Weight gain from swimming???

This has been the most frustrating thing for me about swimming. I was able to loose some weight doing more frequent and long swims,but I did a lot of kick work and less intense long sets. Dropped the kick work to a few 100 Yrds as well as the # of days I swim,but upped the intensity of the sets and added biking and running/walking on the other days. The result has been no weight loss,my shoulders are bigger than ever and I'm hungrier after working out now than I ever felt after 2 hour swims. I'm not going back to 5X 3500yrds a week-I want to enjoy swimming not feel like I'm serving a sentence in the pool. I need something to motivate me to keep hauling my butt to the gym. I swim Back/Breaststroke only-based on that-am I screwed regardless what I do with my workout?

I need something to motivate me to keep hauling my butt to the gym. A progressive weight lifting program CrossFit Personal Trainer Classes (Core, Yoga, Spin, etc) Training for an event. My gym has an indoor 1 hour tri at the end of the month, 10 minute swim, 20 minute run, 30 minute bike. This got more people in the pool than New Years did.

The bf measurements on the Tanita scale are extremely inaccurate and should not be relied upon. I looked into this after my wife got me a Tanita for my birthday last year and the reading were ridiculously high. See here for example: healthread.net/tanita.htm or just Google "are Tanita scales accurate" Bottom line: save your money.

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)

in case anyone is interested.... Tanita BC545 Glass Electronic Bathroom Scale with Body Fat Analyser: Amazon.co.uk: Health & Beauty

The bf measurements on the Tanita scale are extremely inaccurate and should not be relied upon. I looked into this after my wife got me a Tanita for my birthday last year and the reading were ridiculously high. See here for example: healthread.net/tanita.htm or just Google "are Tanita scales accurate" Bottom line: save your money. If you read the book, "Racing Weight," (you can find it on Amazon), they note that yes the Tanita (and other bf-measuring scales) are not 100% accurate. But they are one of the most affordable and convenient options out there for most of us. In that book, they say not to take the reading as gospel, but to note variances, week-to-week preferred. I myself have a Tanita scale, I think it cost around $40 at Linens & Things about 4 years ago. I've seen my body fat go through several shifts as my training (and diet) changed. I just posted a bit about this over in my blog here. Leslie (the Fortress) also has some info on that book in her blog.

The bf measurements on the Tanita scale are extremely inaccurate and should not be relied upon. I looked into this after my wife got me a Tanita for my birthday last year and the reading were ridiculously high. See here for example: healthread.net/tanita.htm or just Google "are Tanita scales accurate" Bottom line: save your money. Yes you are right they are inaccurate - if you don’t use them correctly. As I said above it is critical to weigh yourself at the same time of day and also this model has an "athlete" mode which makes it far more accurate than those without. In the end you need something you can compare day to day, week to week even if they tend to overestimate BF which they do for many - it is still a measure to track.... As it happens I do have a set of callipers and have calibrated the scales against skin fold measurement and they are very close. Bear in mind that even using callipers the results vary considerably particularly if you use different protocols. I am actually going to have my VO2 max tested at the university of Bath soon and have asked that they also test BF so that I can compare their findings against the Tanita scales as well. In the round I would prefer to have the scales and the measures they give me than not to have them! Thanks Nick

Another interesting question around this point is – what is the ideal BF for swimming? I understand that many elite swimmers have BF in the region of 11-12% vs elite runners that would be well under 10%. In weight bearing sport like running your VO2 Max goes up as you lose weight as it is measured in litres per KG per minute. So by default if all other factors remain stable as you get lighter your VO2 increases. Is this the case with swimming where weight is not such a crucial factor in moving quickly (I don’t think). If it was you would have a load of skinny distance swimmers as they would be quickest! There is obviously a trade off between power and weight but I guess this might be different for every swimmer?? So for me as a 73kg swimmer with stable body fat of around 14% would I get quicker if I developed more power through greater muscle mass but also in so doing increased my weight? In the end my objective is to swim quickly but it seems to maximise potential we need to understand the biomechanics and physiology of the ideal swimmer?? Cheers Nick Twitter: uknick Facebook: Nick Ballard (look for the ugly one!) Facebook Group: competitive @ 50 (a group for the serious older athlete)

Here's a joke I heard, so I won't take credit for it! Q: What's your body fat ratio? A: For most people, 1.0 - One body, and fat = 1.00. If you have 2 bodies, then it's 2.0 and so on.

Another interesting question around this point is – what is the ideal BF for swimming? I understand that many elite swimmers have BF in the region of 11-12% vs elite runners that would be well under 10%. In weight bearing sport like running your VO2 Max goes up as you lose weight as it is measured in litres per KG per minute. So by default if all other factors remain stable as you get lighter your VO2 increases. Is this the case with swimming where weight is not such a crucial factor in moving quickly (I don’t think). If it was you would have a load of skinny distance swimmers as they would be quickest! There is obviously a trade off between power and weight but I guess this might be different for every swimmer?? So for me as a 73kg swimmer with stable body fat of around 14% would I get quicker if I developed more power through greater muscle mass but also in so doing increased my weight? In the end my objective is to swim quickly but it seems to maximise potential we need to understand the biomechanics and physiology of the ideal swimmer?? Nick, Yes I also have read about the higher level of bf in swimmers as opposed to runners or cyclists. You bring up some interesting points. I would like to propose a few more. First is the matter that swimmers must propel themselves through, namely water, as opposed to runners propelling themselves through air. The viscosity of water is much higher than air. Therefore swimming would naturally encourage greater muscle development than running since you are using more force. The 4-to-1 rule seems to apply. Therefore there is a great similarity in times between, say, the 400m. run and the 100m. swim. Also since you are much lighter when in water, bw is less of a factor. I swim early in the morning, before work, with other regular swimmers. Some are very fast and efficient. None are what you would call thin and some are heavy (one of the best swimmers is, in fact,quite overweight). Almost all are well muscled (most do not lift weights and only swim). At my pool there is also a gym with many treadmills. I see the regular runners as I enter. They are all thin, some verging on anorexic. No muscular development to speak of. I realize that all this is anecdotal but I do feel that it is indicative. Finally, the skill factor must be considered. Swimming is a very technical activity. Much more so than running. Technique is a greater factor in forward progression in swimming than in running. Therefore, the nature of swimming w/o's are different, with more time dedicated to technique. This improves swimming but does not facilitate weight loss. So the bottom line is that if one's goal is strictly weight loss, swimming would not be the optimal method.