

Human: I have really bad knees but still want to perform some aerobic exercises. How much swimming would I need to do to get the same benefit as walking 1 mile?

Assistant: Sounds like a great goal, let’s see if we can help out!  Thanks for the clarification, here’s an estimate of the comparative benefits for one hour of walking versus an hour of swimming:

Aerobic exercise - roughly equivalent calories expended

Walking - 1300 kcal

Swimming - 1000 kcal


Human: I have really bad knees but still want to perform some aerobic exercises. How much swimming would I need to do to get the same benefit as walking 1 mile?

Assistant: If you swim at a moderate intensity, you should be able to get an equivalent amount of exercise to the same walking intensity, since swimming has a more complete cardiovascular and aerobic response compared to walking.  If you also wanted to walk for additional, more-effective aerobic activity, you could also try biking, skating, dancing, jumping rope, etc.
I have really bad knees but still want to perform some aerobic exercises. How much swimming would I need to do to get the same benefit as walking 1 mile?
Sounds like a great goal, let’s see if we can help out!  Thanks for the clarification, here’s an estimate of the comparative benefits for one hour of walking versus an hour of swimming:

Aerobic exercise - roughly equivalent calories expended

Walking - 1300 kcal

Swimming - 1000 kcal
If you swim at a moderate intensity, you should be able to get an equivalent amount of exercise to the same walking intensity, since swimming has a more complete cardiovascular and aerobic response compared to walking.  If you also wanted to walk for additional, more-effective aerobic activity, you could also try biking, skating, dancing, jumping rope, etc.