Swimming

wosheen

Hi all

I saw some old posts from a few years ago re: swimming but, rather than dredge up old threads, I'm starting a new one to get current thinking on it.

I had back surgery 3+ months ago and, before that, I was pretty fit - running, cycling, horseriding, gym, etc. I've been laid up for the last 3 months and I'm eager to build my fitness and tone up again. I can't run at the moment (too jarring on my spine), but my doctor said swimming is good exercise, so I'm giving it a go. I used to swim a lot as a child, and I'm enjoying getting back into it - doing my laps before work also gets me going for the day. I can do 50 laps in about 40 min - not particularly fast, I realise, but a decent speed considering I'm only returning to fitness.

I've read a lot of conflicting info about the benefits of swimming however - i.e. some people swear by it, and others say that it isn't very good for losing weight and toning up, just cardiovascular health, unless I am really pushing myself to the limit - no breaks, 80 laps etc. The alternative for me would be to walk or cycle, but I just think swimming is a better "total body" workout and I may see results faster... Thoughts?? Thanks in advance for any advice / experience out there!

Nwm2

wosheen wrote: »

Hi all

I saw some old posts from a few years ago re: swimming but, rather than dredge up old threads, I'm starting a new one to get current thinking on it.

I had back surgery 3+ months ago and, before that, I was pretty fit - running, cycling, horseriding, gym, etc. I've been laid up for the last 3 months and I'm eager to build my fitness and tone up again. I can't run at the moment (too jarring on my spine), but my doctor said swimming is good exercise, so I'm giving it a go. I used to swim a lot as a child, and I'm enjoying getting back into it - doing my laps before work also gets me going for the day. I can do 50 laps in about 40 min - not particularly fast, I realise, but a decent speed considering I'm only returning to fitness.

I've read a lot of conflicting info about the benefits of swimming however - i.e. some people swear by it, and others say that it isn't very good for losing weight and toning up, just cardiovascular health, unless I am really pushing myself to the limit - no breaks, 80 laps etc. The alternative for me would be to walk or cycle, but I just think swimming is a better "total body" workout and I may see results faster... Thoughts?? Thanks in advance for any advice / experience out there!

A lot of fat people swim regularly. For example, I often seen quite overweight older women (usually) breaststroking length after length after length. The extra fat keeps them very buoyant, so they don't need forward speed to keep from sinking. So it is the CV equivalent of a slow stroll, with similar results.

Competitive swimmers, on the other hand, are extremely fit, well muscled and lean, and have to consume large amounts of calories just to not lose weight.

The difference is that competitive swimmers swim HARD, in relatively short intervals (100m repeats, 400m repeats etc), and swim LOTS (many many thousands of metres per week).

Many lesser swimmers can't get the full benefit of swimming because they can't breathe properly, and therefore the lack of oxygen limits the exercise benefits. This does not look like it will be your problem.

Once you take a few weeks to get your technique back, and get your shoulders etc used to the strain, swimming is great exercise if you swim hard.

You are doing about 3:10 minutes/100m right now, probably in one long chunk. That's pretty slow alright. But what is your best 100m time (all out sprint)? I bet you're pretty wrecked after one of those. Now add 10-20 seconds onto that 100m time (ie slow down a bit) and swim 10-15 of them holding that pace, giving yourself 10-20 seconds rest between 100m intervals. That's the kind of swim workout that will give you great benefits.

Cycling is great too.

miajen

first of all well done on getting back to fitness, its not easy getting back to it but when your motivated..... well you know,
id recommend adding some variety... stick to front crawl but just use a kick board and do legs only for lets say 10 lenghts, then get a pull buoy put it between your legs and do arms only, then do 10 full stroke lenghts - arms and legs, try interval fast lenghts followed by 2 slow lenghts then burst into fast lenghts again,

just a few suggestions.

enjoy.
Rossie girl:-)

Hanley

Nwm2 wrote: »

A lot of fat people swim regularly. For example, I often seen quite overweight older women (usually) breaststroking length after length after length. The extra fat keeps them very buoyant, so they don't need forward speed to keep from sinking. So it is the CV equivalent of a slow stroll, with similar results.

Competitive swimmers, on the other hand, are extremely fit, well muscled and lean, and have to consume large amounts of calories just to not lose weight.

The difference is that competitive swimmers swim HARD, in relatively short intervals (100m repeats, 400m repeats etc), and swim LOTS (many many thousands of metres per week).

Many lesser swimmers can't get the full benefit of swimming because they can't breathe properly, and therefore the lack of oxygen limits the exercise benefits. This does not look like it will be your problem.

Once you take a few weeks to get your technique back, and get your shoulders etc used to the strain, swimming is great exercise if you swim hard.

You are doing about 3:10 minutes/50m right now, probably in one long chunk. That's pretty slow alright. But what is your best 100m time (all out sprint)? I bet you're pretty wrecked after one of those. Now add 10-20 seconds onto that 100m time (ie slow down a bit) and swim 10-15 of them holding that pace, giving yourself 10-20 seconds rest between 100m intervals. That's the kind of swim workout that will give you great benefits.

Cycling is great too.

Good post.

Most people can't use swimming as a good kcal/fat burner because they're not good enough swimmers. If you're comfortable in the water and have good skill and experience, and enjoy it, go for it.

Any kcals extra burned by jogging/running would be marginal anyway. A couple of hundred at most over the course of an hour. Which is like a slice or two of bread.

The best way to manipulate kcals for weight loss is thru diet, not be just doing more exercise.

wosheen

Thanks for the great ideas and advice, really appreciate it.

I will definitely time myself doing a 100m sprint (as best as I can given my back) and then add 20 seconds to that time and try to keep to that pace - I'll build the speed over the next few weeks. And i was taking breaks every 50m, so I'll try to keep it to 100m - better practice the old "flip turn" at the end of the pool again! My technique would be decent, but it's a very good point about getting enough oxygen or else the exercise will be anaerobic rather than aerobic - I'll try to focus on that this week as well.

Also good idea to mix it up - I was doing breaststroke and forward crawl, but I'll add in backstroke and perhaps side crawl (though it's not fast, might work different muscles at least). Legs only & arms only too. Mixing it up will keep it interesting.

Glad to hear that, if I keep to a good pace, I'll almost be burning the same kcals as jogging - I was worried the swimming was significantly less. I've started to look at my diet too.

Hoping to get a bicycle through the "Bike to Work" scheme (if that's still going?!) so I can cycle to work and to the gym, will hopefully go well with the swimming to getting me fit again! And, when the back is in better health and I can run again, I'd love to try a triathalon - but seeing as I'm still only recovering, first things first!!

Thanks again for all the ideas

AntiVirus

The problem with a lot of people when swimming is they think they've had a good workout because they're out of breath after swimming 100 metres. Try doing an exercise where you're not breathing naturally and you're going to have a poor workout.

If you're swimming to loss weight get yourself a Swimmer's Snorkel this will allow you to breath naturally and get a proper workout done. You'll go from doing 4 lenghts to 40 lenghts in one go.

http://www.gizmag.com/go/6131/

Animord

I swim every day, I do between 1200 and 1600 meters over about 45/50 minutes. I am not doing it very fast, but I tend to just keep going...in fact I am probably exactly who NWM2 is referring to

I am definitely fitter and my flexibility is improved. I do tend to do a few faster laps and I try to get more leg work done by swimming as far as I can underwater - half a length of the pool. (I love swimming underwater).

I do think its a great all round excercise, particuarly if you have had an injury.

wosheen

Thanks for the idea AntiVirus, I saw someone else using a swim snorkel the other day. I think for now, however, I'll work on my own technique to finetune the correct stroke/breathing rhythm. If I use a snorkel now, I might get lazy and not work on improving my swimming technique as much.

Nwm2, I tried what you said this week - time myself sprinting 100m - was limited by pain in my back, but did it in 1:45min so that is considerably faster than the 3:10 I was paddling along at before. In the following sessions I comfortably did 2:00min/100m front crawl and was out of breath but not totally banjaxed. Will focus on this speed for the next few weeks.

Animord, good to hear that swimming helps you with fitness and flexibility even as a "non-sprinting" swimmer! On the days when my back is sore and I can't go very fast, it's good to know i'll at least be increasing my all-around fitness with a dip in the pool

BillieBob

If you can manage it, time-wise and location-wise, I'd definitely recommend joining a masters swimming club or early morning swim club sessions. I find it definitely makes it easier, you do more per session (I went from doing around 1500m on my own to up to c. 2300m) and you go quicker as you progress/get fitter (move up the lanes and do faster sets). Plus it's more enjoyable swimming with other people (god knows it can get boring at times on your own). Post on the Swimming forum if you want to get more info.

Mellor

Nwm2 wrote: »

Many lesser swimmers can't get the full benefit of swimming because they can't breathe properly, and therefore the lack of oxygen limits the exercise benefits. This does not look like it will be your problem.

+1
Yeah, that's exactly what I always say. People just aren't good enough swimmers.
I'm sure juggling care burn lots of calories if you are good at it, but for 99% of the population its not an option.