New York Times magazine article on the best exercise
"Let’s consider the butterfly. One of the most taxing movements in sports, the butterfly requires greater energy than bicycling at 14 miles per hour, running a 10-minute mile, playing competitive basketball or carrying furniture upstairs. It burns more calories, demands larger doses of oxygen and elicits more fatigue than those other activities, meaning that over time it should increase a swimmer’s endurance and contribute to weight control.
So is the butterfly the best single exercise that there is? Well, no. The butterfly “would probably get my vote for the worst” exercise, said Greg Whyte, a professor of sport and exercise science at Liverpool John Moores University in England and a past Olympian in the modern pentathlon, known for his swimming. The butterfly, he said, is “miserable, isolating, painful.” It requires a coach, a pool and ideally supplemental weight and flexibility training to reduce the high risk of injury."
"It requires a coach, a pool and ideally supplemental weight and flexibility training to reduce the high risk of injury."
Why is any of that a bad thing?
And I'm not sure why it is specific to butterfly, either.
(I thought the idea that flexibility training reduces injury -- though it might be good for other things -- was thoroughly debunked.)
"It requires a coach, a pool and ideally supplemental weight and flexibility training to reduce the high risk of injury."
Why is any of that a bad thing?
And I'm not sure why it is specific to butterfly, either.
(I thought the idea that flexibility training reduces injury -- though it might be good for other things -- was thoroughly debunked.)
