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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Probably what would help my time the most would be to practice the 25,000 - 30,000 yards/meters /wk instead of the 12,000 - 15,000 I swim now. That and adding 40 lbs of muscle, like Billy (that's what the guys who swam with him in NJ call him.) Snacks have relatively little to do with it . . . except,
I feel it in my 'gut' that if I doubled my swim distance I would need at least two more snacks to maintain weight (these would occur at 10:00 am and 5:30 pm.) That is, I think, about 600 calories, and consistent with the discussions in this thread. Thus, if I added only *one* snack, I could be a successful dieter.
See people, losing weight is easy and can be fun!
;)
Probably what would help my time the most would be to practice the 25,000 - 30,000 yards/meters /wk instead of the 12,000 - 15,000 I swim now. That and adding 40 lbs of muscle, like Billy (that's what the guys who swam with him in NJ call him.) Snacks have relatively little to do with it . . . except,
I feel it in my 'gut' that if I doubled my swim distance I would need at least two more snacks to maintain weight (these would occur at 10:00 am and 5:30 pm.) That is, I think, about 600 calories, and consistent with the discussions in this thread. Thus, if I added only *one* snack, I could be a successful dieter.
See people, losing weight is easy and can be fun!
;)
