5 Ways to Burn Calories in Your Pool

Plan your Target

Plan to keep your heart rate at around 80% of your max for as much of your workout as you can. To calculate your target heart rate, subtract your age from 220 and multiply by 0.8. Check with your physician before you begin a new workout plan. To ensure you're staying in the zone, stop after every 10 to 15 laps and use the pool clock to count your pulse for six seconds; tack a zero onto the number. Based on a 150 pound woman, Vigorous swimming can burn up to 680 calories per hour.

Pool Play
Swim with a pool noodle, a kickboard or flutter board, hand paddles, swim fins, or a foam buoy that fits between your legs. Most pools have them, or you can buy your own at a local pool store or online store. Not only will you burn more calories, but you'll tone arm and leg muscles, too.

Ladder Swim
Break up your laps into what pros call a ladder. Swim the following segments with 15 to 30 seconds of rest in between each: one lap, two laps, four laps, six laps, four laps, two laps, one lap. Don’t increase your laps but increase your speed. The ladder swim is best when doing front crawl but it is fun to switch up strokes. For more of a challenge try butterfly stroke.

Sprint
Nothing burns calories better than swimming fast. But you don't have to speed through your whole workout to get the benefit. Try doing one length easy, then one length fast; two lengths easy, two lengths fast; and so on.

Break less
No more than 10% of your water time should be spent loitering in your lane. Try cutting your rests in half, until you're pausing just 10 seconds between laps or intervals. You will burn more calories keeping your heart rate up for a longer period of time. Try and do multiple laps before stopping for a rest.