I have been a fan of Dr. Kenneth Cooper and his writings for a couple of decades and have been reading an older book of his that reccomends "striking" exercise such as running for aging athletes.(boomers) He contends that as we age we need this sort of exercise to promote bone density. He also suggests higher ratios of weight training to aerobics for the same reason. I have only been swimming for a couple of years now and must say that my body has never felt healthier and more pain free. So, I am reluctant to go back to dealing with all the aches and pains associated with running. So here is my question of you experienced swimmers. Do you complement your swimming with dryland training such as running and lifting? If so how often and what types? Do you think Cooper is correct in asserting the need for weight bearing exercise over non weight bearing activity?
Lots of questions. Just curious about this one.
Regards
Spudfing
I've always been a bit puzzled by this contention that swimming doesn't help bone density because it is supposedly not "resistance" exercise.
The key term is weightbearing.
For analogical purposes, in early days of space flights, people who got back from the moon, where they "weighed less," couldn't even stand up in Earth's gravity. Think of the pool as being like the moon. And you're horizontal in it.
Here's a quick read.
ag.arizona.edu/.../exercise.html
Basically, bone is constantly remodeling, being resorbed and new bone put down. It's a dynamic and uneven process: resorption can occur faster than new bone is put down. Load bearing helps new bone formation, as do resistance and weight training work, which seem to affect certain spots. It seems possible that the resistance of swimming might increase bone mineral density spottily, in arms and wrists. Against that is the reduced gravity effect of the swimming environment. Would be interesting to find out.
Regards, VB
I've always been a bit puzzled by this contention that swimming doesn't help bone density because it is supposedly not "resistance" exercise.
The key term is weightbearing.
For analogical purposes, in early days of space flights, people who got back from the moon, where they "weighed less," couldn't even stand up in Earth's gravity. Think of the pool as being like the moon. And you're horizontal in it.
Here's a quick read.
ag.arizona.edu/.../exercise.html
Basically, bone is constantly remodeling, being resorbed and new bone put down. It's a dynamic and uneven process: resorption can occur faster than new bone is put down. Load bearing helps new bone formation, as do resistance and weight training work, which seem to affect certain spots. It seems possible that the resistance of swimming might increase bone mineral density spottily, in arms and wrists. Against that is the reduced gravity effect of the swimming environment. Would be interesting to find out.
Regards, VB
