Swimming

Irish120
Irish120 Posts: 2
in Fitness and Exercise
I was thinking of starting swimming but I've read that it might not be that effective for weight loss. Does anyone here swim as one of their forms of exercise and how do they find it, or how do they find the results?

Replies

  • JusticeGirl25
    JusticeGirl25 Posts: 703 Member
    I go swim at least once a week. If you can swim laps like what I do, helps build endurance and gets my arms and legs more stronger.
  • jennalday1
    jennalday1 Posts: 5 Member
    I swam 4 times this week, my first week of being serious about working out, love to swim and its free for me.
  • jamiek917
    jamiek917 Posts: 610 Member
    its one of the best total-body workouts around
  • Madame_Goldbricker
    Madame_Goldbricker Posts: 1,625 Member
    I swim a couple of times a week just to mix up my routine a little. If you're looking for something a bit more intensive why not try an aqua aerobics or aqua zumba class instead? but honestly it's more down to how much you push it for weight loss. Oh side note apparently the worse your form the more calories you burn!
  • Alidecker
    Alidecker Posts: 1,262 Member
    I swim once a week, not sure if it is great for weigh lose, but it is great for the body. I swim laps - usually end up doing 2000 yards, feels good, easy on the body after a lot of weight lifting during the week.
  • phoo513
    phoo513 Posts: 231 Member
    I do water aerobics 5 or 6 times a week, 50 minute sessions. It really has helped me. I live in a senior community w/ many opportunities for people to get out and exercise. The very fittest people around here are the people who swim laps daily or who run/bike daily. We have one delightful woman who is close to 90 who worked as a body double in the movies when she was young, and she looks fabulous. She even swims in the winter! So I strongly encourage you to swim, swim, swim.
  • h9dlb
    h9dlb Posts: 243 Member
    yes its a good exercise for increasing endurance and fitness, but other exercise is better for weight loss. It's to do with being in cold water.
  • Sqeekyjojo
    Sqeekyjojo Posts: 704 Member
    It's not great for weight loss if the coolness of the water makes you decide to head for the chip shop as soon as you walk out the door and you act on it. However, if you eat from boredom, it makes for a couple of hours where it's actually pretty much impossible to eat anything. And any exercise is better for you than no exercise.

    In any case, fat loss is about your food choices, not so much about your exercise level: if you eat as much or more than you expend, it doesn't matter what exercise you do, at most you will add muscle.



    Swimming is great. It protects sore joints, allows for higher intensity exercise when it's too hot to be outside, increases stamina and flexibility and relaxes you. What's not to like about it?
  • NaomiJFoster
    NaomiJFoster Posts: 1,450 Member
    I've been keeping my heart rate monitor watch on a small table at the edge of the pool. I check my heart rate every other lap. It's usually right around 140, which is pretty similar to where I am for some of my cardio workouts. But I also know that the buoyancy and temperature of the water have to factor into the equation somehow. I don't know, it confuses me. But whatever...either way, I know that when I finish 20 laps (which is about 20 minutes), I'm very short of breath, and every single muscle in my body is shaky or tingly. Will it help me lose weight? I don't know. Is it doing something good for my body? I believe that it absolutely is. I can swim on days when my muscles are aching from other exercises, I can swim on days when I don't feel like bouncing all over the room, I can swim when my problematic joints are 'acting up.' I mix it up though, I'm not relying on swimming only. I swim once or twice a week, and do other cardio and strength workouts on other days.
  • SwimBikeRunMama
    SwimBikeRunMama Posts: 32
    I primarily run, but I also am into triathlon, so I do swim a couple of times a week. It's been part of my weight loss, but it's not the primary exercise in my regimen.

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