I have determined that when I swim, based on my heart rate, I am burning an enormous amount of calories. The other day, I wore my HR monitor and based on my average HR, time spent swimming, and my weight, I burned 1053 calories. Now, the next day, I ran for 40 minutes and burned 453 calories.
I have noticed that when I just swim over a number of weeks, my LDL cholesterol readings go up and my body fat goes up as well. When I just run and don't burn as many calories (according to my HR monitor) my LDL drops, my HDLs go up, and my body fat decreases. I've noticed this now over the course of 13 years.
Anybody know of any studies out there that might explain this? Why would an activity such as swimming that obviously burns a bunch of calories cause an increase in body fat?
Parents
Former Member
I don't think it's a fact that swimming makes you fat, and running makes you skinny. This article studied the effects of long term swimming programs on healthy and diabetic girls 14-19 years old.
CONCLUSION: Long-term swimming program improved aerobic capacity, reduced body fat mass in all participants, and reduced high-density lipoprotein levels only in healthy subjects.This article in the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine studied masters swimmers ages 25-71. It focused on men, but it mentions women a few times that are relevant to this discussion.
In addition, when assessed using body mass index scores, members of this group of swimmer athletes were less likely to be overweight or obese as compared to the average U.S. male (Freid et al., 2003; National Center for Health Statistisc, 2004).
Regional adiposity measurements also suggested that these swimmers were leaner than the average American male. Mean waist circumference was smaller than the National average of 96.3 cm (National Center for Health Statistics, 2004). Subcutaneous fat deposits estimated from skinfold thickness were also smaller (Statistics, 2004).
However, it also mentions that while masters swimmers are less likely to be overweight and are typically leaner than the average Americans, there is a definite relationship between swimming and a larger abdomen:
In these adult male athletes, age was associated with a trend toward greater thickness in the lower abdomen, but not with the amount of weekly swim training distance. A positive relationship between increased abdominal thickness and age was also noted in female masters swimmers (Tuuri et al., 2002).
So, I think it's not so much that you're getting fatter as the fat is moving around.
I don't think it's a fact that swimming makes you fat, and running makes you skinny. This article studied the effects of long term swimming programs on healthy and diabetic girls 14-19 years old.
CONCLUSION: Long-term swimming program improved aerobic capacity, reduced body fat mass in all participants, and reduced high-density lipoprotein levels only in healthy subjects.This article in the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine studied masters swimmers ages 25-71. It focused on men, but it mentions women a few times that are relevant to this discussion.
In addition, when assessed using body mass index scores, members of this group of swimmer athletes were less likely to be overweight or obese as compared to the average U.S. male (Freid et al., 2003; National Center for Health Statistisc, 2004).
Regional adiposity measurements also suggested that these swimmers were leaner than the average American male. Mean waist circumference was smaller than the National average of 96.3 cm (National Center for Health Statistics, 2004). Subcutaneous fat deposits estimated from skinfold thickness were also smaller (Statistics, 2004).
However, it also mentions that while masters swimmers are less likely to be overweight and are typically leaner than the average Americans, there is a definite relationship between swimming and a larger abdomen:
In these adult male athletes, age was associated with a trend toward greater thickness in the lower abdomen, but not with the amount of weekly swim training distance. A positive relationship between increased abdominal thickness and age was also noted in female masters swimmers (Tuuri et al., 2002).
So, I think it's not so much that you're getting fatter as the fat is moving around.
