Calories Burned Treading Water Calculator

Treading water is both an easy way to keep your head above the surface while swimming and a simple workout with many health benefits. Most people experience 110 calories burned treading water for every ten minutes of treading water. This amount depends on your health, age, and treading style.

How many calories do you burn treading water?

Treading water is when you keep your head above water by remaining in an upright position and kicking your legs back and forth in a short, controlled motion. This is similar to a walking movement with the addition of moving your hands in a downward-circular motion.

Treading water requires no equipment (other than a swimsuit!) and is ideal for all skill levels so long as you know how to swim. It’s most useful in deeper waters.

Water provides consistent resistance against any movements from your body, engaging your muscles and requiring energy. A 150-pound individual treading water in a pool will burn roughly 11 calories per minute or 110 calories per ten minutes.

The less you weigh, the fewer calories are burned; the more you weigh, vice versa. Adding equipment like swimming fins or a neoprene wetsuit makes treading easier, lowering the number of calories burned per minute.

The taller you are, the further you’ll have to extend to complete one tread cycle. This means a slight increase in burned calories.

You can also increase your caloric burn by treading water faster or using a more complex treading technique. The frog kick is one of the most difficult treading methods, burning the most calories. The eggbeater is the most efficient form of treading water, but it burns the least number of calories since it was created for survival and not exercise.

To have more calories burned treading water, you can swim in colder or choppier waters. To regulate temperature differences, your body will need to expend more energy to adjust to colder waters. Choppy waters, on the other hand, require you to use more energy as you push to keep your head above the waves.

How many calories are burned treading water for 30 minutes?

If you weigh 150-pounds and are treading water at a moderate and steady rate in an average pool, you will burn 110 calories per ten minutes.

This means half an hour of treading water will burn approximately 330 calories. That is roughly equivalent to a slice of pizza, a portion of chicken salad, or ¾ cup of veggie tortellini.  

Using these same proportions, a 120-pound individual would burn roughly 240 calories, a 200-pound person would burn 480 calories, and a 250-pound person would burn 630 calories while treading water for 30 minutes.

What are the benefits of treading water?

Treading water requires no equipment and is doable for all skill levels. When done in proper form, it’s a simple way to stay upright and enjoy more time in the water.

With its low impact on joints, treading water is great for young and old alike. Unlike walking or running on hard surfaces, swimming can reduce the impact on things like your ankles or knees by up to 55%.

Even though the impact is light on your joints, the exercise is felt across your body. The water’s resistance increases the necessary rate of effort to keep you above the surface, meaning you’re exerting more energy and using more muscle than if you were to be simply walking against the air.

Generally speaking, all swimming is beneficial for cardiovascular health, improving your heart and lungs as you exercise.

By treading water, you’re not only burning calories, but also building your endurance, increasing your muscle strength, and overall improving your health and fitness.

What burns more calories, treading water vs. swimming laps?

Much like treading water, swimming laps can burn more or fewer calories depending on the health and weight of the swimmer, distance swam, water conditions, and any added equipment.

In this comparison, let’s look at a 150-pound swimmer who is using the freestyle swim stroke at a moderate speed in a pool for 30 minutes. This person will burn roughly 230 calories in half an hour compared to 330 burned for someone treading water for the same time.

While in this example treading water burns more calories, those swimming laps in more complex styles, outdoors, or at high speeds can burn as much as or more calories than treading water. The calorie burn is found in the details.

Is treading water good for your core?

Yes, treading water is a good exercise to build core muscles while keeping your heartbeat low and encouraging circulation throughout the body.

Water is 12%-14% more resistant than air, meaning every time you tread water, it’s as if you’re moving on land with small weights on your body. Since it’s harder to move water out of your way than air, you need to engage your abdominal muscles further to complete your range of motion.

This burns more fat than walking on land, slowly exposing your toned muscles – yes, even abs!

Can I lose weight by treading every day?

Weight is lost through a caloric deficit. If your weight is stable and you add treading water to your daily routine, you will lose weight.

Even if you exercise, it’s important to consume healthy calories when you’re aiming to lose weight. If you start to tread water every day, yet add in extra sugary snacks or unhealthy meals, your weight will not change.

Since one pound of fat is roughly 3,500 calories, treading water for 30 minutes a day could help you lose one pound of fat every ten days.