Just wondering if anyone had experienced this:
Started 2nd swimming life in fall 2007 and have been hard at it since. For the first 9 or 10 months, I was just swimming long and slow until I could go no more. I began throwing in some sprint sets after a good 1600 or so for the next few months. During this period, say a year or so, I dropped 40 lbs, from 235 to 195 (I'm 6'3"). Breaking 190 was my goal, though 190 is probably where I should be.
Throughout 2009, I could no longer stand the long swims and did more and more sets, 400's, 200's, 100s & 50's between a warm-up 500 and a warm down 500. My goal is 3000 - 3200/day and try to get as close to 16k per week as I can by doing some variation of the sets above.
Over the last year of doing this, I've noticed more muscle I think, and my clothes all still fit right, but the scale is alarming me. I'm hovering around - and some weeks over - 200 again.
I think I've slipped in my eating habits (definitely did over the holidays), but I was wondering if anyone has seen this before? Are these sprints where I'm constantly trying to improve my times putting muscle on me that are causing me to fret over the weight gain? Or do I just need to stay away from the fridge? Or what?
Blue
PS> I know all the sites regarding weight loss & swimming, I just want the answers from the horses' mouths. Thanks!
Parents
Former Member
What an interesting thread...
I recently purchased some new scales from Amazon – they are by a company called Tanita and measured all aspects of body composition most importantly % body fat, muscle mass and also water! They cost a small fortune, but I figured that it was a good investment as like all other athletes, I obsess about my weight and body fat and would ideally like an accurate measure rather than some kind of guesstimate! And before you all start wading, in I know there is a lot of debate about the accuracy of these kinds of scales – but if you Google Tanita and read around the subject you will find that the empirical evidence is that they are actually pretty accurate!
This particular model also has an “athlete” mode which caters for people who exercise beyond the norm and as such have different body dynamics. The most important thing is to hold as many things constant as possible and so measure yourself at the same time of day – ideally naked! These scales have handles which you grasp and then a current passes harmlessly through your body and measures resistance which in turn leads to all the measures (and more) listed above.
I have been using them for about a month and in that time have increased my swim training to around 18k with 20k of indoor rowing a small amount of running and 2-3 gym sessions. In that time my weight has dropped around 1.5kg and my BF by 1% to 14%. More importantly my muscle mass has also increased. I like others above do watch my diet and eat plenty of food but follow a lowish carb diet with additional protein and fat. As a past runner I have hit 7% BF but this was achieved with high mileage and frankly is not good for you! My target is to get down to 11-12% while maintaining my weight at around 73kg – so load with additional muscle.
There are cheaper models from Tanita but my guess is that the majority of older competitive athletes are motivated by body shape and so make these a good long term investment… BTW the water measurement is also VERY useful – I fluctuate by up to 2 litres a day and this can make a huge difference to weight – I actually use the scales to check on my hydration and adjust my fluid intake accordingly!
Cheers Nick
Twitter: uknick
Facebook: Nick Ballard (look for the ugly one!)
FB Group: competitive @ 50 (a group for the serious older athlete)
What an interesting thread...
I recently purchased some new scales from Amazon – they are by a company called Tanita and measured all aspects of body composition most importantly % body fat, muscle mass and also water! They cost a small fortune, but I figured that it was a good investment as like all other athletes, I obsess about my weight and body fat and would ideally like an accurate measure rather than some kind of guesstimate! And before you all start wading, in I know there is a lot of debate about the accuracy of these kinds of scales – but if you Google Tanita and read around the subject you will find that the empirical evidence is that they are actually pretty accurate!
This particular model also has an “athlete” mode which caters for people who exercise beyond the norm and as such have different body dynamics. The most important thing is to hold as many things constant as possible and so measure yourself at the same time of day – ideally naked! These scales have handles which you grasp and then a current passes harmlessly through your body and measures resistance which in turn leads to all the measures (and more) listed above.
I have been using them for about a month and in that time have increased my swim training to around 18k with 20k of indoor rowing a small amount of running and 2-3 gym sessions. In that time my weight has dropped around 1.5kg and my BF by 1% to 14%. More importantly my muscle mass has also increased. I like others above do watch my diet and eat plenty of food but follow a lowish carb diet with additional protein and fat. As a past runner I have hit 7% BF but this was achieved with high mileage and frankly is not good for you! My target is to get down to 11-12% while maintaining my weight at around 73kg – so load with additional muscle.
There are cheaper models from Tanita but my guess is that the majority of older competitive athletes are motivated by body shape and so make these a good long term investment… BTW the water measurement is also VERY useful – I fluctuate by up to 2 litres a day and this can make a huge difference to weight – I actually use the scales to check on my hydration and adjust my fluid intake accordingly!
Cheers Nick
Twitter: uknick
Facebook: Nick Ballard (look for the ugly one!)
FB Group: competitive @ 50 (a group for the serious older athlete)
