Swimming, can you lose weight??

[Gemmi]

Can and if so what kind of swimming is the best for losing weight and toning up??

 

Any advice much appreciated,

 

Gem

[skydiveaddict]

Yes you can lose weight swimming. It burns tons of calories. Just enroll in a swimming fitness class, or spend thirty minutes in the pool doing laps.

 

Use any stroke you want. they all work, but I find the crawl (freestyle) to be the most taxing

[somedude81]

Swimming is so exhausting. Whenever I get out of the pool I feel like I'm going to pass out. I don't even try to go that fast either

[skydiveaddict]

I know dude, it's a brutal workout

[GrayClouds]

If you want to lose weight while swimming make sure you do it with intensity, HIIT training is perfect for the pool. The link will give some info on HIIT training: http://hubpages.com/hub/HIITandFatLoss

 

Unless your already have good form it is worth while to work with a trainer why can help you make you stroke better.

[kiss_andmakeup]

Swimming is soooooooo exhausting but sooooo good for you. I've never looked better than when I was in high school and I had to take a mandatory semester of swimming...my arms were toned like crazy.

 

I wish I could get back into it, but the cheapie gym I go to doesn't have a pool, not to mention there's no way I'd have the drive to do it without someone forcing me! It's hard! I seriously admire anyone who does it on a regular basis.

[tman666]

I've personally never lost weight while swimming. That's not to say that it isn't an excellent cardio/muscular endurance workout. Since swimming also involves very little impact on the joints, I would say that it is one of the best all around athletic pursuits. It spans all age groups and athletic abilities. I also believe that swimming is an important skill for everyone to have for a variety of different reasons.

 

If you're trying to lose weight swimming, I agree with GreyClouds in saying that intensity is the key.

[Lecturer]

Swimming is one of the best workouts you can do. It is full body, burns tons of calories, and is low-impact so it wont hurt your joints.

 

That said, nothing will lose weight if you eat too much. If you go for a swim, then go get a muffin or flavoured coffee or something like that, you'll probably eat more calories than you burned.

 

Combine swimming with diet moderation, and you'll lose weight nicely.

[GrayClouds]

I've personally never lost weight while swimming. That's not to say that it isn't an excellent cardio/muscular endurance workout. Since swimming also involves very little impact on the joints, I would say that it is one of the best all around athletic pursuits. It spans all age groups and athletic abilities. I also believe that swimming is an important skill for everyone to have for a variety of different reasons.

 

If you're trying to lose weight swimming, I agree with GreyClouds in saying that intensity is the key.

 

Yep I seen a good deal who swim all day, and never loss a pound or gain any tone. They got it down to an art where it is not so much as swimming but fast floating. While they are still getting some good stuff from it, burning calories and building some muscle is not really one of them.

[Gemmi]

Swimming is one of the best workouts you can do. It is full body, burns tons of calories, and is low-impact so it wont hurt your joints.

 

That said, nothing will lose weight if you eat too much. If you go for a swim, then go get a muffin or flavoured coffee or something like that, you'll probably eat more calories than you burned.

 

Combine swimming with diet moderation, and you'll lose weight nicely.

 

This makes me laugh, straight after swimming today I got a skinny mocha and I thought "c'mon Gem, your wasting all that hard work!!" Well im trying to do an hour of lengths between 4-5 times a week, although I always seem to be hungry, I only want to lose 14lb so not a mega amount, watch this space. Thanks for all of your advice guys xxxx

[USMCHokie]

Yep I seen a good deal who swim all day, and never loss a pound or gain any tone. They got it down to an art where it is not so much as swimming but fast floating. While they are still getting some good stuff from it, burning calories and building some muscle is not really one of them.

 

 

I am a fan of the Total Immersion System (and still a work in progress on learning the technique), and this is pretty much what it becomes...technique over sheer effort...where it becomes "fast floating" as you say...

[Enema]

Here's a good article to read about swimming and weight loss:

 

Swimming

[tman666]

I'm sure glad I've never done any "swiming". Good to know I'm not a pussy in the eyes of Strongman2.

[tman666]

Ok, I'll feed the troll before it gets removed...

 

My personal record on bench 1,000,000.6 lbs raw. My training is super secret CIA/Ninja training, so you probably haven't heard of it.

 

Also, my dad can beat up your dad.

[tman666]

Ok Ok, fine. I can see you're a little jealous, but there's no need to frown!

 

Here's my secret:

 

[USMCHokie]

Awww, shucks, I missed a troll?!?!! Darn...

[somedude81]

Here's a good article to read about swimming and weight loss:

 

Swimming

Interesting article.

 

So basically just be sure to watch what you eat after you swim.

[Lecturer]

This makes me laugh, straight after swimming today I got a skinny mocha and I thought "c'mon Gem, your wasting all that hard work!!" Well im trying to do an hour of lengths between 4-5 times a week, although I always seem to be hungry, I only want to lose 14lb so not a mega amount, watch this space. Thanks for all of your advice guys xxxx

 

The article linked earlier in this thread supports what I said in my post. A very common thing with amateur exercisers (regular people like you and I) is that they have a compensation effect after working out (eating and replacing all the calories or MORE than they just burned). The article basically says this compensation effect is heightened after swimming due to the cold water (which makes sense).

 

This is why i prefer to workout before a meal - you get hungry after and eat.. but you were going to eat that meal anyway.

 

Too many people over-estimate the calories they burn. For a person around 140 lbs, a good hard workout where your heart rate is up and you are sweating like crazy will only burn about 200-300 calories per half-hour. That isn't very much food - especially junk food.

 

Edit: For my fellow Canadians and those lucky Americans that have Tim Hortons nearby - apparently some outlets have a Peanut Butter Milkshake. It is 2010 calories and 68g of saturated fat (largest in Canada is 1680 calories and 40g of fat). Fear the post-workout specialty drinks!

 

Additional Off-Topic Thought: Why do American versions of fast-food franchises (ie: mcds, bk, wendys) always have a larger size than in Canada? Usually it is about the same price after conversion if not less, too. It is a true testament to gluttony... normal humans shouldn't even be able to eat the larger sizes, but the human body is impressive and the stomach can stretch and enlarge if forced. So much pain - as though 300 million pancreases cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.

Edited June 3, 2010 by Lecturer

[tman666]

I've recently been in a couple of discussions with other fellow "exercisers" about pre-workout nutrition for fat loss. What they are saying is that for sparing muscle (which most people want to do), ingesting fat, not protein before fasted cardio (such as swimming or jogging in the morning before breakfast) is the way to go. We're talking like a teaspoon of olive oil. The theory has to do with how the body metabolizes the fatty acids, and how the ingestion of fat pre-workout leads to the body tapping into its fat reserves instead of its protein reserves (muscle). By the way, I am in no way qualified to speculate as to how the science behind this works, but I think it's an interesting premise nonetheless.

 

Of course, if someone is trying to put on muscle, my personal belief is that carbohydrates pre-workout, followed by proteins and fats post workout are the best way to go. There's so many different theories out there though, it's hard to figure out what is best. It depends on the person, their age, sex, experience level, goals, etc.

 

I guess the best way to go depends on what works best for the individual. This, of course, requires experimentation.

 

For those of you trying to lose fat, it would be interesting to see if fasted (other than a fat dosage as mentioned above) cardio proved more effective for fat loss (again, we're only looking at body comp here, not performance) than other cardio methods such as HIIT.

[USMCHokie]

I've recently been in a couple of discussions with other fellow "exercisers" about pre-workout nutrition for fat loss. What they are saying is that for sparing muscle (which most people want to do), ingesting fat, not protein before fasted cardio (such as swimming or jogging in the morning before breakfast) is the way to go. We're talking like a teaspoon of olive oil. The theory has to do with how the body metabolizes the fatty acids, and how the ingestion of fat pre-workout leads to the body tapping into its fat reserves instead of its protein reserves (muscle). By the way, I am in no way qualified to speculate as to how the science behind this works, but I think it's an interesting premise nonetheless.

 

Of course, if someone is trying to put on muscle, my personal belief is that carbohydrates pre-workout, followed by proteins and fats post workout are the best way to go. There's so many different theories out there though, it's hard to figure out what is best. It depends on the person, their age, sex, experience level, goals, etc.

 

I guess the best way to go depends on what works best for the individual. This, of course, requires experimentation.

 

For those of you trying to lose fat, it would be interesting to see if fasted (other than a fat dosage as mentioned above) cardio proved more effective for fat loss (again, we're only looking at body comp here, not performance) than other cardio methods such as HIIT.

 

 

Tman, this is some interesting and good information, and something I think I'm going to experiment with...but in my opinion, most of this stuff won't make a hoot of difference to the average person and would apply more aptly to the elite trainer who is either trying to get from 8% to 5% BF a few months before competition or that extra 5-10 lbs of muscle on top of the existing hundred pounds of muscle...

 

Hungry = Eat...

 

Workout = Eat...before and after...

 

I only say this because the basic principles of nutrition and fitness (i.e., don't eat crap, don't eat too much, and exercise regularly) will create such drastic changes to the average person who didn't take care of himself before that these small adjustments to pre- and post- workout nutrition will make a negligible difference.

 

But good info nonetheless.

[Feelin Frisky]

I swim but only at the end of a work out. I find it really works well on one's "love handles" around the sides of the torso. Of course there is the type of overhand straight swimming that I mostly do and other things that are much more sternuous like breast stroke and "butterfly" or strokes that seem like they're gonna drown me like the back stroke which I don't do. (Ihate when these Olympic wannabes jump in the pool at Bally Total fitness and roil the entire pool with the butterfly.) But I do 40 or so laps and I can feel my arms reach out and my lower body flexing in the oppsite direction and it does indeed over time tighten up the waist size, especially in the sides toward the back.

[tman666]

Tman, this is some interesting and good information, and something I think I'm going to experiment with...but in my opinion, most of this stuff won't make a hoot of difference to the average person and would apply more aptly to the elite trainer who is either trying to get from 8% to 5% BF a few months before competition or that extra 5-10 lbs of muscle on top of the existing hundred pounds of muscle...

 

Hungry = Eat...

 

Workout = Eat...before and after...

 

I only say this because the basic principles of nutrition and fitness (i.e., don't eat crap, don't eat too much, and exercise regularly) will create such drastic changes to the average person who didn't take care of himself before that these small adjustments to pre- and post- workout nutrition will make a negligible difference.

 

But good info nonetheless.

 

QFT. Another classic newbie pitfall is getting too wrapped around the axle with the little details. Thanks for posting that.

[marsle85]

As a competitive swimmer, I can tell you- IT WORKS. My season is 6 months long, and I easily drop 20+ lbs in that time, plus beyond that, you're toned and tight.

 

Loveee swimming.

[Gemmi]

Ok Ok, fine. I can see you're a little jealous, but there's no need to frown!

 

Here's my secret:

 

 

 

Lol....thanks x

[tman666]

Gemmi,

 

Please understand that my smart-alec-y posts were not directed at you. There was a troll (Strongman2) who's posts have since been removed. I made the mistake of not ignoring him outright.

 

Just didn't want you to think that I had some sort of strange mental deficiency.