Can't lose weight by swimming?

Phill2488

I hear alot of people say this but i don't understand how an exercise that can burn 400-600 calories in an hour and is known for working every muscle in the body be ineffective for losing weight.

cmriverside

That's silly. Don't listen to those people.

noelkm67

Swimming is my main form of exercise and I'm losing! Don't listen to them.

ishtar13

Many years ago when swimming was my only exercise, I lost over 20 lbs in 3-4 months.

Phill2488

I also heard that swimming makes you bulky but i'm on a deficit so i won't get bulky if i mix that with swimming right?

jcmartin0313

Have you ever seen a fat competitive swimmer??

Phill2488

Also does swimming cause temporary weight gain when you first start doing it?

MissesJai

Have you ever seen a fat competitive swimmer??

BAM. Swimming is highly effective...

EvanKeel

It's possible people's definition of swimming may vary. If you like to do a lap or two, chat with a friend for a few minutes, and then call it a day after 20 minutes of that, I can see why someone might have trouble losing weight.

Alternatively, swimming *can* make me very hungry by comparison to say, jogging. it's important that I really pay attention to calorie counting on those days when I do happen to swim. So perhaps they're eating more because of the workout?

iWaffle

I hear alot of people say this but i don't understand how an exercise that can burn 400-600 calories in an hour and is known for working every muscle in the body be ineffective for losing weight.

Do a Google image search for Michael Phelps. Case closed.

Phill2488

I usually go swimming for about 45-60 minutes a day and i go by myself so nobody is around to distract me and i'm very carefull about the amount of food i eat after i swim, and if i feel hungry i just drink a glass of water and that always helped me. I'm also on a deficit if that helps

sapalee

I've never heard such nonsense. And as a previous competitive swimmer I have never known a "bulky" swimmer. I do second the opinion that swimming makes me HONGRY and what some people call swimming for exercise is a joke. All about the effort and intensity.

Keep it up

slim104

I swim 4 0r 5 times a week and i have lost almost 30lbs in just over 6 weeks.

kgprice11

Yes swimming makes you lose weight however overtime you hit a plateau where you just start building muscle after losing all of the fat off your body therefore your muscle mass is greater than your fat mass Swimming is very good for you

Roadie2000

I hear alot of people say this but i don't understand how an exercise that can burn 400-600 calories in an hour and is known for working every muscle in the body be ineffective for losing weight.

Dumbest thing I've ever heard, you can lose weight watching TV if you are in a calorie deficit.

Also does swimming cause temporary weight gain when you first start doing it?

Probably.

There are also some theories that you will burn a ton of calories just being in the water for an extended period of time. Something about heat loss in water being way more than it is in air, and that's why Michael Phelps has to eat so many calories when he trains.

lizziebeth1028

Losing weight is all about staying within a calorie deficit. Anyway physical way you achieve that deficit whether it's, walking, running, swimming, dancing, jumping on a trampoline, biking, hiking, climbing, gardening, moving furniture ect ect ect...you get my drift is awesome. Moving and staying active is so beneficial!! But it is also possible to lose weight without any exercise at all by just restricting your calorie intake to stay in deficit. Long story short...who ever told you you can't lose weight by swimming is a nincompoop!!!

RuthieCass

I hear alot of people say this but i don't understand how an exercise that can burn 400-600 calories in an hour and is known for working every muscle in the body be ineffective for losing weight.

Do a Google image search for Michael Phelps. Case closed.

OP, of course swimming can help you lose weight. But many people think that exercise is not the best tool for weight loss since most people are limited in the number of calories they can burn daily by time constraints, fitness level, and just not being able to eat enough to fuel such workouts. But I think that an estimate of 400-600 calories per hour is an overestimate for most people. And most people will not be able to swim a full hour nonstop at a pace to sustain a high burn. Are you swimming laps nonstop with no resting, at a relatively fast pace? If so then you might be burning that much. I know when I used to swim occasionally, I had to rest frequently because it was tiring (and I was fairly fit at that time) so there was no way I was burning that much. And I'm not knocking swimming.

Anyhow, I'm not really on board with the Phelps example. He trains 5 hours a day, 7 days a week. (I'm not a stalker, he just went to my school.) It's kind of useless to compare yourself to elite athletes when it comes to ideas to lose weight. Unless you are an elite athlete, you can't really expect to depend on exercise to make you thin. Because most people simply don't have the time, food fuel, and energy to exercise like Michael Phelps. And this goes for any exercise, not just swimming.

roypetitfils

I've lost over 300 pounds in the last 20 years without surgery. I've done it by focusing on three things, in this order of priority:
1. Motivation (Why?) Victor Frankyl, the Austrian Psychiatrist who survived the concentration camp, Auschwitz, said, "One can deal with any "how" as long as s/he possesses a strong enough "why". If you "why for losing weight is strong enough, your "how" will take care of itself. For ten years I wrote my "why" down every day.
2. Exercise: I usually had/have best results in 45-60 min of exercise 5-7 days a week. These days I'm swimming mostly. I've run, lifted weights, done spinning and other classes. At 40 my joints are shot and need low impact. I found that when I exercise, its easier to monitor my food intake.
3. Diet: The reality is, in the beginning, you don't need to do ALOT to lose weight and get results. Doing a few things consistently will work. When I first started losing weight all I did was stop eating fried food, cut out sugar sodas and walked around the block. The body adjusts, grows, shrinks, etc in response to the stress and then you have to change it up again. I've followed up by monitoring carbs, calories, eating times, etc.

Swimming: I've read research saying that swimming is effective, but... you must be watchful of how much you eat after swimming. In reality I've found that I'm hungrier after an hour of swimming than after an hour and a half of running. I burned far more calories running but was "hungrier" after swimming. The research I read suggests that unless you're swimming in really warm water, the water in most lap pools literally SUCKS the heat from your body's core. The hunger after swimming is often related to the body's need to warm itself, and food is one way to do that. Without a doubt, swimming is the best exercise (for my mind and body) I've ever done. It is gentle on my joints and engages a huge large cross section of muscle mass in my body. I've lost 60 pounds in the last year from swimming (as my only exercise). I read TOTAL IMMERSION and have practiced daily and LOVE IT!

Yogi_Carl

On the days when I swim in open water - lakes, rivers or the sea - I definitely feel the need to eat more protein and carbs and don't put any extra weight on so I guess the cold water demands more energy to keep the body going. I make sure on the days I do pool swims I don't eat quite so much - warmer water in comparison.

I am expecting some muscle growth as I am a relative newbie in the water but expect to see more definition as the fat is burned off rather than because my muscles have grown significantly, but that is what I want for myself so that's cool.

Swimming - yeah, go for it!

Beautifulbridgittlee7

Swimming can burn more than 600 calories an hour, depends on your weight and intensity, and how long you do it for.

tracydr

I've noticed women swimmers have quite muscular bodies. Maybe people misunderstand and think, because they aren't twigs like runners that it doesn't help weight loss?
I can lose weight with swimming, when I do laps for 30-45 minutes almost non-stop. In fact, I need to get my butt back to the pool!
When we go on scuba trips I always lose weight, despite eating and drinking anything I want. Of course, scuba does involve some heavy lifting, especially when doing it from shore like we normally do. I'm also diving 3-5 hours per day on those trips.
The only thing that I've found that was better is when I foxhunt. If I go on a trip where we hunt everyday for 3-5 days, I can eat literally, like a horse! Quite a change from the 1200 calories that I can barely see a change on my scale normally.
I wasn't able to dive or ride this past year due to illness and I packed on the weight.

tracydr

I've lost over 300 pounds in the last 20 years without surgery. I've done it by focusing on three things, in this order of priority:
1. Motivation (Why?) Victor Frankyl, the Austrian Psychiatrist who survived the concentration camp, Auschwitz, said, "One can deal with any "how" as long as s/he possesses a strong enough "why". If you "why for losing weight is strong enough, your "how" will take care of itself. For ten years I wrote my "why" down every day.
2. Exercise: I usually had/have best results in 45-60 min of exercise 5-7 days a week. These days I'm swimming mostly. I've run, lifted weights, done spinning and other classes. At 40 my joints are shot and need low impact. I found that when I exercise, its easier to monitor my food intake.
3. Diet: The reality is, in the beginning, you don't need to do ALOT to lose weight and get results. Doing a few things consistently will work. When I first started losing weight all I did was stop eating fried food, cut out sugar sodas and walked around the block. The body adjusts, grows, shrinks, etc in response to the stress and then you have to change it up again. I've followed up by monitoring carbs, calories, eating times, etc.

Swimming: I've read research saying that swimming is effective, but... you must be watchful of how much you eat after swimming. In reality I've found that I'm hungrier after an hour of swimming than after an hour and a half of running. I burned far more calories running but was "hungrier" after swimming. The research I read suggests that unless you're swimming in really warm water, the water in most lap pools literally SUCKS the heat from your body's core. The hunger after swimming is often related to the body's need to warm itself, and food is one way to do that. Without a doubt, swimming is the best exercise (for my mind and body) I've ever done. It is gentle on my joints and engages a huge large cross section of muscle mass in my body. I've lost 60 pounds in the last year from swimming (as my only exercise). I read TOTAL IMMERSION and have practiced daily and LOVE IT!

Amazing! Great motivation!

VelveteenArabian

I hear alot of people say this but i don't understand how an exercise that can burn 400-600 calories in an hour and is known for working every muscle in the body be ineffective for losing weight.

They're probably eating way more than they should because they think the swimming will take care of it.

RockWarrior84

If a stoner like Michael Phelps can have the munchies and stay in shape then anyone can lose weight :drinker: :drinker:

Roaringgael

Exercise is exercise.
Swimming is terrific exercise. I swim (currently) 2.3 kms / 46 laps x 6 times a week. Each session takes around 60 - 70 minutes of continuous swimming.
I am losing weight every week.
If you want to use exercise to lose you have to do a fair bit of it.
I eat 30% below my TDEE because I have a large amount to lose.
I sometimes eat back part of my exercise calories because - as you can imagine I get hungry!
I listen to my body now, I eat when I'm physically hungry.
I'm 55 years old so don't need as many calories as a younger person - I use my TDEE to calculate everything.

Swimming is the greatest thing that's ever happened to me.

wardamnirish

I hear alot of people say this but i don't understand how an exercise that can burn 400-600 calories in an hour and is known for working every muscle in the body be ineffective for losing weight.

They're probably eating way more than they should because they think the swimming will take care of it.

I agree. Even if your putting in lots of yardage, it's really easy to overeat. A hard swim workout can definitely give me the munchies.