I recently had a doctor's appointment and found out i was 180 lbs!!!! Okay, I dont' LOOK that fat but apparently I am. What kinda workouts shoudl I do to get rid of this and total amount of yardage per day? Also eating habits?
Long slow intervals are the best for burning fat during the workout. That they are best for weight loss,is a common misconception spread by many Health Clubs. If you swim faster you will burn more calories. These calories will be primarily from carbs during the workout,but in the recovery your body will replace them from fat(or from the extra Big Mac and fries) This is complicated by the fact that you need to replace glycogen with carbs and a little protein after a hard workout or your muscles will suffer. None the les, the fastest way to burn off extra fat is harder exercise.
I don't think it is right to refer to BMI for swimming.
You just have to find the ideal weight where you feel best in the water.
If your goal is to loose weight and reduce fat, the best training would be swimming mornings and late afternoons about 3k-4k metres per practice everyday with a proper diet... Eating AFTER practices and not before. To loose fat you should stay away from sugars and pasta type things (i.e: anything with sugar, bread, patatoes, pasta.. etc..) and fat. I have lost about 15 pounds in 3 weeks this way and I feel perfectly well.
Concentrate on having long swimming sets with low intervals like everyone pointed out.
Originally posted by mark_varney47
You need to look at your BMI rather than just your weight on it's own.BMI=Body Mass Index.A BMI of 20-23 is okay for guys.:D
I hate the BMI scale. It's completely wrong for athletes. When I was in swimming college (D1), I was close to being considered overweight on the BMI scale because I had muscle. For example take a man who's 6'2", 210 lbs is considered overweight - 27 on the BMI scale.
As for losing fat - aerobic workouts are the way to go. Lots of yardage. Get that heart rate up and keep it up for extended periods of time. How much fat you want to lose is up to how hard you want to work. In my experience doing around 12k-15k (5 days per week) yards per day will get you down around 6-8% body fat usually. 6k (5 days per week) yards per day will get you to around 10-12% fat. This is assumming a somewhat healthy diet. With a healthy diet I would assume you could get a lower body fat % and/or have to swim less yards. I've never been a really healthy eater (eat fast food about 1-2 times a week). But I try to get in around 5k-6k yards four times a week and my body fat has stayed around 11%-12% the past few years.
Originally posted by geochuck
180 is not much I'm 270 I guess I had better do lots of Slow interval training.
George www.swimdownhill.com
180 is a lot if you're 3 feet tall. All depends on height and muscle mass.
I'm 5'11 and in the 190 range....I dont look 190 either, and I just recently started running. It's helped me in the past, I was a hard core swimmer in high school and a few years ago, but i can't seem to make it in to a pool full of screaming kids during the day so I am trying to make myself startout with a mile or so a day. So far it seems to be helping. I would like someday to get down to 160. Seems like a way's off. Since i haven't been at that weight since high school.
Good Luck.
It is weird but I would like to GAIN some weight(muscles).Wanna share?I am 6'1'', 162 lb., all muscles(you can study all muscles groups on me), but I think I am too light, so I am working on gaining some muscles, but find it hard to do ...So, GEOCHUK I will take about 20 lb of your 270.How does that sound?:-)))
