First off I'm new here and this is my first post so if this question has been answered on a different post, sorry.
I come from a bodybuilding background and recently started swimming and liked it so much that for the summer I'm forgoing lifting for swimming. I've been swiming four times a week now for about four months and I've lost about 8 lbs - as far as I can tell it's all body fat. My question is, can I build muscle mass by just swimming or will I just be reducing body fat? Also is it possible to burn muscle? In other words could some of my weight loss be muscle loss? The reason I ask is that a couple of my friends have told me that my back is getting broader - I haven't really noticed.
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Former Member
When I was in the Air Force, we had a lot of guys on the "fat boy" program because they were out of limits according to Air Force regs. For example, I'm 6'1" and my max was 211.
A lot of guys would start going to the gym when the first sergeant put them on the program. But they would also keep going to McDonalds and the Enlisted Club, so the weight would not come off. When the first sergeant would start upping the consequences for being overweight (which could eventually lead to getting kicked out of the Air Force), a lot of guys would claim that they had not lost weight because they were working out and had gained muscle.
I always thought this was a cop out. Was I right?
But then again, after 11000 miles of cycling in 3 years, I have barely lost 10 pounds. But my calves and quads are noticably bigger.
When I was in the Air Force, we had a lot of guys on the "fat boy" program because they were out of limits according to Air Force regs. For example, I'm 6'1" and my max was 211.
A lot of guys would start going to the gym when the first sergeant put them on the program. But they would also keep going to McDonalds and the Enlisted Club, so the weight would not come off. When the first sergeant would start upping the consequences for being overweight (which could eventually lead to getting kicked out of the Air Force), a lot of guys would claim that they had not lost weight because they were working out and had gained muscle.
I always thought this was a cop out. Was I right?
But then again, after 11000 miles of cycling in 3 years, I have barely lost 10 pounds. But my calves and quads are noticably bigger.
