When you think of the pool, what comes to mind? Lounging in a float with a fruity adult beverage at hand? Ok, yeah, me too. But I’m thinking we might need to change our pool paradigm. Everyone I know swears swimming is the best workout: a way to get a full-body workout in, in a short about of time. And I’ll admit, when you’re short on time and your workout demands are long, full-body activities should be at the top of the list.

But before I could just blindly accept the idea of adding swimming to my workout regime, I decided to do some reading. I’m not one to dive in head first without some proper research. Actually I am, but swimming is so intimidating to me I felt like I needed some reassuring facts to buoy me along in this endeavor.

Bottom line: swimming is pretty remarkable. It’s an activity that everyone can do despite weight, fitness level or balance aptitude. Swimming isn’t jarring to your body, does not put pressure on your joints and requires little equipment besides access to a pool (swimsuit, goggles and swim cap not withstanding).


The more I read, the closer I was to digging my goggles out of my beach bag. Water resistance is greater than air resistance, so any water workout is going to make your muscles work harder than on land. Swimming improves the body’s use of oxygen and increases lung function and promotes proper breathing. And as an added bonus, if you’re sweat adverse, the cool pool water prevents you from getting hot and sticky.

So, it sounds like a winner, huh? Well, not so fast…there are some drawbacks to swimming. First of all, it does take more time to do than say running. You have to get yourself to a pool, lake or other suitable body of water, change into a bathing suit, and after exercising change back again and ideally shower.

Also, if you choose to swim without a swim cap, the chlorine in the pool can make your hair brittle and turn a lovely shade of green.

Another possible swimming deterrent is the reality that swimming is not good for losing a lot of weight. The online Merck Manual explains that while you do use a lot of muscle groups while swimming and burn significant calories, once you get out of the water much of that calorie burning stops. According to The Manual, “Doing land based exercise like running or cycling may use about the same amount of calorie per hour as swimming, but once you stop exercising the land-based workout usually leads to continued increase in calorie use for as long as 18 hours after the workout. Why? Because when you are in the pool you don't heat up as much as you do on land, and your body does not have to work to cool you down as much once the exercise session concludes. Swimming does exercise almost the entire body - heart, lungs, and muscles - with very little joint strain. It is great for general fitness, just not a great way to drop excess pounds.”

Ok so perhaps swimming is not the fitness panacea I had hoped for but I still think I’ll add it to my workout repertoire, as it’s a good way to mix things up and keep myself from getting burned out on one particular exercise. Plus, there might just be a cute lifeguard to keep me distracted.

Up next…Junk Food? Health Food? What’s a girl to eat?