Are high yardage/slow aerobic swims a good method? Even the best method?
Sorry, I'm sure this topic has been covered numerous times. I've been away from the forums and the pool for a while. And I've packed on some pounds.
I just got back in the pool the other day after a 6-9 month layoff and have no immediate ambition to compete again. I'm thinking a realistic goal is to complete a 5k this summer and just focus on getting back in shape and not worry so much about the clock and sets and such. Figure I will get too frustrated and just want to swim just to swim for now.
When I was training and competing for a few years in Masters I never got too far above 2000 yards but would do hard sets (for me) of 15x100, etc.. Would I actually lose more weight if I instead swam 3-4k yards of just lap swimming?
....Also, I just read in my swimmer that Leslie Livingston has given up weights and dryland. Isn't that a complete 180?
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to weight loss. Some people respond to exercise; some to diet; some to both; some to neither. Almost everybody has a range of maybe 7-12 lb. that our internal systems of weight regulation defends with a remarkable degree of vigor. Increase your activity loads dramatically, and your appetite will go up to compensate. Decrease your food intake, and your metabolism will slow down to compensate for that. Unlike desire and willpower, these internal mechanisms are relentless and work 24/7 to keep you in your range. That's why the stats on recidivism--i.e., people successfully lose weight, only to regain it all back--are so grim. The best studies on intensive lifestyle intervention have shown that only about 30 percent of people can maintain a 5% decrease in body weight over two years.
Obviously, there are people like Stewart who respond exceptionally well to the combination of swimming and a healthier diet. But it's also quite likely that he is being helped in his quest by genetic factors that allow him to respond so well. Not everyone has these. There are a host of other putative contributors to weight gain that are largely out of a person's control--for instance, if you were either a very low or very high birth weight baby, or your mother was obese when she had you, the odds of you being heavy as an adult go up significantly. (Interestingly, if your formerly obese mother has bariatric surgery and loses weight before she has your sibling, that child is not so likely to become obese.)
It's all a bewilderingly complex business, and regardless of its impact on your weight, swimming is going to be good for you in a multitude of ways. I know it's hard advice to accept, but if you can focus more on how you feel than how you look, you will realize swimming is its own reward!
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to weight loss. Some people respond to exercise; some to diet; some to both; some to neither. Almost everybody has a range of maybe 7-12 lb. that our internal systems of weight regulation defends with a remarkable degree of vigor. Increase your activity loads dramatically, and your appetite will go up to compensate. Decrease your food intake, and your metabolism will slow down to compensate for that. Unlike desire and willpower, these internal mechanisms are relentless and work 24/7 to keep you in your range. That's why the stats on recidivism--i.e., people successfully lose weight, only to regain it all back--are so grim. The best studies on intensive lifestyle intervention have shown that only about 30 percent of people can maintain a 5% decrease in body weight over two years.
Obviously, there are people like Stewart who respond exceptionally well to the combination of swimming and a healthier diet. But it's also quite likely that he is being helped in his quest by genetic factors that allow him to respond so well. Not everyone has these. There are a host of other putative contributors to weight gain that are largely out of a person's control--for instance, if you were either a very low or very high birth weight baby, or your mother was obese when she had you, the odds of you being heavy as an adult go up significantly. (Interestingly, if your formerly obese mother has bariatric surgery and loses weight before she has your sibling, that child is not so likely to become obese.)
It's all a bewilderingly complex business, and regardless of its impact on your weight, swimming is going to be good for you in a multitude of ways. I know it's hard advice to accept, but if you can focus more on how you feel than how you look, you will realize swimming is its own reward!
