….

Dry skin. Alas, the skin is dried not only by the usual bleach, but also by modern ozone. Therefore, after showering, you should always apply a moisturizing nourishing cream or body lotion. Not necessarily expensive, you can use baby oil.

Fungus. The ability to catch an infection depends on your immunity: the weaker it is, the easier it is for microorganisms to settle on your skin. For prevention, be sure to wear your own towel and slippers, which should only be removed near the water. Toenails can be painted with a pharmacy antifungal varnish. After swimming, shower with antifungal soap or gel, rinse thoroughly and dry skin folds and interdigital spaces. If it was not possible to wipe dry, treat them with talcum powder, once every 2 months you can use an antifungal ointment. And do not go to the pool if there are wounds on the legs and toes - in this case, the risk of picking up the fungus increases markedly.

Cold. The water temperature in the pool is usually 27-28 °, but due to the fact that the water is much denser than air, a person often feels frozen after it. It saves from this prolonged standing under the hottest shower and then thoroughly drying the hair with a hairdryer.

Another tip from the regulars of the pools: when going to swim, dress warmer than usual, wrap yourself up as if in the cold. You can sweat on the way there, but don't catch a cold on the way back. And if possible, do not go outside immediately after swimming, but sit for 20 minutes in the lobby: read, have tea. This will enable the body to adapt to the air.

By the way

It is impossible to get infected with sexually transmitted diseases in the pool. Chlamydia, Trichomonas and other infections definitely die in chlorinated and ozonized water.

Personal opinion

Boris Grachevsky:

- Two years ago I started going to gym and every time I finish my classes with a kilometer swim. But do you think I enjoy it? Nothing like this! This is very disgusting to me: I hate sports. But it is necessary, and I do. I swim like an idiot ... The pool is 25 meters, can you imagine how many times you need to swim to get a kilometer? 40 times! Like a pony in a circle - I count in my mind, swim and curse everything. But I want to look beautiful! I haven't walked for two months - again excess weight typed, I need to reset again ...

Author Vladislav Leps asked a question in the section Other about health and beauty

Isn't it harmful to go to the pool every day? and got the best answer

Answer from Kind Fox [guru]
Indeed, a humid and warm environment is a real breeding ground for harmful bacteria and fungi, so those who do not follow basic hygiene rules are most susceptible to diseases. And the rules are simple: before and immediately after bathing, be sure to take a shower, do not forget to take rubber slippers and a clean towel with you. You should not go to the pool if you have injuries, wounds, scratches on your skin, because then bacteria can enter your body. Wait for the damaged skin to heal on its own. Some people have weakened immune systems. For them, the use of antibacterial agents is desirable. One of these is Miramistin, which is sold as a spray in any pharmacy. Or, alternatively, you can use natural essential oils lemon or tea tree. Chlorine is used for disinfection in almost every pool. However, if you look better, you can find an "establishment" where water is disinfected using ozonation. If it is possible to visit just such a pool, choose it. The water in it is less hazardous to health. By the way, it is advisable to wear a hat on your head, since the chlorine contained in the water can bring nothing good to our hair. In addition, after bleach, the skin becomes dry and may even peel off, so after bathing and taking a shower, lubricate it with a moisturizer. It is possible after a fracture. Carefully.

Answer from Ђatiana Mogilevets[guru]
It may not be harmful for muscles, but bad for the body. Bleach is absorbed through the skin and poison everything. The fracture also indicates a violation of calcium metabolism.

Answer from Maxim Rabinovich[active]
I also ask the same question, if every day one person thinks there is a risk of getting sick, another thinks that the skin will be thinner, the third says - nothing will happen, but how to cool in the unbearable heat, it's dirty in the pond, you need to take a shower, washing off the dirt from the body. My father recommends me to walk 2, maximum 3 times a week (every other day, two) (there was a case his team was taken every day - half of the team caught a cold)

Answer from 3 answers[guru]

Hey! Here is a selection of topics with answers to your question: Isn't it harmful to go to the pool every day?