Swimming replacements?

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stellacaldwell
stellacaldwell Posts: 2
in Fitness and Exercise
I currently swim five times a week for 2 1/2 hours a day and will be starting up Saturday mornings for 2 1/2 hours soon again. If I were to quit swimming what types of activities would I need to replace the excessive I'm no longer getting? Would running twice and week and yoga twice a week suffice or would more be needed?

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  • stellacaldwell
    stellacaldwell Posts: 2
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    Bumping this topic because no one has replied yet????
  • ashenriver
    ashenriver Posts: 498 Member
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    That is a lot of activity that you will need to be replacing. I do not think running and yoga twice a week will be able to replace that calorie expenditure of hours of swimming 6 times a week.

    It will take a lot of trial and error I think before you find the right combination of calorie intake and exercise. If you decrease your exercise you will not be able to eat as much as you do now.

    Good luck
  • synchrohobbit
    synchrohobbit Posts: 58 Member
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    Are you stopping because you no longer enjoy swimming, or just want to get out of competing? I found I like swimming much, much more when there was no longer that pressure, and I know I'm in better shape than ever. If you are trying to do an exact trade for 15 hours of swimming a week, you would have to do 15 hours of cardio of something else. But after high school/college athletics, it is usually reasonable to drop it down a least a little.
  • No_Finish_Line
    No_Finish_Line Posts: 3,661 Member
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    if your going to a college with a swim team, they might let you come to practice even if your not on the team. or you could just swim on your own.

    were you a sprinter or a distance swimmer?

    you could try to use a exercise calories calculator to see about how many you were burning and then plug in your alternatives and see how close they are.

    personally i'd say do the running and some HIIT and/or weights on top of it and you should be just fine.

    If you are worried about gaining weight, you wont as long as you eat accordingly.
  • jmt08c
    jmt08c Posts: 343 Member
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    I swam competitively for 18 years and also at FSU while I attended. Let me tell you...it is almost impossible to "replace" what swimming 6 days a week does for you. I've seen more swimmers gain weight after stopping than almost any other athlete because of what our caloric intake used to be. If you want to continue to eat like a horse then continue to swim.

    As far as keeping in shape goes-any type of cardio with resistance training will keep you looking physically fit and toned, just modify caloric intake.

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