Calories Expended?

I intended, but failed, to italicize the word "really". On my web site www.h2oustonswims.org I've got an article "Splash and the XXL Jockstrap" that gives a description of what I'd call really poor swimming. Check it out. There are several labels that I use for rough differentiation of ability levels of swimmers: Really Poor - There are some swimmers who throw their whole body into making lots water move in all directions (creating turbulence) while making very little headway. A person who does this day-in and day-out without learning better skills will attain the conditioning needed to burn loads of calories. Poor - There are some swimmers who have figured out how to eliminate a large part of the "moving water in all directions" and thus are spending less energy - but have not yet attained skills that allow them to avoid unnecessary resistance. Rhythm of motion is intermittent and there is no evident flow of momentum from one motion into the next. Good - Some swimmers have learned good resistance reduction skills but have not yet learned to use their largest core body muscles to do the majority of the work of propulsion. Also, these swimmers typically have a limited range of intensities wherein they exhibit their best skills. They are improving a sense of rhythm and beginning to demonstrate a flow of momentum from one motion to the next. At higher intensities their skills deteriorate. Better - These swimmers have learned to get most of their propulsion from core body muscles. Good rhythm and flow are evident. They have somewhat broadened the range of intensities through which they are able to hold all their skills together. Really Good - These swimmers have eliminated unnecessary motions and resistance. They have learned how to derive most of their propulsion from core body muscles and have figured out to maintain control over all these factors throughout a wide range of work intensities - from the very lowest intensities all the way up to efforts that ellicit maximal heart rates. Rhythm and flow are evident at all times and they appear to natural and almost effortless - even when working at the highest intensity levels. The two ends of the spectrum, Really Poor and Really Good, are where the swimmer has the greatest opportunities for burning maximum calories. Alas, there is a bell shaped curve with the smallest numbers of participants at both ends. Most people try, and succeed in, getting away from the Really Poor end of the curve as quickly as possible (at least if they do their swimming in public). But most never make it to the Really Good end for lack of information, instruction, feedback, time, facilities, motivation, interest or some combination thereof. BTW - I am a big proponent of swimming with fists - even in butterfly. I find that Really Good swimmers can swim most any stroke with fists at very close to their open-hand performances.

I intended, but failed, to italicize the word "really". On my web site www.h2oustonswims.org I've got an article "Splash and the XXL Jockstrap" that gives a description of what I'd call really poor swimming. Check it out. There are several labels that I use for rough differentiation of ability levels of swimmers: Really Poor - There are some swimmers who throw their whole body into making lots water move in all directions (creating turbulence) while making very little headway. A person who does this day-in and day-out without learning better skills will attain the conditioning needed to burn loads of calories. Poor - There are some swimmers who have figured out how to eliminate a large part of the "moving water in all directions" and thus are spending less energy - but have not yet attained skills that allow them to avoid unnecessary resistance. Rhythm of motion is intermittent and there is no evident flow of momentum from one motion into the next. Good - Some swimmers have learned good resistance reduction skills but have not yet learned to use their largest core body muscles to do the majority of the work of propulsion. Also, these swimmers typically have a limited range of intensities wherein they exhibit their best skills. They are improving a sense of rhythm and beginning to demonstrate a flow of momentum from one motion to the next. At higher intensities their skills deteriorate. Better - These swimmers have learned to get most of their propulsion from core body muscles. Good rhythm and flow are evident. They have somewhat broadened the range of intensities through which they are able to hold all their skills together. Really Good - These swimmers have eliminated unnecessary motions and resistance. They have learned how to derive most of their propulsion from core body muscles and have figured out to maintain control over all these factors throughout a wide range of work intensities - from the very lowest intensities all the way up to efforts that ellicit maximal heart rates. Rhythm and flow are evident at all times and they appear to natural and almost effortless - even when working at the highest intensity levels. The two ends of the spectrum, Really Poor and Really Good, are where the swimmer has the greatest opportunities for burning maximum calories. Alas, there is a bell shaped curve with the smallest numbers of participants at both ends. Most people try, and succeed in, getting away from the Really Poor end of the curve as quickly as possible (at least if they do their swimming in public). But most never make it to the Really Good end for lack of information, instruction, feedback, time, facilities, motivation, interest or some combination thereof. BTW - I am a big proponent of swimming with fists - even in butterfly. I find that Really Good swimmers can swim most any stroke with fists at very close to their open-hand performances.