One Hour on the Treadmill Better Than Swimming for 30 minutes?
Sometimes I wonder which is better swimming or running! I continue to ask myself every day is it worth going on the treadmill or running outside. I use to prefer a couple of pickup basketball games as an alternative for that kick ass cardio workout. However, that eventually caught up with me and started to bother my knees. As a result, I was discouraged to continue. It didn’t help that I was slowly losing weight if any weight at all.
It wasn’t until I started hitting up the swimming pool where I started seeing concrete results. Of course I’ve cut back on how much I eat as well, but I’ve also avoided so much pain in my knees by running and working out in the pool.
For the past couple of months, I’ve been in the pool 4–6 days out of the week, religiously. I’m pretty much Aqua Man now lol. Swimming has become one of my favorite things to do other than Chess!
I’ve seen such an improvement with my weight, breathing, conditioning, endurance and more! I’ve been so impressed with my progress that I’m motivated to blog about it and share with others that maybe struggling like I was for the longest time.
I feel the best way to see immediate results is to do a little bit of everything, one thing isn’t going to work forever, not magical pills, not pre-workouts or protein powders by themselves, not stomach wrap or other gimmicks! You have to put it all together and find that balance.
Swimming is much easier on your joints than running on a treadmill, which is beneficial for injury prevention. However, weight-bearing exercises — such as running — are more beneficial for healthy bones. A study published in a 2009 issue of the “Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research” found that running increases bone-mineral density more than non-weight-bearing exercises, such as cycling and swimming. However, high-impact running does increase your risk for bone fractures.
Calories Burned
You’ll likely burn more calories running on a treadmill for 1 hour than you will swimming for 30 minutes, which is beneficial for weight loss. Harvard Health Publications reports a 155-pound adult burns 744 calories running for 1 hour at a pace of 6 miles per hour, but only burns 372 calories swimming the breaststroke for 30 minutes. If you boost your swimming duration to 1 hour, you’ll burn the same amount of calories — 744 — as you would running 6 miles per hour for the same duration. If you burn 500 more calories than you eat each day, you’ll lose about 1 pound per week, according to MayoClinic.com.
Exercise Intensity
You can reap the same health benefits, such as reduced chronic-disease risks, swimming for 30 minutes at a vigorous intensity as you can running for 1 hour at a moderate intensity, according to the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines moderate intensity as working out at 50 to 70 percent of your maximum heart rate, and vigorous intensity as exercising at 70 to 85 percent of your maximum heart rate. You should be able to comfortably hold a conversation during moderate-intensity exercise, but struggle a bit more talking while exercising at a vigorous intensity.
Effective Weight Loss
A study published in a 2006 issue of the “Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness” found that subjects lost the same amount of weight and body fat doing weight-bearing exercises on land — such as walking or running — as they did exercising in water. However, running for an hour on a treadmill may help you lose more weight than swimming for 30 minutes a day, if your calorie intake remains constant.
Meal prepping and cutting my meals have contributed greatly to my weight loss journey. Balance is key!!!
A review published in a 2009 issue of “Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise” reports that exercising more than 4 hours weekly is associated with significant weight loss in overweight individuals.
If you choose swimming for 30 minutes over running for an hour, you’ll need to eat less to get the same weight-loss results.
