OK, the title is, I'll admit, a little dramatic.
I went through body composition testing today. It was as bad as I expected it to be after 16 years of inactivity:
Weight: 212lbs
Body fat 32% or 68lbs
The machine also measured my resting metabolic rate at 1820kcal/day.
I figured out that it I don't gain an ounce of muscle I have to loose 42 to 48lbs in order to get to a 12% to 15% body fat range.
Now I need a good estimate of caloric output during swimming. Last session I swam about 2000y in 90min. I need to translate that into kcal per workout so that I can figure out the rest.
Does anyone know of any articles/sources on the caloric output measurement during an activity like swimming? I know about the myriad of websites with estimating calculators. I am after actual measurement if at all possible.
I wonder if it is as simple as using a really precise scale. Since 3500 calories is 1 pound it stands to reason that you might be able to measure calories burned by simply having a really good weight comparison before and after. A scale with repeatability of 0.1lbs or better might be all you need. In this case, 0.1lbs would be about 350 calories.
I wonder if it is as simple as using a really precise scale. Since 3500 calories is 1 pound it stands to reason that you might be able to measure calories burned by simply having a really good weight comparison before and after. A scale with repeatability of 0.1lbs or better might be all you need. In this case, 0.1lbs would be about 350 calories.In theory, yes but in a real practical world, no. Even if the initial state of your body before working out was negligible (I don't think it would be), you are at best going to burn about 900 calories or less than .3 pounds by your calculations. That's about 5 oz of water which could easily be accounted for by water still in your hair/ears/swallowed from the workout.
I'd just weigh yourself weekly (or daily if you want to... I do) to look at overall long term trends. Adjust your food intake/exercise balance to obtain the results you want. Be careful about dropping it all too fast. As you say, it is a long road.
The scale is a good idea, but I don't think it will work. You sweat while you're swimming, so you loose water weight.
You can find various estimates of calories burned on www.livestrong.com/.../. The estimates range from 400-650 calories per hour, depending on the level of intensity.
My :2cents::
- Gradually begin a strength training program. Adding muscle mass will result in more calories burned over time.
- Gradually begin increasing the amount of aerobic training that you do. Treadmill running/jogging, cycling on a trainer, swimming etc. Although I have no scientific evidence to support it, I have found that when my aerobic exercise length exceeds 60 mins continuous, the lbs melt off.
- Mix in some speed work (25s and 50s) with varying amounts of rest to reduce the sheer boredom of aerobic-only training.
- Focus on technique to avoid injuries to knees (running), shoulders (swimming), etc.
My :2cents::
- Gradually begin a strength training program. Adding muscle mass will result in more calories burned over time.
- Gradually begin increasing the amount of aerobic training that you do. Treadmill running/jogging, cycling on a trainer, swimming etc. Although I have no scientific evidence to support it, I have found that when my aerobic exercise length exceeds 60 mins continuous, the lbs melt off.
- Mix in some speed work (25s and 50s) with varying amounts of rest to reduce the sheer boredom of aerobic-only training.
- Focus on technique to avoid injuries to knees (running), shoulders (swimming), etc.
Well, I just started swimming 90 minutes per day, five days a week.
I am going to add weight lifting to that as well. Maybe two or three days a week. Probably in the evenings.
There would be two rest days per week.
I would think that this coupled with a low-carb reduced calorie diet should do it.
BTW, in case anyone is interested, this is the machine I used to get tested:
www.cosmed.com/index.php
It took about 5 minutes. It's supposed to be really accurate.
Strength training, strength training, strength training!!!!
Build muscle=burn calories.
Each lb of fat requires about 5 calories/day to maintain. Each lb of muscle requires about 60 calories/day to maintain. Build 10 lbs of muscle mass and that is like biking for an hour every day.
Body fat measures are also notoriously inaccurate... If you eat 1500ish calories a day and exercise like you do plus throw in some weight lifting you will lose weight.
Body fat measures are also notoriously inaccurate... If you eat 1500ish calories a day and exercise like you do plus throw in some weight lifting you will lose weight.
Well, I am not taking anything as an absolute. I am more interested in relative changes.
Two personal observations that may assist
I had long periods away from swimming. Each time I returned I found my weight would drop very quickly at the start ( losing fat - water ? ) and then gradually increase, I assume as muscle mass was built up. Remember there will be a trade off in terms of losing weight but still acquiring muscle and it may be difficult to pinpoint which is predominating
Secondly , one of my swim buddies is a surgeon and she reckons a fit female master is carrying about 8 lbs of additional muscle mass - she advises us to monitor clothing fit as a measure of progress rather than the scales which can be misleading if weight is looked at in absolute terms against normal height/weight charts
