Has anyone lost weight swimming laps??

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i have just started doing the 30 day shred today and i am also getting a gym/swim membership tonight. I love swimming and was wondering if anyone has lost weight and toned up from swimming laps?

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  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    Yes, swimming is wonderful full body exercise.
  • heykatieben
    heykatieben Posts: 398 Member
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    I got really tan swimming laps outside... so tan that people at a conference didn't recognize me. That was fun. :)
  • sarahrichards81
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    Swimming is hard for cardio I think because you don't get hot which means there is less of a gauge to how hard you are working. Also, I don't think a lot of people push themselves enough whilst swimming. If you are doing swimming as your main weight loss activity don't just swim endlessly at the same pace for an hour. Try doing some speed work and mix it in. A good starter would be:

    10 laps moderate pace to warm up
    1 lap as fast as you can / 1 lap moderate pae - Repeat 5 times
    5 laps legs only (use a float in your arms)
    5 laps arms only (use a float between your legs)
    1 lap as fast as you can / 1 lap moderate pae - Repeat 5 times
    10 laps cool down.

    Adjust the number of laps as per how long you want to swim for. If you google there are loads of swim programmes you can find.

    I used a similar programme to this to train for a 5km Open Water swim last year and lost a bit of weight (maybe 7lbs) but my arms were insanely toned and my body fat really plummeted.

    Hope this helps - good luck

    Sarah
  • j75j75
    j75j75 Posts: 854 Member
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    You may also want to try alternating your breathes per lap. Try doing a 200 meter free, do 1 breathe every 3 strokes for the first 50, 1 breathe every 5 strokes for the next 50, and so on.
  • sincaitjrob
    sincaitjrob Posts: 9 Member
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    swiming is brilliant, I cant afford to go at the moment but when I was loosing weight last year I was swimming 30 mins 3 times a week as well as walking 1hour a day and healthy eating, I was loosing 2lbs a week!!
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
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    Swimming is fantastic exercise and as long as you're in a calorie deficit you can lose weight while doing it. Your eating plan is more important than your exercise plan
  • Alex_is_Hawks
    Alex_is_Hawks Posts: 3,499 Member
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    Swimming is fantastic exercise and as long as you're in a calorie deficit you can lose weight while doing it. Your rating plan is more important than your exercise plan

    he means eating plan not rating plan...he's on an iphone and it's trying to kill him out of frustration.
  • MireyGal76
    MireyGal76 Posts: 7,334 Member
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    I used to swim three miles forward crawl a week (a mile each day m - w - f). While I didn't notice a significant weight loss, I did see great progress in muscle tone.

    The only thing to remember is to push hard - I would finish my workout in the pool out of breath and exhausted.
  • j75j75
    j75j75 Posts: 854 Member
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    Swimming is fantastic exercise and as long as you're in a calorie deficit you can lose weight while doing it. Your rating plan is more important than your exercise plan

    he means eating plan not rating plan...he's on an iphone and it's trying to kill him out of frustration.

    LMAO!!