Does swimming burn as many calories as other sports? Unless you're putting in some real yardage, it doesn't seem like it does to me. I was chatting with some tri teammates awhile ago. They think they're slimmer when they're doing multiple sports and not just swimming. Me too, I think. Anyone else have thoughts on this? I guess I should be lifting weights ... Thanks in advance. :)
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Swimming as compared to running would take a lot longer to be equivalent in calorie burning. Two reasons: you are horizontal so there isn't that much gravitational stress on your heart, and also you use smaller muscles (arms) than when running (legs). But, on the long run (oops), if you had to choose, swimming would probably be better for you, as there is no pounding on your knees, ankles and so forth. I am facing this dilemma right now: how to lose weight with just swimming. I am maintaing my present weight but would like to lose some 10 lbs and then more later on. I will probably go the weight lifting way as that is an efficient calorie burner. But, if you were to be swimming in high school or college (which you might be) then you would burn plenty of calories, swimming upwards of 5,000 yards or meters and doing that pretty fast. People will post here that swimming has made them lose lots of weight but they will going from a baseline where they are "heavy" to begin with and have lots of excess fat to burn off. I am speaking for myself, weighing presently around 215, and having weighed 20 lbs less when playing a mean singles game of tennis everyday for about two hours. If I were you I would complement my swimming with either running, weights or cycling to add up to a reasonable caloric burn. billy fanstone
Swimming as compared to running would take a lot longer to be equivalent in calorie burning. Two reasons: you are horizontal so there isn't that much gravitational stress on your heart, and also you use smaller muscles (arms) than when running (legs). But, on the long run (oops), if you had to choose, swimming would probably be better for you, as there is no pounding on your knees, ankles and so forth. I am facing this dilemma right now: how to lose weight with just swimming. I am maintaing my present weight but would like to lose some 10 lbs and then more later on. I will probably go the weight lifting way as that is an efficient calorie burner. But, if you were to be swimming in high school or college (which you might be) then you would burn plenty of calories, swimming upwards of 5,000 yards or meters and doing that pretty fast. People will post here that swimming has made them lose lots of weight but they will going from a baseline where they are "heavy" to begin with and have lots of excess fat to burn off. I am speaking for myself, weighing presently around 215, and having weighed 20 lbs less when playing a mean singles game of tennis everyday for about two hours. If I were you I would complement my swimming with either running, weights or cycling to add up to a reasonable caloric burn. billy fanstone
