Increasing my weekly yardage seems to have increased my hunger. How can I determine the calories really expended during swims of various lengths or intensities?
And when the office hits the all-you-can-eat lunch buffet, how many laps equate to that second or third serving? (Not giving up the food can justify extra time in the pool!)
Parents
Former Member
Actually, an inefficient swimmer, in fact ANY swimmer, can become very well conditioned to do whatever it is they do for very long periods of time. The Really Poor Swimmer who uses his whole body to thrash lots of water in all directions while swimming slowly for an hour can burn fully as much energy as the Really Good Swimmer who uses his whole body to propel himself smoothly through the water for an hour.
Conditioning level has little to do with skill level. As long as the Really Poor Swimmer has sufficient skills to keep going, he can develope conditioning every bit as good as the Really Good swimmer.
I know swimmers that are very inefficient but have conditioned the muscles they use for their poor skills such that they can go for very long durations at Anaerobic Threshold (which is the highest intensity the body is capable of sustaining for a long duration). We call this "swimming like a back-of-the-pack triathlete". It's not pretty but they can do it all day long (and manage to spend most all of their energy doing it).
Actually, an inefficient swimmer, in fact ANY swimmer, can become very well conditioned to do whatever it is they do for very long periods of time. The Really Poor Swimmer who uses his whole body to thrash lots of water in all directions while swimming slowly for an hour can burn fully as much energy as the Really Good Swimmer who uses his whole body to propel himself smoothly through the water for an hour.
Conditioning level has little to do with skill level. As long as the Really Poor Swimmer has sufficient skills to keep going, he can develope conditioning every bit as good as the Really Good swimmer.
I know swimmers that are very inefficient but have conditioned the muscles they use for their poor skills such that they can go for very long durations at Anaerobic Threshold (which is the highest intensity the body is capable of sustaining for a long duration). We call this "swimming like a back-of-the-pack triathlete". It's not pretty but they can do it all day long (and manage to spend most all of their energy doing it).
