Do people lose weight via swimming?

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Replies

  • FireRox21
    FireRox21 Posts: 424 Member
    I have been a swimmer for 16 years. I started in college and swam 2 years for my college team. I now compete with US Masters Swimming. Nope, never lost a pound. All of my workouts now average 2500-3000 meters daily. I was swimming 5 days a week, but a few months ago, switched it up to include Zumba, a weight lifting program and other cardio.

    It wasn't until I started dryland training that I saw ANY weight loss success. Also, the fitter I got out of the water, the less calories I burned in the water. All of my workouts include all four strokes, (I am an IM'er) and usually take an hour to complete.

    So from a long time swimmer...no, you can't lose weight from swimming alone. You truly do need other cardio AND weight training. I can't stress the need for weight training enough!!!
  • underwater77
    underwater77 Posts: 331 Member
    I log my swimming calories according to MFP but I try not toeat them back because I know they aren't accurate and I don't have a HRM that I can wear in the pool. I swam 4000 meters today, but only about half of it was really "hard" - the rest is just a relaxing way to get a little exercise, a little sun, and some endurance swims in. Because I was raised a swimmer and never really stopped, it isn't a challenging workout for ME. But when I swim with people who aren't familiar or those who have less than stellar technique, it's a hell of a workout. You can certainly lose weight with swimming, but I will say that most of the swimmers I swam with never were really thin - but they were in the best shape of anyone I know - to this day. I think that swimming helps every other form of exercise I do.
  • spaghetti93
    spaghetti93 Posts: 140 Member
    Swimming is fantastic exercise, but it depends what approach you take. When I was on a swim team I gained weight but stayed the same size since I put on muscle - but this is the program my coach designed for us. I definitely ate tons more too.
    If you're swimming more recreationally, and keep track of calories burned/consumed, you can definitely lose weight.
  • mdburciaga
    mdburciaga Posts: 1
    Swimming is the best excersise you can get.. It's the one sport that works out every muscle in your body.. But try switching it up a few days a week.. Do a class at your gym, or if your not a member, than go on a hike, ride a bike, jog.. You get the point. But take advantage of this app and try a 1200 calorie diet.. Trust me, it's enough to eat good and stay healthy.. I lost 11 pounds and it's week two.. It's total discipline combined with determination. Good luck!
  • a2o3
    a2o3 Posts: 11
    I watched a study about it on Discovery Channel once so the reliability of my info is up to your discretion, but according to the experiment, high intensity swimming does burn INSANE amounts of fat. But don't expect the scales to tip too much because swimming also packs on quite a bit of muscle.
  • elyseology
    elyseology Posts: 44 Member
    I do swimming for my fitness and have not been losing weight. I invested in a heart rate monitor (polar ft4), turns out I wasn't working NEARLY as hard as I thought I was. Those ridiculous calories MFP had been giving me for my swim workout had been completely wrong. Now I make sure I keep my heart rate in between the zone and log the calories burned that my Polar reads out. I highly suggest you invest as well, best decision I ever made!! :)
    that zone is a useless indicator of anything. push yourself hard and aim to improve every workout.

    Maybe some of us, like myself, need that "zone goal" to strive for in order "push ourselves".
  • elyseology
    elyseology Posts: 44 Member
    I watched a study about it on Discovery Channel once so the reliability of my info is up to your discretion, but according to the experiment, high intensity swimming does burn INSANE amounts of fat. But don't expect the scales to tip too much because swimming also packs on quite a bit of muscle.

    Wow! Really great to know! Might explain a lot to my situation. Thanks for sharing! :smile:
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
    So from a long time swimmer...no, you can't lose weight from swimming alone.
    What a strange statement. Of course you can swimming is like any other exercise if you have the calorie deficit you will lose weight.
  • SanteMulberry
    SanteMulberry Posts: 3,202 Member
    I have been a swimmer for 16 years. I started in college and swam 2 years for my college team. I now compete with US Masters Swimming. Nope, never lost a pound. All of my workouts now average 2500-3000 meters daily. I was swimming 5 days a week, but a few months ago, switched it up to include Zumba, a weight lifting program and other cardio.

    It wasn't until I started dryland training that I saw ANY weight loss success. Also, the fitter I got out of the water, the less calories I burned in the water. All of my workouts include all four strokes, (I am an IM'er) and usually take an hour to complete.

    So from a long time swimmer...no, you can't lose weight from swimming alone. You truly do need other cardio AND weight training. I can't stress the need for weight training enough!!!

    Years ago, I used to do lap swimming for exercise, and I felt great but never lost any weight. Now, I have been doing water exercise with a class, since last fall and find that it is a pretty good cardio workout--more so than lap swimming (plus, I find it a lot less boring than lap swimming). You are right about the weight training! Since I added weight training to my regimen, I'm losing a lot more body fat! :smile:
  • mikeatmichael
    mikeatmichael Posts: 92 Member
    Here's another question for the swimmers.

    I love swimming, I love being in the water. But I don't have the stamina to swim for 30 solid minutes. I can do 10 minutes. Then I'm physically exhausted, and mentally losing my concentration. So I usually do 10 minutes, then sit and read my book, then 10 minutes, then read, then 10 more minutes. It still adds up to 30, obviously. But is it still an effective workout? Should I push myself to go longer, or is this just fine? It's not the only cardio or strength I get, but I like to do it once or twice a week in the spring/summer.

    You just need to build up the stamina. Count how many laps you do in the first 10 minutes. Then the next time do a couple more in the first two sets and deduct them from the third set. When you're comfortable with that do it again. Keep doing that and in a short time you'll be doing the same amount of laps in two sets and then in one. The increased stamina is one of the greatest benefits of lap swimming.
  • Rkebler12
    Rkebler12 Posts: 1
    I don't know why everyone keeps saying that you can't lose weight swimming because its definitely possible. In high school I was on the swim team for 3 years and I can tell u that I lost a tremendous amount of weight. Those looking for weight loss with a leisurely swim your going to have to swim for more than an hour. I would say maybe 2 1/2 hrs at least. I used to swim 5 days a week for 3 hrs every practice doing interval swimming, distance, and hell even just kicking. I can tell you now I lost 80 lbs of "FAT" in two months but gained 30 lbs of lean muscle. Plus if u want to lose weight swimming you can't give into what my team called the swimmers my munchies where you feel like you need to eat a lot to survive because its not true actually that's your body trying to hold onto the weight that you just burned. Also if your not gasping for air after a set your not going hard enough, and you won't burn until u hit "the wall" it's the point where you e burned all the calories that you have eaten and your transitioning to burning straight fat and its where most people give up. At that point if your serious you can't give up. Also you should be drinking about 2 liters of water every 2 1/2 hr workout. Anyone that says you can't lose be it a veteran swimmer or not is crazy and probly over eats all the time so they don't burn anything off. I know it can happen cause I did it I went from a fat 200 lb 5 ft tubby 38% body fat to 5 ft 5, 145 lbs 10% body fat in two 1/2 months. By the way I did it without killing myself or starving myself or even stop eating what I like I just ate a little less at each meal. Hope this helps some people. Plus if you don't know what your talking about and you don't have any good advice to contribute and just want to be a critic please don't write cause its not helping anyone people want results and motivation not some downer that's trying to crush their dreams of being what they want to be and looking the way they want to just because you think it's fun.
  • SanteMulberry
    SanteMulberry Posts: 3,202 Member
    Curious if anyone has successfully lost weight with diet and swimming. I am swimming about 4 times a week for 45 minutes straight each time and am seeing limited success.

    There are two reasons why swimming may not cause much weight loss. The first is that swimming is designed to be very efficient at moving a person through the water rather than against the water. In contrast, something like aquacize is designed to be "inefficient"--forcing one to move their bulk against the water. The bigger you are, the harder you have to work. (As you get smaller, you must go faster to get the same effect. )

    The second reason is that the cold water and exercise combine to make you REALLY hungry after being in the pool and people tend to eat more than they think. There's a lady in my aquacize class who always promotes going for doughnuts and coffee to her friends after their exercise session. Then they wonder why they are not losing weight. :laugh:
  • SunshineNo1
    SunshineNo1 Posts: 35 Member
    I am not a regular swimmer but I would like to go for swimming regularly. Why? Because it builds up your stamina like anything. Its amazing how much stamina and flexibility your body gains after regular swimming. I lived in 3rd floor at the time I went back to swimming. I used to go out of breath every single day to climb the stairs and get easily tired. But after swimming just for a month, I gained so much stamina that climbing stairs of 10 floors seems easy to me. I used to also get sound sleep no matter what for 8 hours and that kept me active with more energy throughout the day. I was even able to do my workouts without getting tired.

    Swimming is amazing. You will lose weight a little bit but more than that its the strength and stamina you will gain.

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