The other day, as I was being thrashed by a heavy lap swimmer, I once again pondered the difference between a swimmers body and a runners body. I have seen quite a few husky guys, carrying quite a bit of extra weight, who are also very good swimmers. On the other hand, you won't see runners who are carrying extra weight (unless they have just begun running). I think that there maybe a chicken-egg thing here (heavier guys tend not to go in for distance running) but I think that there are other considerations. One of them is that swimming tends to arouse appetite while running tends to suppress appetite.
Having said all that, I just can't yearn for a runners body, even though I would love to drop 5 kgs. I just do not want a body with no arms or shoulders. Also, maybe it's me, but this guy looks like an anorexic model:
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The parallel is that--to borrow your words--Michael Phelps' accomplishments are "not realistic" to most swimmers, either, but that doesn't make us pooh-pooh them. Besides, who are we to say that achieving six-pack abs is somehow a less worthy achievement than swimming up and down a pool really fast? The bottom line is I can't understand why you consider this to be an unhealthy look.
The parallel is that--to borrow your words--Michael Phelps' accomplishments are "not realistic" to most swimmers, either, but that doesn't make us pooh-pooh them. Besides, who are we to say that achieving six-pack abs is somehow a less worthy achievement than swimming up and down a pool really fast? The bottom line is I can't understand why you consider this to be an unhealthy look.
