Dan,
I have a trouble swimming long distances in salt water - my throat gets very raw. So, although I am not trying to sip the water, I obviously do ingest more than I should. So, to amend my post, drinking the water only applies to fresh water. :)Sea water is not unlike gatorade, with phytoplankton boost in nutrients.
No one is gonna like me saying this, but most masters athletes are not burning anywhere near the calories they think they are. Most are probably burning 200-250 calories per hour max. To burn the kind of calories the olympians report, you have to be running your heart rate in the 165-180 range for the better part of 2 hours in each practice where they are covering 16-20,000 yards/day.
I've wondered about this quite a bit recently. The workout computer on the stationary bike at the gym reports that I burn ~320 calories in half-hour session. I wonder how accurate this is. (Multiple bikes produce similar results.) That would translate to well over 600 calories per hour, which is a lot if the chart on the wall that compares the calorie consumption rate of various activities can be believed. It "feel like" I work harder than that in most pool workouts, but a calorie consumption rate >600/hour doesn't sound believable. Of course I do take set breaks during a 80-90 minute swim workout so I'm not running at that rate 100% of the time, but in a 90 minute workout at least some days I would be running hot for 75-80 minutes. Of course it has been months since I have been able to do this on account of life getting in the way... grrrrrr.
I am just saying that swimming with your heart rate in the 100-120 range is not going to burn alot of calories.
I'm guessing most swimmers training seriously are getting their heart rate well above that range!
Go for it and report back to us on your results. :)
Hmmm, well I do it all the time, inadvertently. Small sips. I would say it’s not terribly thirst-quenching.
I've wondered about this quite a bit recently. The workout computer on the stationary bike at the gym reports that I burn ~320 calories in half-hour session. I wonder how accurate this is. (Multiple bikes produce similar results.) That would translate to well over 600 calories per hour, which is a lot if the chart on the wall that compares the calorie consumption rate of various activities can be believed. It "feel like" I work harder than that in most pool workouts, but a calorie consumption rate >600/hour doesn't sound believable. Of course I do take set breaks during a 80-90 minute swim workout so I'm not running at that rate 100% of the time, but in a 90 minute workout at least some days I would be running hot for 75-80 minutes. Of course it has been months since I have been able to do this on account of life getting in the way... grrrrrr.
Since I've had my Apple Watch, I keep an eye on the estimated calories burned. I'm typically around 100 calories per 500-600 yards.
I took a look at my average heart rate from my last week of workouts. It is typically 130-140. Even allowing for an error rate, that's still well over 110. Plus that's the average, so some is less/some is more.
I mostly don't worry about heart rate when I swim after using the treadmill and/or lifting. My HR is already up high, so even an easy swim will record a HR of 150+.
As for drinking water that you swim in...I'd be cautious if swimming in a lake. There was one o/w swim at a lake in Arizona where many people got sick and the race organizers contacted everyone and advised them to see a doctor. Giardia seems to be an increasing problem with lake water.
Since I've had my Apple Watch, I keep an eye on the estimated calories burned. I'm typically around 100 calories per 500-600 yards.
Wow, that would be close to 800 Cal/hour since. Do you believe that?
I took a look at my average heart rate from my last week of workouts. It is typically 130-140. Even allowing for an error rate, that's still well over 110. Plus that's the average, so some is less/some is more.
I mostly don't worry about heart rate when I swim after using the treadmill and/or lifting. My HR is already up high, so even an easy swim will record a HR of 150+.
Agreed. 110 is low. 130-140 doing aerobic stuff and 150+ to possibly 170+ doing lactate stuff.
Wow, that would be close to 800 Cal/hour since. Do you believe that?
Agreed. 110 is low. 130-140 doing aerobic stuff and 150+ to possibly 170+ doing lactate stuff.
I posted the overview of my swim workout screenshot in my blog post today:
forums.usms.org/entry.php
But to answer your questions:
* for my normal workouts, I probably get in 3500 yards/hour. If the watch tells me 700 calories, I'd guess around 550 from just swimming. so I don't think the watch gives me a 100% accurate measurement. I subtract about 10%.
* most masters swimmers probably average a HR of 130 for normal workouts. of course recovery, drills, swim yoga, etc. would probably be lower. some more advanced swimmers probably get that up to 160+, while others may indeed by closer to 110. there's more to HR than just the workout though, there could be physical/medical conditions to take into account.
