Swimming to remove love handles?

Swimming is a great cardiovascular workout which burns calories more efficiently than more other exercises. If your primary concern is lowering body fat (bf) %, I cannot emphasize the importance of proper diet and nutrition enough. The location(s) at which your body stores excess fat is primarily a function of genetics. Some people get bigger thighs/butts first and others get love handles. The reverse is true with respect to where you'll first noticeably lose fat. That being said, it is genetics, not the type of exercise you choose, determining where you're going to lose fat first. Sorry to burst your bubble, but spot reduction is a myth. Going into a workout routine with the mentality of "I want to lose fat in my sides" is completely erroneous. The better mentality to embrace is to have a goal of lowering your overall bf%. This is a function of a very simple formula. Generally speaking, if the # calories you intake in a day 's not just for body builders). Anyone seeking to learn more about nutrition can benefit from reading up on the subject. A few simple rules that I find helpful are: - No simple carbs, except in the form of fruit before/after workouts (designer stuff like power bars or power gel are OK too, but they're overpriced and packed with a bunch of crap you don't need anyway). - The only liquids you should be consuming are water, skim milk, or black coffee/tea in moderation. Too much caffeine can spike your appetite. Try to drink at least a gallon of water/day. This will keep you hydrated and will also help curb your appetite. NO soda (not even diet stuff), fruit juices, or other crap. No "sports drinks" either. They're just a result of marketing scams. It's just a bunch of empty calories and chemicals you don't need. - No fast food, ever. This is self-explanatory. - Stick to lean proteins (chicken, fish, lean beef, lean pork) whole grains (oats, brown rice) and other forms of complex carbs (sweet potatoes), and lots of leafy green vegetables (broccoli, dark green lettuce, etc.). Keep your fats to healthy fats like olive oil, grapeseed oil, avocados. - Take your vitamins every day. Multi, vitamin C, vitamin E, fish oil, and flax seed oil are essential. The bottom line, really, is that you can bust your ass like crazy in the pool, in the gym, on the track, etc., but your weight loss/strength/endurance gains are going to greatly suffer is you aren't eating right. Cement in your mind that results are 80% nutrition and 20% workouts and you'll start to get the point. Good luck!

Swimming is a great cardiovascular workout which burns calories more efficiently than more other exercises. If your primary concern is lowering body fat (bf) %, I cannot emphasize the importance of proper diet and nutrition enough. The location(s) at which your body stores excess fat is primarily a function of genetics. Some people get bigger thighs/butts first and others get love handles. The reverse is true with respect to where you'll first noticeably lose fat. That being said, it is genetics, not the type of exercise you choose, determining where you're going to lose fat first. Sorry to burst your bubble, but spot reduction is a myth. Going into a workout routine with the mentality of "I want to lose fat in my sides" is completely erroneous. The better mentality to embrace is to have a goal of lowering your overall bf%. This is a function of a very simple formula. Generally speaking, if the # calories you intake in a day 's not just for body builders). Anyone seeking to learn more about nutrition can benefit from reading up on the subject. A few simple rules that I find helpful are: - No simple carbs, except in the form of fruit before/after workouts (designer stuff like power bars or power gel are OK too, but they're overpriced and packed with a bunch of crap you don't need anyway). - The only liquids you should be consuming are water, skim milk, or black coffee/tea in moderation. Too much caffeine can spike your appetite. Try to drink at least a gallon of water/day. This will keep you hydrated and will also help curb your appetite. NO soda (not even diet stuff), fruit juices, or other crap. No "sports drinks" either. They're just a result of marketing scams. It's just a bunch of empty calories and chemicals you don't need. - No fast food, ever. This is self-explanatory. - Stick to lean proteins (chicken, fish, lean beef, lean pork) whole grains (oats, brown rice) and other forms of complex carbs (sweet potatoes), and lots of leafy green vegetables (broccoli, dark green lettuce, etc.). Keep your fats to healthy fats like olive oil, grapeseed oil, avocados. - Take your vitamins every day. Multi, vitamin C, vitamin E, fish oil, and flax seed oil are essential. The bottom line, really, is that you can bust your ass like crazy in the pool, in the gym, on the track, etc., but your weight loss/strength/endurance gains are going to greatly suffer is you aren't eating right. Cement in your mind that results are 80% nutrition and 20% workouts and you'll start to get the point. Good luck!