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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Originally posted by laineybug
You have to choose: swimming, slow or swimming, fast; then enter the length of time of the swim. Well, now, 1) would you consider a typical workout posted on this site slow or fast, and 2) should you subtract the brief rest intervals in the workouts from the total swim time?
Lainey
I think that what is important is not whether you swim slow or fast, but rather how much effort you put into it. Swimming 200 free in 3:30 might be no big deal for some people, but for me it would be pretty much maximum effort. Also, it depends on what stroke (or strokes) you are swimming. A workout that has a lot of fly, *** (competition style), and IMs in it will probably be done somewhat more slowly than an all freestyle workout but will require a lot more effort. Somebody who just floats up and down the pool might not be putting any effort into it whatsoever - if you spend 20 minutes "swimming" 200 yards, you are probably not going to take off any weight.
I don't think I would worry about the short rest times - it is the effort as well as the time that counts imho.
Originally posted by laineybug
You have to choose: swimming, slow or swimming, fast; then enter the length of time of the swim. Well, now, 1) would you consider a typical workout posted on this site slow or fast, and 2) should you subtract the brief rest intervals in the workouts from the total swim time?
Lainey
I think that what is important is not whether you swim slow or fast, but rather how much effort you put into it. Swimming 200 free in 3:30 might be no big deal for some people, but for me it would be pretty much maximum effort. Also, it depends on what stroke (or strokes) you are swimming. A workout that has a lot of fly, *** (competition style), and IMs in it will probably be done somewhat more slowly than an all freestyle workout but will require a lot more effort. Somebody who just floats up and down the pool might not be putting any effort into it whatsoever - if you spend 20 minutes "swimming" 200 yards, you are probably not going to take off any weight.
I don't think I would worry about the short rest times - it is the effort as well as the time that counts imho.
