Hi All,
I am new to swimming (my swimmer wife and son both tell me my form is horrible, etc) but I absolutely love it and I feel like it is one of the most complete workout routines Ive ever done. I am working to increase my training times, distances etc and I am really feeling the burn in my muscles but its the good kind of burn you get when you know things are heading in the right direction!
What I want to know is if I keep swimming will I see some good results in terms of getting slim and trim or will I need to incorporate other dry-land exercises into my routine? I know it wouldn't hurt but if I can get through with doing my entire exercise through swimming I want to go that route.
Just curious if anyone has any transformation stories or input on this subject. I look forward to anything you can add. I feel like Ive found a new avenue in my life for staying in shape and I dont know enough other people who swim to talk about it with anyone.
Thanks
~J
I used to be a competitive swimmer and a competitive gymnast (rings & high bar was my thing) when I was a little kid. But then I quit when I went into middle school and was overweight through high school. After my first year in college, I fell victim to the infamous Freshman 15. I started doing masters swim in my second year and lost a pretty good 20 pounds in a couple of months. I also started doing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in my third year and am currently active in both masters swim and BJJ. I am in really great shape and really enjoy all my workouts. When I first started masters swim, I can barely swim 1000 m per workout. Now, I usually swim 4000-5000 m per workout with at least 1000 m being butterfly. We all had to start from somewhere when it comes to getting back in shape. It definitely brings great results!
All the testimonials you have read are great and very meaningful. I would just like to add that it is very important that you get some good coaching advice on your stroke. You will not get better solely by swimming more. And you run the risk of a typical swimming injury by continued poor form. Your current stroke faults "feel good to you". It's not eazy to change but not getting coaching on mechanics will make it almost impossible. One of the great things about swimming is we can get much faster through stroke improvements, something that's not nearly as eazy to do in other sports.
I used to be a competitive swimmer and a competitive gymnast (rings & high bar was my thing) when I was a little kid. But then I quit when I went into middle school and was overweight through high school. After my first year in college, I fell victim to the infamous Freshman 15. I started doing masters swim in my second year and lost a pretty good 20 pounds in a couple of months. I also started doing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in my third year and am currently active in both masters swim and BJJ. I am in really great shape and really enjoy all my workouts. When I first started masters swim, I can barely swim 1000 m per workout. Now, I usually swim 4000-5000 m per workout with at least 1000 m being butterfly. We all had to start from somewhere when it comes to getting back in shape. It definitely brings great results!
All the testimonials you have read are great and very meaningful. I would just like to add that it is very important that you get some good coaching advice on your stroke. You will not get better solely by swimming more. And you run the risk of a typical swimming injury by continued poor form. Your current stroke faults "feel good to you". It's not eazy to change but not getting coaching on mechanics will make it almost impossible. One of the great things about swimming is we can get much faster through stroke improvements, something that's not nearly as eazy to do in other sports.
