Calories Burned Weight-Lifting & Swimming
Weight lifting and swimming are both excellent ways to get in shape and burn calories. But how many calories? Is one activity more effective than the other if you want to burn fat? As a cardio exercise, swimming burns more calories per hour than weight lifting, but if you want to gain strength and muscle tone, body building has advantages too.
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Considerations
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How many calories you burn varies according to your body weight. In fact, the number of calories burned doing any exercise increases in positive correlation to your overall weight. For instance, if you're swimming, you are essentially trying to keep your body from sinking, so someone weighing 200 pounds is going to expend more energy than someone weighing 120 pounds.
Weight Lifting
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A 180-pound man can burn up to 475 calories an hour if he is training hard enough with weights that his heart rate is increased and he's not stopping for rests. If he trains less vigorously, he might burn 250 calories an hour. Meanwhile, a 150-pound individual using free weights will burn about 200 calories an hour.
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Swimming
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Swimming---among other cardio exercises---burns significantly more calories than weight lifting.
Swimming leisurely will burn more than 400 calories an hour for a 150-pound person. That same person can burn 680 calories an hour vigorously swimming laps---for example, doing the breaststroke or rapid freestyle---or about 476 calories an hour swimming laps at a slower pace---for example, doing the backstroke. The crawl is the most effective swim stroke for losing calories, burning between 540 and 750 calories an hour.
Comparison
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Weight lifting offers an advantage over swimming when done for the purpose of body building, because a pound of muscle burns four to five times more calories than a pound of fat does in a day. Simply having muscles will burn calories, even when you don't exercise. While swimming and other forms of cardio exercise help you put on muscle weight, intense weight training will allow you to put on more.
However, for the typical fitness enthusiast, swimming is a more efficient way of burning calories. It increases heart rate and keeps it going, meaning that during your workout your blood is flowing, you're breathing harder, and you're working your entire body---rather than just the muscles you target when lifting weights.
Warning
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Cardio exercise and moderate weight lifting are safe and healthy ways to burn calories, but before starting any intense workout regiment, do your research. See your doctor if you have any health conditions that could affect your workout routine to make sure you don't hurt yourself. Consider talking to a trainer at your local gym about an exercise program you can do on your own that is tailored to your needs.
Guidelines
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One hour of weight lifting (vigorous): If you're 130 pounds, you'll burn 354 calories. If you're 155 pounds, you'll burn 422 calories. If you're 190 pounds, you'll burn 518 calories.
One hour of weight lifting (light to moderate): If you're 130 pounds, you'll burn 177 calories. If you're 155 pounds, you'll burn 211 calories. If you're 190 pounds, you'll burn 259 calories.
One hour of swimming laps (fast): If you're 130 pounds, you'll burn 590 calories. If you're 155 pounds, you'll burn 704 calories. If you're 190 pounds, you'll burn 863 calories.
One hour of swimming laps (slow): If you're 130 pounds, you'll burn 472 calories. If you're 155 pounds, you'll burn 563 calories. If you're 190 pounds, you'll burn 690 calories.
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