The bloke’s guide to swimming for weight loss

When you think about losing weight, hitting the pool probably isn’t your first move. Running, weightlifting, skipping a meal or two? Sure. But swimming?

Turns out, it’s one of the most effective and underrated ways to shift fat, build strength and stay injury-free. It hits every major muscle group, torches calories, and doesn’t pound your knees into dust like running does. 

On top of that, swimming offers a tonne of other health benefits, from boosting your mood to improving your cardiovascular health and even increasing flexibility.

In this guide, we’ll break down exactly how swimming stacks up for weight loss, what kind of routine actually works, and how to burn max calories in the water. Whether you’re already a decent swimmer or just sick of the gym, this one’s for you.

Is swimming good for weight loss?

Swimming gets a bad rap because it’s less intense-looking than a sweaty gym sesh – but research shows it’s incredibly effective for weight loss.

Plenty of people reckon swimming’s a waste of time for weight loss. We’ve even heard the old myth: "If you want to lose weight, you're better off walking around a pool than swimming in it" [1].

But the research says the opposite. One study compared swimming for weight loss and walking for weight loss at the same intensity for the same amount of time, 3 times per week.

The swimming group lost 1.1kg more weight and 2cm more from their waistline compared to the walking group [2].

What makes it so powerful?

• It’s a full-body workout – arms, legs, core, back – all working against water resistance.
• It’s easy on your joints, meaning less chance of injury and more consistency.
• It burns loads of calories when done right.

In fact, a solid hour of swimming at a moderate pace can burn around 500 calories. Go hard? You’re looking at up to 800 an hour [3].

Why swimming works so well for fat loss

Swimming combines cardio, strength, and resistance in a way that most workouts can’t match. The resistance of water forces your body to work harder than it feels like, meaning a lower perceived effort, but real calorie burn.

Different strokes target different muscles:

• Butterfly: Chest, shoulders, arms – big calorie burner
• Freestyle: Core, back, shoulders – fast and efficient
• Backstroke: Posture, glutes, legs
• Breaststroke: Core and cardio with less effort

Plus, the cold water and physical output will spike your post-workout hunger, so you’ll need to be smart about your post-swim refuel. More on that later.

Unlike running, swimming won’t shred your knees, so you can show up more often. [1].

How much do you have to swim to lose weight?

The key to losing weight, no matter the exercise, is to be consistent and remain in a calorie deficit.

Doesn’t matter how often you swim – if your diet’s off, the fat’s not going anywhere.

Instead, eating a healthy balanced diet and incorporating exercise into your routine is the answer to losing weight.

To burn calories by swimming, the duration of your swimming session and the effort you put in makes all the difference.

Swimming for roughly an hour at moderate intensity can burn 500 calories [5]. Plus, switching up your swimming strokes can further burn calories.

Another tip to burn more calories while swimming is to reduce rest periods during your swimming session.

The less you rest between laps, the more you keep your heart rate cranking – and the more fat you burn [5].

How many calories do you burn swimming?

How many calories you burn depends on how hard you work.

Intense swimming workouts for an hour burn roughly 800 calories. If you're swimming intensely 4 times a week, you can expect to lose around 1-2 kilos a month [4].

If you're just starting out swimming and you're working your way up from low intensity to an intense swimming session, moderate intensity for half an hour burns 250 calories. If you're doing that four times a week, you can expect to lose roughly 0.5kg a month [4].

It's also important to note that how many calories you burn can differ from person to person.

According to Harvard Health, calories burned are also influenced by your current weight and the intensity at which you swim [6]. Let's break it down.

For a moderate pace and a 30-minute swimming session, those weighing 57kg can burn 180 calories, those weighing 70kg can burn 216 calories and those weighing 83kg can burn 252 calories [6].

For vigorous 30-minute swimming sessions, those weighing 57kg can burn 300 calories, those weighing 70kg can burn 360 calories and those weighing 83kg can burn 420 calories [6].

What's the best swimming routine for weight loss?

If you've never tried swimming for weight loss before it might be worth building yourself up to a higher intensity by sticking to moderate intensity at first.

If your stroke needs work, consider a few sessions with a swim coach – technique goes a long way in the pool.

Once you're comfortable with moderate intensity and have nailed the strokes, a high-intensity swimming session can be beneficial for weight loss.

Let's run through some of the best swimming routines for weight loss.

Intensity is key

A high-intensity workout routine combines intense swimming with rest periods or recovery swims.

Although you'll probably be able to do less in your swimming session, it's great for people who need to fit in a workout in between their busy days. Plus, you'll burn some serious calories [7].

You could even try high-intensity interval training (HIIT) to burn calories and burn fat too.

A swimming HIIT session means you're swimming short bursts and your maximum effort which can increase your overall fitness levels and burn more fat [8].

A simple way to do this is to swim at high intensity for 30 seconds and include a 15-30-second rest period before your next sprint.

Repeat this for as long as you can handle, but, try to aim for double-digit figures [8].

The best strokes

For a total body workout, you'll want to incorporate different strokes into your swimming routine. Each different stroke targets the body differently and can have major benefits on posture, toning the body and building muscle tone and strength.

Let's run through the best strokes to maximise your weight loss efforts in the pool [9].

The butterfly stroke is the best swimming stroke for weight loss, but, it's also the hardest to master.

The average calories burned swimming the butterfly stroke is roughly 450 calories in a 30-minute swimming session.

The butterfly stroke also increases your flexibility, tones your chest, stomach and arms and helps to build upper body strength [9].

Next up is freestyle which is the fastest stroke, which can help you burn roughly 300 calories in a 30-minute swimming session.

Freestyle also helps to tone your stomach, glutes and shoulders. Freestyle’s a solid starting stroke while you build towards high-intensity sessions [9].

Backstroke is one the best swimming strokes to help improve posture, but the second last at burning calories.

On average, you can burn around 250 calories in a 30-minute swimming session. Backstroke helps to tone different parts of the body including the stomach, legs, arms and shoulders [9].

Last but not least, we've got breaststroke. For a 30-minute swimming session, breaststroke will help you burn 200 calories but it's great for cardiovascular health, helping to strengthen the heart and lungs [9].

Vary your strokes

As with all workout routines, you'll want to switch up your swimming strokes to burn more calories and keep things interesting too.

Plus, to make sure you're working your entire body, you need to work every muscle group which is pretty easy to do with swimming by incorporating different swim strokes.

For maximum calories burned, make sure your workout includes kicking, pulling and stroke work [10].

If you wanted a break from swimming laps you could incorporate other water-based workouts like running or jogging in the water.

This can help you burn even more calories because it's a lot harder to run in the pool due to the resistance of the water. A moderately paced jog in the water can burn roughly 550 calories for an hour [10].

Use training aids and weights

Another great way to burn more calories in the pool and keep things interesting is to incorporate training aids and weights.

Using kickboards and pull buoys helps to target specific areas of the body.

You can also introduce resistance training into your swimming sessions by using aqua dumbbells which can help you lose weight by increasing your resting metabolic rate so your body burns more calories. It's also great for building muscle [8].

Not keen on swimming?

No stress. Not every guy’s built for the pool. But if you’re serious about fat loss, you’ll need to find something you can stick to. Other options that work:

• Weight training
• Running or cycling
• Surfing or ocean swimming
• Group fitness (yes, even boxing circuits count)

Whatever keeps you moving and helps you stay in a deficit – that’s your plan.

Sorting your nutrition

If you're trying to lose weight, the most important changes you can make are to your diet. Eating a healthy balanced diet consists of 5 food groups which you should be eating every day. These include:

• Vegetables and legumes
• Fruit
• Lean meat, chicken, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds
• Dairy products including milk, cheese, yogurt or alternative dairy products
• Grains and cereals [11]
• Weight Reset Shakes

Incorporating fibre-rich foods into your diet is also beneficial for weight loss with research suggesting that eating 30 grams of fibre a day can aid in weight loss, improve the body's response to insulin and decrease blood pressure [12].

Get expert nutrition and training support

If you’re keen to lose weight and build muscle but aren’t sure where to start, Pilot’s weight loss program can help.

It combines hands-on support from a team of health coaches — who can guide you through everything from optimising your diet for effective muscle building to figuring out the right strength training exercises — with science-backed weight loss solutions and access to a community of other men on a similar journey.

In short, you’ll have all the tools you need to get your muscle-building journey off to a stellar start.

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