I saw this article online and it really dampen my spirit since swimming is my favorite sport and I am trying to loose weight at the same time. Any comment??
SWIMMING IS NOT GOOD FOR WEIGHT LOSS
If you want to lose weight, lower cholesterol, or help to control diabetes, swimming is better than nothing, but not that much better (1).
A recent report from the University of Colorado shows that obese people who start a supervised swimming program do not lower their fasting blood sugar, insulin, total cholesterol, good HDL cholesterol and bad LDL cholesterol levels. They also did not lose weight or redistribute their body fat (2).
These results are different from people who start land-based sports such as running, aerobic dancing, racquetball and cycling. When you exercise on land, your body is surrounded by air which insulates you, causing your body to retain heat and your body temperature to rise for up to 18 hours after you finish exercising. Increased body temperature speeds up your metabolism and helps you to lose weight and lower cholesterol. On the other hand, when you swim, your body is surrounded by water which is an excellent conductor of heat away from your body, preventing your body temperature from rising. If you want to lose weight by swimming, the best way is to do it is by using a swimming machine on dry land.
I'm Dr. Gabe Mirkin on Fitness.
1) H Tanaka, DR Bassett, ET Howley. Effects of swim training on body weight, carbohydrate
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From my personal experience, swimming has helped me to go from 200 lb to 175 lb in about half a year. I try to swim about 5 days a week, 1 hour at a time... However, due to my stamina, I actually only swim about half of that time... The other time I am simply resting... :)
I find that along with swimming, and with no change in my diet (quantity and quality, however I am not a big snack/sweet person, so this is a major thing I guess), swimming is really effective for losing weight.
The reason why I think some ppl might not lose weight in swimming is:
a. Some experience a dramatic increase in appetite, and thus food consumption as well. I am lucky in that currently that doesn't happen for me. However, I remembered when I swam as a kid, the appetite definitely went up... Others think that swimming justifies more consumption of food that will lead to weight gain...excessive sweets...etc
b. because of the weight/size issue, some find it discouraging to swim in the water because of the tremendous amount of effort it takes to overcome the friction/drag, particulary if one is a beginner in swimming. Therefore, the person in question might not do, or want to do all that much when he/she is in the water, or rests too often, or both.
my 2 cents... :)
From my personal experience, swimming has helped me to go from 200 lb to 175 lb in about half a year. I try to swim about 5 days a week, 1 hour at a time... However, due to my stamina, I actually only swim about half of that time... The other time I am simply resting... :)
I find that along with swimming, and with no change in my diet (quantity and quality, however I am not a big snack/sweet person, so this is a major thing I guess), swimming is really effective for losing weight.
The reason why I think some ppl might not lose weight in swimming is:
a. Some experience a dramatic increase in appetite, and thus food consumption as well. I am lucky in that currently that doesn't happen for me. However, I remembered when I swam as a kid, the appetite definitely went up... Others think that swimming justifies more consumption of food that will lead to weight gain...excessive sweets...etc
b. because of the weight/size issue, some find it discouraging to swim in the water because of the tremendous amount of effort it takes to overcome the friction/drag, particulary if one is a beginner in swimming. Therefore, the person in question might not do, or want to do all that much when he/she is in the water, or rests too often, or both.
my 2 cents... :)
