Better workout with fins or without?

treehugnmama
treehugnmama Posts: 816 Member
edited August 2016 in Social Groups
So I haven't been able to get my heat rate up as easily lately as I did when I started to swim. Today I put on scuba fins and I was out of breath but I thought that those would make swimming easier.....thoughts better workout with or without?

Replies

  • treehugnmama
    treehugnmama Posts: 816 Member
    They might be called flippers
  • emmab0902
    emmab0902 Posts: 2,338 Member
    Fins make swimming easier as it's swimming with assistance. That said, they have their place in training.
  • aliciamariaq
    aliciamariaq Posts: 272 Member
    Fins make you glide and help your body position, allowing you to go faster, at the same time they also work your leg muscles a lot so maybe that is why your heart rate goes up? I am no expert, just speculating.
  • treehugnmama
    treehugnmama Posts: 816 Member
    edited August 2016
    So I should get a better leg workout with them? More resistance?
  • rosebarnalice
    rosebarnalice Posts: 3,488 Member
    Personally, I think I get a better workout without.
  • treehugnmama
    treehugnmama Posts: 816 Member
    Thanks for the replies. My legs were hurting the next day when I went to swim. They hurt enough that it made me had to cut workout short.
  • fishgutzy
    fishgutzy Posts: 2,807 Member
    TYR Burner fins are great for the pool. You will feel the burn in you quads.
    41YEf2RlnSL._SL1100_.jpg
  • Montepulciano
    Montepulciano Posts: 845 Member
    I usually do about 1000 yards with my fins (not the huge ones but like the ones fishgutzy pictured). Using fins could be compared to using hand paddles and a buoy. They do increase resistance and I am a terrible kicker so they make kicking more productive for me and have helped my backstroke kick immensely.
  • treehugnmama
    treehugnmama Posts: 816 Member
    Ya I continued with the fins and have been loving them.

    I will have to invest in a pair like above for the spring... it is getting harder and harder to get into the unheated pool...water temp still 80 but before work air temp is brrrr and after work brrrr as sun not on the pool....I need a wet suit or a heater...I'm gonna miss the pool so much over the fall and winter! Not sure how to replace all the water exercises I do with land ones as I need the boy any the water gives me.
  • Sandra37405
    Sandra37405 Posts: 20 Member
    Water temp of 80 sounds perfect.
  • fishgutzy
    fishgutzy Posts: 2,807 Member
    Water temp of 80 sounds perfect.

    The hottest measured temp I have swam in is 88. Still did a 5km swim. But every time I picked my head up out of the water I could feel the heat coming off.
    Did a 5KM swim in a hot pool in China a few trips ago. So hot that I had to pause for few minute once because my heart rate got a bit wacky.
    80 is much nicer. The YMCA I swim at now keeps it around 79/80 in the lap pool.
    But I was loving it one Monday when the heater shut down over night. It was a cool 73 degrees. The senior that swim early didn't like it though.
  • treehugnmama
    treehugnmama Posts: 816 Member
    I like the 80 water temp it's the fall AIR temp in the am and pm (when I have time to workout) that's killing me.....it's sweatshirt weather
  • fishgutzy
    fishgutzy Posts: 2,807 Member
    I like the 80 water temp it's the fall AIR temp in the am and pm (when I have time to workout) that's killing me.....it's sweatshirt weather

    Love being in North Carolina. "fall" air doesn't hit until October. But I also swim at an indoor YMCA pool.
  • treehugnmama
    treehugnmama Posts: 816 Member
    that's nice! I'm in ontario and the aMS and pms are cold. I maybe have a week or two left and will have to switch to hiking till july
  • fishgutzy
    fishgutzy Posts: 2,807 Member
    that's nice! I'm in ontario and the aMS and pms are cold. I maybe have a week or two left and will have to switch to hiking till july

    Used to live in MA. But even that is almost tropical compared to Canada :D
  • treehugnmama
    treehugnmama Posts: 816 Member
    lol we are in thay season where it is sooooo cold in tje am and evening and Florida weather in tje 11_5 time frame
  • ruthatoy
    ruthatoy Posts: 11 Member
    treehugmama, I am in Markham Ontario. Where are you?
  • xDesertxRatx
    xDesertxRatx Posts: 80 Member
    In open water fins may benefit you more but to be honest you are better off without them in the pool unless you intend to use them every time you swim at anytime. They are only good for freestyle so if like me you alternate from freestyle to breaststroke then they are no good. Stick without is my advice.
  • treehugnmama
    treehugnmama Posts: 816 Member
    unfortunately my swimming days have come to an end till spring...I miss it so much. I replaced it with walking and hiking and haven't lost a pound since I stopped swimming in September.
  • Skipjack66
    Skipjack66 Posts: 102 Member
    unfortunately my swimming days have come to an end till spring...I miss it so much. I replaced it with walking and hiking and haven't lost a pound since I stopped swimming in September.

    Why not go to an indoor community centre city pool? I have a membership at mine, 11 bucks a month.
  • treehugnmama
    treehugnmama Posts: 816 Member
    edited November 2016
    I won't get there with the kids. I swam all spring summer fall in our pool. so now I walk or hike on my lunch and breaks. the community pool is 4 dollars a swim but the times just don't work for me. 11 bucks a month is a steal!
  • aliciamariaq
    aliciamariaq Posts: 272 Member
    So we have been using fins (and paddles) a lot lately in practice and I was thinking of this thread and then it popped up again.

    Here are a couple of links explaining why fins are good for you. I think these points are also valid for non competitive swimmers who just want to improve technique.

    Also fins are great for butterfly as well as it really helps with body position and you can really get a good "feel" for the stroke, which is really important.


    http://www.yourswimlog.com/training-swim-fins/

    http://theswimmingexpert.com/why-use-fins-or-flippers-when-swimming/

    Plus, they are fun!
  • Montepulciano
    Montepulciano Posts: 845 Member
    So much fun! :)
  • girlwithcurls2
    girlwithcurls2 Posts: 2,281 Member
    @aliciamariaq , I LOVE the links! Thank you for that! I have fins, but I wasn't sure what I was supposed to be feeling. Turns out, I've been feeling what I should. I need to use them more though. And now I will. :blush:
  • treehugnmama
    treehugnmama Posts: 816 Member
    I used my fins all summer and got a great workout with them....can't wait to get back to it.

    links were super helpful!