What's more important: striving for maximal health/fitness and a long life or setting WRs or national records or team records in swimming?
I think the latter is overrated. I'm all for improving one's stroke and striving for PBs. Who isn't? PBs produce euphoria and pride and keep you on the path to improvement. But I wonder if restorative, technique based workouts that might help you improve in swimming and/or achieve world or local fame really help make one extremely fit or improve one's health? I think someone referred to Gary Hall as doing "sprinter" type high intensity training and doing his aerobic/strength training outside the pool, which seems perfectly sound. He's getting it all in. I think you need to get it all in and work hard. You gotta break a sweat. A lot. Frequently.
So will TI-ing your life away and looking pretty make you as fit as you can be? Isn't there something to be said for hard training? Not necessarily because it will improve your 50 free (everyone seems to agree it won't), but just to improve health, mental outlook, physical well being and keep the bod hot and the spouse interested? Plus, if you're a distance swimmer you gotta have some endurance. Talent and technique only get you so far, at least IMHO.
I just thought we were supposed to exercise more, and more intensely for optimal health.
I think this is one of those either/or questions that separate without nesserarily giving information. For me striving for excellence is part of fitness. If I didn't want to do well at Nationals I wouldn't exercise as hard. I need it to motivate me. When ever I don't want to work-out I think"I bet Bob Strand is working out,if i'm ever going to close the gap between us I'd better get out of bed." As far as I can tell,the medical studies of how much exercise is good for us are focusing at the low end of the scale. No one is really studying what is too much. Clearly if you have heart problems or an injury there is a "too much" ,but otherwise the data are not in. We in Masters Swimming are "Boldly going where no one has gone before." As I have said before my current long term goal is to set WRs in the 3 breaststrokes at Nationals in the 100-104 age group.
Swimming 5K workouts on tight intervals will not make you any healthier than swimming 1500 yd. workouts. There is a section in a book by Dr. Oz about this very subject. Exercise is great but pushing yourself to new heights is not going to make you any "healthier". I would argue that quite often, it might make one less healthy. If I recall correctly, all you really need is about 20 minutes per day of a sweat inducing exercise.
To me, health is of primary importance...there are no WR's in my future and I'm okay with that!
Matt is correct. The health benefits you refer to are achieved with moderate levels of exercise. I don't think it's clear that the more strenuous workouts many of us do (see the Blow Chow thread) translate into greater health benefits. Indeed, in patients with heart disease there is an increased risk of cardiac events with very strenuous exercise. Consequently, if you have symptoms, or a significant number of risk factors, consult your physician.
If I recall correctly, all you really need is about 20 minutes per day of a sweat inducing exercise.
I'm fine with the lack of WRs too. But I thought the new recommendation was for 60 minutes of cardio a day, could be intense if you're fit or moderate if you're trying to get fit.
When I was 15, records were more important. When I was 20, swimming in the Olympics was more important. When I was 30, fitness became more important. I'll be 59 in a couple of weeks, and now what's most important is staying alive, and swimming for fitness and health may give me a couple of extra years. Thank goodness I have great swim technique, but now it is becoming differently hard to swim long distances. And I am the fool who is going to try the 18 mile Roatan to Utila swim. So, as you can see, a part of me still is very competitive but only with myself. However, training for a swim of this great distance over the next year and a half, I know will improve my physical fitness in the process. How could it not?
Bottom line: cardiovascular fitness.
Donna
I haven't swam in a meet in over 3 years and honestly speaking, I don't miss it. Sure I would like to test myself and see how fast I can go, but my weekend are too precious with my family. I love to workout hard, and I understand it might not make me any more healthy than 20 minutes of exercise. Mentally, it makes me feel great. Swimming outside at 5:30 am for 1 1/2 hours and going 5,000 yards just helps my mental state more than anything. When I don't workout, I feel sluggish all day.
After swimming with Ande this week (see his blog), he did inspire me to try some racing at least in practice. But if I had to pick one or the other (no reason why we should) I have to say hands down the exercise factor far outweighs the records factor in my book.
I hate to beat a dead horse (insert goofy emoticon), but with my health issues I have had the past few years, being able to complete workouts like I am able to do now is so much more rewarding.
Swimming 5K workouts on tight intervals will not make you any healthier than swimming 1500 yd. workouts. There is a section in a book by Dr. Oz about this very subject. Exercise is great but pushing yourself to new heights is not going to make you any "healthier". I would argue that quite often, it might make one less healthy. If I recall correctly, all you really need is about 20 minutes per day of a sweat inducing exercise.
If you are exercising more than about 20 minutes a day you have goals other than cardiovascular fitness. If you are swimming to help lose weight (rather than just maintain) that is another goal, and a longer workout would be more effective.
I agree with many of you that that fitness is not dependant upon the amount of yardage you do each day. It is dependant upon each person. Everyone is different and will get something unique out of each workout. Each of us will do our workouts for different reasons and for different goals, but as I said, if we are having fun, does it really matter? Focus on what is important to you and you can never lose.
Gents -
All good discussion, and appreciated. But back to the original thread topic... For me, being older and returning to the water after a several year lapse, the health benefits were my first objective. Once I get those stabilized, I might fantasize about records and such, but the fact is that from the many excel the few.
Best regards, and Happy New Year!
