does swimming really burn that many calories?

when i looked up how many calories are burned in an hour of swimming it was close to 500! even for leisurely, non-lap-swimming. is this for real? i really don't feel like i'm burning that many. i burn 200 calories running and i feel like i'm going to die...but i swim for 90 minutes and burn 700 and feel perfectly fine and not sore or tired at all. even when i lap swim for an hour i don't really feel tired afterwards. i just can't believe that i'm really doing any kind of effective exercise!

Just moving in water is MUCH more restance than on land so you have to work MUCH harder on land to get the same burn.  I don't know the exact number but what CC.com has sounds right.

According to the Health Fitness Instructor Handbook, one of the reference manuals for the American College of Sports Medicine, the amount of calories burned during swimming depends "on the velocity of movement and the stroke being used, but it is also influenced by the skill of the swimmer. A skilled swimmer requires less energy to move through the water, so that person has to swim a greater distance than an unskilled person to achieve the same caloric expenditure."

The handbook says that for poor swimmers "the energy cost of simply treading water can be as high as 7.5 calories per kilogram of body weight per minute. Elite swimmers use this same number of calories per minute to swim at 36 miles per minute whereas an unskilled swimmer might require twice that energy expenditure to maintain the same velocity."

On the surface, it would seem to be more advantageous to have mediocre swimming skills to burn more calories but it backfires on you because you tire faster than you can rack up calories. In other words, you burn more calories when you are a novice swimmer but you cannot swim very long or very fast. The more skilled you become, the less calories you burn but you still burn more calories in the long run because you can swim longer and faster before you become fatigued.

If you are wondering why women burn less than men, the Fitness Leader's Handbook, another reference manual, says that because of women's "greater buoyancy associated with higher body fatness, women expend fewer calories per mile than men, independent of skill level". People with more fat have an easier time staying afloat. That in turn means fewer calories are burned. This is good news if you are a competitive swimmer so you can reserve your calories to fuel your speed and distance.

If you want even more of a caloric burn and a greater challenge to the upper body, try deep-water running. You will need a waist flotation device to keep you suspended in neck deep water. You will build more upper and lower body muscular endurance than land based running because the resistance of the water is all around you and I have a feeling from what you said about land running, you will enjoy deep-water running more!  :)

I {heart} fitnessgirl.  She's  got some good stuff!  Water is 800 times more dense than air.  Plus, you are pretty much using every muscle in your body when you swim.  I also believe that your body makes some adjustments to keep its core temperature up when in the pool.  Not much more useful info to add to FG, but thought I would throw that out there.

thank you all of you, i am a lot less skeptical now! i'm also looking into deep-water running, so thank you for that tip. seriously, why does anyone do anything but swim? this is like my exercise calling.

I just started swimming yesterday.  I am a hiker and though I truly enjoy hiking I wanted a workout for my whole body.

I took a water aerobic class.  Afterwards I still felt energetic and swam laps for 10 mins and ran for 5 mins. 

The place I go to has this river area they built with a current and I ran against the current. 

I too am hooked on water exercising!

I totally agree with the last 2 posts, why why do anything but swimming.  I so love it, it has reshaped my entire body without hurting my knees or anything else, it also has greatly improved my cardio capabilities.

I swim 3-4 days a week at least 1500m or a mile every time.  I switch it up with drills for kicking and strokes as well as changing stroke to work my back and abs more.

I used to run and go to the gym to lift, circuit train and abs 4d a week, now all I do is swim

BTW:  I have lost 37lbs in 3 months too!!!

I'm with everyone else............why do anything but swim? I used to swim a lot when I was younger, I dont even know why I got away from it other than access to a pool. I just started swimming again a few days ago, since I have a pool right down the street. I LOVE IT.........why did I ever stop........I get tired, but it is a good tired, my arms hurt....(breast stroke.............sheesh I'm out of shape!) but even so..........it seems almost effortless for me...........even when I know I am working my but off.........it is amazing how much more effort you are willing to put into a thing when you love it! I'm with you Qualquun, I have found my exercise........it works every muscle in my body, burns more and I feel good when I get out of the pool..........outside swimmers hair there is no down side!! Go swimmers!!!

Original Post by fitnessgirll:

The handbook says that for poor swimmers "the energy cost of simply treading water can be as high as 7.5 calories per kilogram of body weight per minute. Elite swimmers use this same number of calories per minute to swim at 36 miles per minute whereas an unskilled swimmer might require twice that energy expenditure to maintain the same velocity." 

Novice or skilled, that's some pretty sick speed, haha

Swimming is fantastic exercise...for cardio, calorie burn, toning...swimming does it all. I swil for 1 mile on 6 days each week and have one rest day...it keeps me really fit but apart from the body benefits it really helps me mentally. Its a great start to the day, wakes me up and gets my concentration levels up before I hit the desk for the daily grind !

I'm a competitive swimmer, been swimming since I was 4.  I swim at least an hour a day (typically 3000+ meters).  It really is great, as it build muscle and burns calories!