Swimming burns how many calories

So, before you consider strokes check out our Eating Better section here. The benefits it offers in terms of calories burnt depends on the stroke you swim. Breaststroke is a bit of a slow burner in terms of calories. In fact, it is the least beneficial stroke for burning calories. Backstroke is the second lowest calorie burner next to breaststroke. Freestyle is the fastest of all the strokes, so as you might expect it is up in second place for calorie burning potential.

Or choose multi-stroke swim. Calorie expenditure in the pool relies on factors you can't immediately control, such as metabolism and weight, and factors you can, such as a workout's intensity or what strokes it includes. Since the formulas used in exercise equipment and fitness-tracking devices vary from company to company, people who treat calorie-tracking devices as gospel run the risk of dramatically overestimating their calorie expenditure, writes Gina Kolata for The New York Times.

Still, these estimates can serve as general guides to how many calories can be burned through various swimming activities, even if it's not possible to pinpoint exact expenditures. Harvard Health estimates the calories burned by a pound person engaging in moderate swimming activities to be roughly calories per 30 minutes.

Calorie expenditure can jump to calories in the same timeframe for vigorous swimming. A pound person might burn and calories through moderate and vigorous swimming activity in the same time period. These estimates are for a pound adult. For comparison's sake, jogging would compare at 7 METs calories per hour and bicycling at 7.

FYI, other watersports like kayaking and stand-up paddleboarding burn calories too! But don't get caught up in those numbers. How many calories you burn swimming depends on many factors, says Bianca Beldini, D. Your body: "Someone who weighs more will expend more calories than someone who weighs less because it takes more energy to move a larger body than a smaller one," she says. Which, yes, is taken into account in the METs formula. More drag means it takes more energy to push through the resistance, therefore increasing the heart rate and resulting in higher caloric expenditure.

Your swim speed: How fast you can swim also affects your calorie burn. Hence, the faster you swim, the more energy you use. Using swim devices such as pull buoys, pull paddles, parachutes, and bands, to increase resistance or increase drag will also increase your energy output, upping your calorie burn, she adds. You will burn more calories if you spend twice as much time in your swimming workout than if you perform it at twice the speed.

How many calories do you burn swimming 20 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour or more? How much does your speed and swim stroke matter? Calories burned swimming calculator. Calories Burned Swimming Calculator Weight. Swim Mins.

Calories Burned: 0. How many calories do you burn doing the breaststroke vs backstroke?