Slim down to swim faster

RE: Slim down to swim faster

Former Member — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 14:41:59 GMT

The scientist measured me with calipers at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Cardiff Wales 1958. These were the guys who developed the 5BX and 10BX fitness plans for the RCAF. They checked me and said I had the highest bodyfat they had measured of all athletes at the games. They also measured for strength of legs and they said I had the second strongest legs. Strongest legs a cyclist from South Africa, third strongest legs a heavyweight weight lifter from Australia.

RE: Slim down to swim faster

Former Member — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 13:58:55 GMT

I'm not sure I lost too much muscle mass, as I tried to monitor my body fat ratio (went from something like 41% to 30-31%; but am using my scale at home to measure....I understand calipers are much more accurate). Its weird, I can swim long practices with no problem, and my lane mates say I'm swimming faster..but its when I try to 'turn on the burners' that I get a bit light-headed. At any rate, I've started increasing the calories to get to a maintenance level just this past week, so I am hoping I will start to see some improvements in my times. I suppose I may be slower but I sure look better in my speedo!

RE: Slim down to swim faster

Former Member — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 15:53:45 GMT

I've lost 50 lbs this past year, and my times are SLOWER than they were a year ago. Not something I expected! Wow! 50 lbs in a year is some very impressive weight loss! I would guess that with weight loss that rapid you probably lost some muscle mass in addition to the fat you lost. Once you get to a steady weight and increase your eating from weight-loss level to a maintenance level your muscle mass should recover and you may realize the benefits of the weight loss in improved times. Weight loss is an interesting short-term vs long-term problem. I need to lose about 25-30 lbs to get to what I believe is my ideal weight for swimming and long-term health, but I'm losing it real slowly because I feel that weight loss will hurt my swimming in the short term. When I eat too little I feel and perform terrible in practice, and I'm worried about losing any of the little muscle mass I have.

RE: Slim down to swim faster

Former Member — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:10:50 GMT

for any distance, having more muscle will help you.

RE: Slim down to swim faster

Former Member — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 13:19:07 GMT

... I wonder how many of those girls have eating disorders or body image and self esteem issues as adults.... Let's also hope that anyone on that team who actually got down to 12% hasn't got bone density issues now. A woman who hasn't got enough body fat to ovulate stands a chance of having osteoporosis years before menopause.

RE: Slim down to swim faster

aztimm — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 12:05:00 GMT

RE: Slim down to swim faster

knelson — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 10:37:42 GMT

That sounds beyond AWFUL and bordering on disgraceful behavior on the part of the coaches. I don't think there's any "bordering" about it. 12% body fat is a very low number for females and to hold that up as some kind of ideal goal is ludicrous. Here's a link that suggests female athletes should be 14-20%.

RE: Slim down to swim faster

funkyfish — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 10:02:29 GMT

I read somewhere the only truly accurate way to get a body fat% is through an autopsy. I would not recommend that method... There are days when my wife might suggest that:lmao: It's been our guess that the calipers have come within about 3% +/-.

RE: Slim down to swim faster

Former Member — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:06:53 GMT

I've lost 50 lbs this past year, and my times are SLOWER than they were a year ago. Not something I expected!

RE: Slim down to swim faster

Iwannafly — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 07:32:58 GMT

RE: Slim down to swim faster

Former Member — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 06:58:31 GMT

I would have to say that drag from your body has nothing to do with your weight, rather the amount of excess skin (fat). If you are not toned you will create drag. You do not have to be skinny to be toned up. Further more weight has no impact to your buoyancy in the water. think of ice bergs no matter how large they are, they always float about 1/3 above the water.

RE: Slim down to swim faster

aquaFeisty — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 04:58:49 GMT

I've read that water displacement works best when the individual is over a certain %. If they're under that % then using calipers and a formula to plug in the numbers is better. I don't remember what the % is, and that's just what I read. The bioimpedance method (where an electric current is measured on how fast it travels through the body) is not supposed to be very reliable (again, just what I've heard). I've done mine with calipers and it seems fairly accurate. :bouncing: I read somewhere the only truly accurate way to get a body fat% is through an autopsy. I would not recommend that method...

RE: Slim down to swim faster

funkyfish — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 01:55:17 GMT

Man, that's 21,000,000 yards per week.:thhbbb: That should be some sort of record! Well yes, actually it is :thhbbb:. I was hesitant about posting it for fear of being linked to the DT thread and people questioning my natural ability. To clarify, Swim 6 times a week, 3 days 5000k, 3 days 2000k, was supposed to mean I swim five thousand yards on Mon., two thousand yards on Tue., five thousand yards on Wed., two thousand yards on Thu., and five thousand yards on Fri., for a total of 19,000yds a week. Sorry, wasn't thinking about my abbreviations correctly. :banana:

RE: Slim down to swim faster

funkyfish — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 01:47:27 GMT

How is everyone measuring their body fat %? I have a scale that, when I weigh myself barefoot, it comes back about 30 seconds later with a body fat %. It varies widely, even more than my weight. I take it with a major grain of salt. I've been told the most accurate body fat measurement is by water displacement. I've read that water displacement works best when the individual is over a certain %. If they're under that % then using calipers and a formula to plug in the numbers is better. I don't remember what the % is, and that's just what I read. The bioimpedance method (where an electric current is measured on how fast it travels through the body) is not supposed to be very reliable (again, just what I've heard). I've done mine with calipers and it seems fairly accurate. :bouncing:

RE: Slim down to swim faster

Former Member — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 16:11:44 GMT

Jeez. That sounds beyond AWFUL and bordering on disgraceful behavior on the part of the coaches. I wonder how many of those girls have eating disorders or body image and self esteem issues as adults. This was not in Georgia by chance? I heard stories similar to what you described from competing clubs in my area in the 80s. no. tennessee. but close. and our coaches where close with dynamo and swim atlanta coaches so no surprise it happened down there too. and a bunch of girls did have eating disorders. sad. but that what happens when a single male with no kids is the head coach. he learned from the mistakes but still had to learn that all that was a bad idea first.

RE: Slim down to swim faster

Former Member — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 14:26:19 GMT

Chris my statements are unique only to me. I am not telling any body to get fat swim faster. If they do get fat they will swim slower. It happenned at 18 through 26 years I was swimming very low milage (6000) yards a week. When I was in my 30s 79,000 yards a week.

RE: Slim down to swim faster

Former Member — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 13:58:37 GMT

The weight thing again. No matter how I weighed in I can say I was not faster when I was thinner. From age 18 I put weight on and became faster until age 37. I was faster at 235 then I was at at 186. My swim times improved with technique change and swimming more. The older I was the heavier I was at the start of a season. At 23 years of age I started at 218 and weighed 212 while racing. At 33 years of age started at 255 and raced at 230 lbs. I must say you get faster by swimming more and useing better technique. The thing I really attribute speed gain to is swim lots of repeats at race pace.

RE: Slim down to swim faster

Former Member — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 13:36:54 GMT

on my swim team growing up we'd have weekly weigh-ins that were posted for all to see. I never had a problem with this because at a whopping 5'2" I was always the smallest, but alot of the other girls had major problems. they also had a thing called the "chub club" where the one's that were over 12% body fat had to do cardio machines instead of weights during our weight training. I was at 14% but I just told the coaches "nope, i'm doing weights". and that was that. But other girls ended up loosing muscle, and not dropping much time or even getting slower. The coach has changed his mind on that now. But yeah, sure do remember that phase. hm. Jeez. That sounds beyond AWFUL and bordering on disgraceful behavior on the part of the coaches. I wonder how many of those girls have eating disorders or body image and self esteem issues as adults. This was not in Georgia by chance? I heard stories similar to what you described from competing clubs in my area in the 80s.

RE: Slim down to swim faster

Chris Stevenson — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 09:17:34 GMT

The thing I really attribute speed gain to is swim lots of repeats at race pace. About your final sentence: something we can agree upon!:banana: Your story about swimming faster as you age and gained weight -- and the (mistaken) conclusion that weight doesn't matter -- illustrates a common misconception. Your "experiment" didn't prove anything one way or another. Please google "confounding factors."

RE: Slim down to swim faster

Former Member — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 13:20:38 GMT

Hopefully eating disorders are not a problem for Masters Swimmers(except for the"I binged but I forgot to purge" syndrome) but it has been for college age swimmers.For a while in the 80s some programs were giving goal weights to female swimmers.The results of this practice was a significant increase in eating disorder symptoms on the teams. on my swim team growing up we'd have weekly weigh-ins that were posted for all to see. I never had a problem with this because at a whopping 5'2" I was always the smallest, but alot of the other girls had major problems. they also had a thing called the "chub club" where the one's that were over 12% body fat had to do cardio machines instead of weights during our weight training. I was at 14% but I just told the coaches "nope, i'm doing weights". and that was that. But other girls ended up loosing muscle, and not dropping much time or even getting slower. The coach has changed his mind on that now. But yeah, sure do remember that phase. hm.

RE: Slim down to swim faster

funkyfish — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 06:58:07 GMT

First, I apologize for bringing this post back up, but I thought an update might be interesting. Well, it's been almost 4 weeks since I've presented this question and have been using myself as a guinea pig. What I've done in the past 4 weeks is: Swim 6 times a week, 3 days 5000k, 3 days 2000k. Lifted weights 2 times a week - light enough weight to get at least 15 reps, range has been between 15-25. Total gym time about 45-50 min. Diet: No change, eat what I want, when I want. Results: Nothing noticeable, weight has stayed the same (174-178), measurements are the same. Swimming seems to have gotten a bit faster, but that may be due to more time in the pool (probably). So, I'm not going to restrict calories, will keep swimming the yardage, but may switch back to lower reps, higher weight and see if that impacts my swimming one way or the other. We'll see. :applaud::p:applaud::p

RE: Slim down to swim faster

Former Member — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 17:40:30 GMT

It seems some are talking about muscle mass loss not fat loss. In the old days we talked about long lean elastic muscles. We were told not to build big muscles but build long lean strong muscles.

RE: Slim down to swim faster

Former Member — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 16:32:55 GMT

Losing weight is fine but if you are fat don't go to extremes and rush to get rid of excess fat. www.guardian.co.uk/.../sciencenews.research

RE: Slim down to swim faster

Former Member — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 16:04:43 GMT

We should have good muscle and a little fat. Fat never hurt anyone. I am sure losing body fat to a minimum will not help a swimmer. Being in shape does not mean being skinny.

RE: Slim down to swim faster

funkyfish — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 12:52:11 GMT

you're very strong and probably don't need to lift weights or perhaps do high rep lifting program ie 2 or 3 sets of 10 - 20 reps you're stronger than most of the UT swimmers I'm probably going to increase reps and see what happens, just as an experiment. When I did bodybuilding, I was fascinated how one was able to change body composition through manipulation of diet and exercise. If I don't get any noticeable results I can just go back to my previous routines. I won't be modifying my diet in any way, but I'm curious if more reps at less weight will reduce musculature at all. the key for you is improving your feel for the water and speed in the water you need to learn how to apply your strength to the water and get speed Preaching to the choir :), totally agree. Will continue to work at it. I wouldn't do any 1 rep testing in weights that's asking for an injury I try not to do any. If I hit 1 rep it's probably closer to a 85-90% effort, based on feel and rate of the movement. I don't think I've 1 rep maxed in 5-6 yrs. Heard too many horror stories about shoulders and stuff on this forum :) hows your breastroke Aaaaaahhhaaaaahaaaahaaaaahaaaaaa!!!!!!!:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl: I've never raced in breastroke. Even in high school I couldn't get propusion going with the legs. However, I am practicing it in my swims, and will do a 50 at a meet this year to get a base time (not at nationals, though). If my stroke is legit, I can do a 50yd in :37 from a push start right now.