one of the benefits i received after getting into masters after a 20 year retirement was meeting a new doc (not only does he swim he's placed at nats) and getting a solid understanding of my triglycerides and cholesterol.
with my current shoulder issue i've been unable to train at all. while i have cut back my diet some prevent becoming a balloon, i still love my Blue Bell ice cream.
however, even taking the best meds like Tricore 150 and Crestor, my blood work from last week showed that
*N O T H I N G* !!!
beats going 4k a day 6 days a week.
taking the meds exactly as i should (i cant even remember the last time i missed just 1 day) my levels are right back up to where they were.
my cholesterol is borderline bad. between 195 and 205.
my triglycerides are another story. always have been. think of a number that is high and well double that. or triple it.
but with swimming, i seem to burn it all off. both the cholesterol and the triglycerides.
with swimming my numbers are low. 150chol and 120tri
i have now direct proof that swimming is good for me! well, at least my blood and heart. i kinda seem to tear up other parts of my body as i train to race these other guys that arent as short as i am. :D
steve
Swimming is great for overall fitness and keeping those lab numbers in check.
As I have said before,exercise is the best natural antidepressant,anxiolytic,and stress reducer.If you have an exercise you love,you are more likely to do it regularly,and swimming is just wonderful!
Swimming is great for overall fitness and keeping those lab numbers in check.
As I have said before,exercise is the best natural antidepressant,anxiolytic,and stress reducer.If you have an exercise you love,you are more likely to do it regularly,and swimming is just wonderful!
Interesting that the last few posts have talked a little about mental well-being. My family has been dealing with some stressful situations for the past few months and while my sister has her regularly-scheduled therapy sessions, adding some long bike rides (as well as regular swim practices) has done a lot to help me cope. Swimming is great of course, but all the "good" pools here are indoor and there is something about being out in the sun, especially with pretty landscapes (and an elevated heart-rate), that is very healing.
Swimming improves my mental health. On my fridge I've posted a reminder to myself: You're only a workout away from a better mood.
I may need that as a first tatoo. So right!
When I wake up in the morning, I do NOT feel 51; it's more like 71, because all my physical (mostly genetic) issues; the latest being herniated disks, bone spurs, scoliosis, and degenerative disk and joint disease in my neck. But, after a few hundred yards of swimming, I loosen up and I feel my age drop. By the end of a training session, I feel HALF my age! :bliss:
Some Forumites think swimming 6days/week is too much, but, for me, it's a necessity. And, on my day off? I'm cranky! :bitching:
Thankfully, in addition to the PT, the orthopedic surgeon I consulted with about my neck said, "Keep on swimming! Just keep on swimming!! He sounded like Dory in Finding Nemo... :D
Mental and physical health are much better with swimming. Then again, it helped to cause my malnutrition/5 day hospital stint/6 weeks on TPN because I was chasing the Olympic title against the men in a challenge our center had. LOL. Everybody deserves to do something crazy in their life. Hee hee. The thing is, I've found the mental and physical rewards overall to be so much better with swimming than without. My HDL (the good cholesterol) is higher than my weight. No joke ... but then again my diet to support what I do in the pool (and a few other things) is very different than the stuff I ate 2 years ago. I can zone out in the water, you can't hear, so I can do fitness runs and just think, pray, do whatever. I wouldn't trade it for the world. Then again, the smack we have against each other on our masters' group is something fun to live for. The banter can make it worth it too! I don't think our coach would agree though. LOL. Poor thing!
