During the Olympics this past week, you may have heard some startling statistics about how many calories Michael Phelps consumes in a day. Considering the average person is on a 1,200-2,000 calorie diet per day, when Michael Phelps is in high training mode, he eats about 12,000 calories! Yes, Olympic training is hard and stressful but 12,000 calories every day should mean that he would be huge. Where does it all go?
High Rate Of Burning Calories
If you are in the water for long periods of time, you body uses extra calories to help maintain your core temperature. That is the answer to where all of those calories go. Michael Phelps spends hours a day in the pool training, and during those hours, his core body temperature starts to drop. In order to try to maintain and keep his body regulated, his system burns calories at an incredibly high rate. This is a benefit you can have too if you spend time daily swimming in your pool in the backyard. But probably don’t try the 12,000 calorie thing.
Fat Loss
Studies have shown that you burn more fat when working out in the water. Polar bears and other animals who swim in the water all the time have an extra layer of fat that burns off to create heat as they swim. If you do a lot of swimming in cold water, your body will do a little bit of adapting and start to burn fat as a heat source for you too. If you’ve got some extra fat to burn, hop in the cold pool and do some laps daily all summer. You’ll notice a big difference by the end of the season.
If you would like to experience these health benefits and more, consider putting in your own pool right in your backyard. It will be less expensive than joining your local pool year after year, and you can do your workouts any time you want. We’d be happy to come out and give you a free consultation and get you started on the road to having your own fat burning machine right in your backyard.
