Does swimming help you loose weight and get in shape.

I don't know...for me swimming alone just doesn't cut it. I was chatting with my coach last week about this very topic. He told me that since I've been swimming for a while (about 10 years of masters), and already in one of the faster lanes, doing distance sets, that at this point it would be difficult to get in better shape from swimming, without doing doubles or something drastic. I didn't swim competitively outside of masters. When I graduated from high school I weighed about 145. Went through Army basic training, and jumped to 165 (all upper body, went from M shirt to XL). Stayed pretty much there the whole time I was in the army. Got out of the army, and back in college, up a little (other than when I did a semester abroad, I lose weight when I travel). Has been as high as 195-200, as low as 170-175 over the past 10 years since I've been in the working world. About 2 years ago, I added in weight training, and about a year ago added in running/jogging 2-3 times a week. The running has kept my weight at a pretty steady 175-180. I have a very large variance between high/low for the day anyway, 5-8 pounds. What I do notice, along with weight and body fat (have a scale that supposedly measures it), is that I feel healthier and don't really get sick, or not as much as others. So if you haven't done any exercise, yes swimming is a great place to start. However, after a few years, your weight will plateau and you'll need to get creative if you want to keep progressing.

I don't know...for me swimming alone just doesn't cut it. I was chatting with my coach last week about this very topic. He told me that since I've been swimming for a while (about 10 years of masters), and already in one of the faster lanes, doing distance sets, that at this point it would be difficult to get in better shape from swimming, without doing doubles or something drastic. I didn't swim competitively outside of masters. When I graduated from high school I weighed about 145. Went through Army basic training, and jumped to 165 (all upper body, went from M shirt to XL). Stayed pretty much there the whole time I was in the army. Got out of the army, and back in college, up a little (other than when I did a semester abroad, I lose weight when I travel). Has been as high as 195-200, as low as 170-175 over the past 10 years since I've been in the working world. About 2 years ago, I added in weight training, and about a year ago added in running/jogging 2-3 times a week. The running has kept my weight at a pretty steady 175-180. I have a very large variance between high/low for the day anyway, 5-8 pounds. What I do notice, along with weight and body fat (have a scale that supposedly measures it), is that I feel healthier and don't really get sick, or not as much as others. So if you haven't done any exercise, yes swimming is a great place to start. However, after a few years, your weight will plateau and you'll need to get creative if you want to keep progressing.