Swimming

bsmith404

I was told I can not run anymore due to me injuring my back and finding out I have degenerative disc disease and to try swimming, cycling, pilates, etc.

So i've been doing pilates and swimming because sometimes cycling still hurts my back. Well i've been researching swimming and am getting conflicting answers.

Some say it's a good exercise but won't burn a lot of calories and some say it's good exercise and will burn calories.

Anybody do low impact exercises such as swimming and pilates and seen a difference in your weight. Running just had me so toned and i'm trying to see if I will get the same results with low impact exercise.

Also i'm swimming in my community pool during the summer and sometimes it's not so warm so I'm not sure if thats good for the back as the pool at the gym is warmer but why drive 20minutes when I can walk 2 minutes.

Also swimming drains me. Whenever I swim i'm just exhausted the rest of the day that I actually skip my next session.

Any thoughts?

broox80

I swim almost every night and can tell that I am losing inches like crazy!! I have lost weight on the scale too, but the inches are what is more noticeable. Just wish I had the pool open for more than 3 months

twinketta

Swimming is a fantastic exercise. Your whole body is supported and natural. You are resistance training depending on the stroke you take.

Of course, the calories you use will depend on the amount of energy you use while swimming.

With the degenerative disc then you need to put as much effort into a low impact exercise as possible and swimming, Pilates, yoga are going to help.

IMHO swimming is the most supportive

lithezebra

Swimming is like any other kind of exercise, in that the harder you work, the more you burn. Sidestroke, for example, requires less effort than butterfly or crawl, and, of course, how fast you can swim makes a difference too. I burn around 400 calories doing an hour of sidestroke, which is comparable to what I burn doing other kinds of moderate exercise. I feel energized after swimming, but I do feel very hungry, probably out of proportion with how many calories I burned. I think that the hunger comes from getting cold, and might be why swimming doesn't have the best reputation as an exercise for weight loss.

AJ_G

Swimming is probably the best cardiovascular exercise available. It is full body so that increases calorie burn over an exercise like cycling. It also forces you to control your breathing which can increase heart rate during swimming which is good for cardiovascular exercise. It is also very low impact so you don't have to worry about joint problems or spinal problems (unless you hit your head on the bottom of the pool)

bsmith404

I do love water aerobics. This one instructor had us doing circuits in the water with pool equipment and it felt like I was lifting weights. Who knew you could be huffing and puffing in a water aerobics class. I'm learning to get over the fact I can't run and am actually enjoying swimming and pilates. I've never done neither before I injured myself.

Thanks for the great feedback about swimming.

twinketta

You just get into that swimming girlie!!!

Listen to the instructor

dbmata

Swimming is very hard.