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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It will be interersting to see what has happend to my lifting strength when I go back to the weight room in the fall. I'm kind of expecting everything but my back workouts to have declined to newbie status but that's fine.
You will notice a difference in different muscles or motions or exercises.
For instance, bench presses and military-type lifts while great for ddeveloping great looking pecs and shoulders are not swimming-friendly (you're pushing resistance away from you) whereas rowing movements and chin-ups and triceps extensions and dips which (in a way) mimic swimming movements will have benefited from swimming. For example lateral straight arm dumbell raises are not a swimming movement, but working at pulleys with straight arm (slightly bent elbows) pulldowns, lateral or front, will simulate (+or-) swimming.
Good luck
It will be interersting to see what has happend to my lifting strength when I go back to the weight room in the fall. I'm kind of expecting everything but my back workouts to have declined to newbie status but that's fine.
You will notice a difference in different muscles or motions or exercises.
For instance, bench presses and military-type lifts while great for ddeveloping great looking pecs and shoulders are not swimming-friendly (you're pushing resistance away from you) whereas rowing movements and chin-ups and triceps extensions and dips which (in a way) mimic swimming movements will have benefited from swimming. For example lateral straight arm dumbell raises are not a swimming movement, but working at pulleys with straight arm (slightly bent elbows) pulldowns, lateral or front, will simulate (+or-) swimming.
Good luck
