A snapshot of swim calorie calculators

fishgutzy

I took a few minutes to run the numbers with 3 different swim calculators.
Keeping the time and weight fixed. Varied only the distance.
The shows shows the results from the 3 calculators. I added a note regarding the MFP(***) calculator due to the nature of the assumption made behind the calculation.
I actually found that assumption on another web site. ANd that is, that leisurely/moderate assume 1 lap per minute and fast/vigorous assumes 1.5 laps per minute.
Competitive swimmers are much faster the 1.5 laps per minute. So take this for what it is worth.
For me, I just enter 1 minute per lap into the MFP calculator. I'd rather underestimate than over.

I hope some of you find this condensed snapshot useful.

Kida_Adeylne

The assumption of 1 lap per minute or 1.5 laps per minute burning so many calories doesn't make much sense though, does it? My top speed is not much more than 50m a minute (so not fast) but I'm putting in a lot of effort. A more experienced swimmer with better technique would find my pace very, very leisurely. And my pace/exertion level changes depending on my set.

I generally log my workout as 30min leisurely, 30 min fast which gets me a total of 527 for 60 minutes. I have no idea how accurate that might be, and I'm not about to shell out the big bucks for a waterproof heart rate monitor.

AquaticQuests

fishgutzy wrote: »

I took a few minutes to run the numbers with 3 different swim calculators.
Keeping the time and weight fixed. Varied only the distance.
The shows shows the results from the 3 calculators.
I hope some of you find this condensed snapshot useful.

Thanks for this Gutzy.
Had wondered the assumption MFP uses. Now I know
I have always felt the swimmmingcalculator.com one seems quite accurate.

Kida_Adeylne wrote: »

The assumption of 1 lap per minute or 1.5 laps per minute burning so many calories doesn't make much sense though, does it? My top speed is not much more than 50m a minute (so not fast) but I'm putting in a lot of effort. A more experienced swimmer with better technique would find my pace very, very leisurely. And my pace/exertion level changes depending on my set.

Yes I think technique definitely has a big part to play in calorie burn. So elite level swimmers will cover a much larger distance in a shorter time, with lower calorie burn. So then they swim faster and burn more :-)

I found that when I upped my stroke rate, my calorie burn definitely went up, even though I was swimming at the same pace or slower then previously.

To throw another spanner in the works, I recently started sprints on alternate days, which are characterized by frenetic activity in short bursts, and longer resting periods in between then I would have in an ordinary distance swim. Harder recovery, and presumably longer calorie burn after the swim itself.
It can all be quite confusing.
That said for the average person seeking to run a calorie deficit, and get an idea of probable calorie burn from their swimming, I think these swimming calculators are an invaluable tool, especially due to the tendency to overestimate.

When I was in the loss phase, I deliberately sought to understate my exercise calories, to cover for any errors and also to discourage me from eating back all my exercise calories. Now, I try to report closer to what I believe to be actual calorie burn!

An interesting article on the 3 different types of power sources our bodies use at different times: https://experiencelife.com/article/all-about-your-metabolic-energy-systems/

An article on how to increase swim calorie burn: http://www.health.com/health/article/0,,20411721,00.html

fishgutzy

Since I am close to, but average just under 1 minute per lap I just enter 120 minutes for my morning 120 lap swim.
I don't use swim calculator because the number is way to high. I have my base set for 1K deficit and even using the MFP number I stay flat for weeks/months at a time.
Swimcalc nearly doubles the number I get from MFP. So I stick with the lower number.
6000 yard in 120 minutes for just over 1200 kCal (MFP) vs 2059 from swim calc.
Maybe I'm just not pushing hard enough.

BTW, my HRM gets an even lower number. But I found it far too distracting to wear it in the pool.

fishgutzy

Re An article on how to increase swim calorie burn: http://www.health.com/health/article/0,,20411721,00.html

I got #5 down pat. Stop every 20 laps for a quick sip of water with MIO FIT. Avoids cramps.
#1. Can't see the second hand from the shallow end. But from using my HRM a few times I know I stay in the 115 to 120 range at cruising/endurance speed.
#2? Every other day I do 10 laps with TYR Burners and a kick bard.
#3 Fail. I get in and just go. I feel lazy if I stop.
#4 Fail. My sprint isn't that much faster than my cruising speed. But it sure does crank my heart rate up. I usually save that for the last lap and have nothing left when I touch the wall.

Macstraw

#1 - I have no idea what my heart rate is at, but I know it's higher than at rest...lol

#2 - I don't use the equipment for a few reasons. First, I'm not necessarily looking to improve my swimming as much as I'm using my swimming for health & strength. Second, I had bilateral hip replacement 15 years ago & if I do kick sets my right hip gets very stiff & then I can't work out for at least a few days. Third, I found using the pull buoy I was putting too much stress on my shoulders (that's what led to my conversations with the trainer at my gym who told me about the shoulder strengthening exercises I've posted)

#3 - On my distance days I swim my sets as a ladder where I do all freestyle: 250, 500, 1000, 1500, 1500, 1000, 500, 250 yards. Even on the days I do IM's it kind of sets up the same way, I just take out the 2 sets of 1500 yards & put the IM's in there...

#4 - At my age a sprint looks no different to an outside observer than when I'm swimming a distance set although I feel like I'm pushing it harder. I swim my IM's faster (or at least attempt to) than my freestyle sets & on my freestyle sets I push the last few lengths harder, although I wouldn't call them sprints for the most part

#5 - When I'm swimming every day my rest intervals are just a little over 10% of my time in the water, although they are longer than 10 seconds each since my sets are long. My IM days the % is higher, but I'm OK with that...

fishgutzy

So I tried doing some sets today.
First 1 and 1. 1 cruiser, 1 spintish. The 1 cruiser, 4 spintish. My cruise lap is my rest.
In the middle of the 120 did 10 laps with TYR Burners and kickboard.
The "ultimate" test was pushing a sprintish 10 lap set starting at lap 91. I managed to knock back lap time from a cruise pace of ~58 sec per lap to 52~53 seconds per lap for the full 10 laps.
Somewhere in there I mixed in 10 laps of focusing on stretch/reach and strokes per length reduction
And I still had energy for the last half lap 100% sprint to finish the 120. I call it 100% because it feels like I can't do one more lap after it. Heart is as high as it gets in spin class.
It is the only time a really kick hard with the board

AquaticQuests

fishgutzy wrote: »

So I tried doing some sets today.
First 1 and 1. 1 cruiser, 1 spintish. The 1 cruiser, 4 spintish. My cruise lap is my rest.
In the middle of the 120 did 10 laps with TYR Burners and kickboard.
The "ultimate" test was pushing a sprintish 10 lap set starting at lap 91. I managed to knock back lap time from a cruise pace of ~58 sec per lap to 52~53 seconds per lap for the full 10 laps.
Somewhere in there I mixed in 10 laps of focusing on stretch/reach and strokes per length reduction
And I still had energy for the last half lap 100% sprint to finish the 120. I call it 100% because it feels like I can't do one more lap after it. Heart is as high as it gets in spin class.
It is the only time a really kick hard with the board

Wow that is a highly varied workout! What are TYR burners by the way?
With the sprints I'm doing in alternate workouts, like you I'm having a new experience of having the heart rate elevated very high for 20 min or so! 20 lengths each literally at 100% (race pace if you will) with suitable resting periods at the end of each length. With 10 lengths warm up and ten warm down on either side of the sprints.
A new experience that my body is having to rework itself to handle!
With the distance swims, I chug along with minimum rest periods of a few seconds or so. But with the 100% sprints, I require a rest period roughly equivalent to the time it took me to swim the length, or longer! So even though I'm sprinting, I can actually cover the same cumulative distance at an equivalent or faster time when moving at the moderate steady pace.
But from what I read, the point of the sprints is to build the bodies ability to call on major step up in speed when required, and handle the greatly elevated heart rate in that zone, and build on the anaerobic ability that is the power base of sprinting, etc.
So whereas the difference between an all out sprint and regular swim may not initially be that large, given my distance swimming disposition/ training, with the sprints mixed in, there should be a much larger difference between my moderate pace and my "race" pace!

fishgutzy

AquaticQuests wrote: »

Wow that is a highly varied workout! What are TYR burners by the way?

TYR Burner fins. They are only about 3" longer than my feet. Best I have found so far. They do earn their name. I feel my quads burn when I use them.
I like these because they don't change my kick that much from barefoot where the longer fins do.
Amazon carries these fins. I actually get just about all my swim gear on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/TYR-Burner-EBP-Swim-Fin/dp/B009XMLJ9C/ref=sr_1_4?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1425673989&sr=1-4&keywords=tyr+burner+fins

Tomorrow and Sunday there is a swim meet at my Y so I'll hit a spinning class tomorrow.
At my old Y they opened at 6 on Saturday so I could, some days, swim 5km then go to the 8:15 spin class.
Spinning also helps me get my heart rate way up. Higher than I get it swimming.

AquaticQuests

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