Swimming after surgery ?

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goalie234
goalie234 Posts: 97 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi ,
I have been on mfp before and had lost about 15 pounds doing moderate exercise at the gym and diet .
Now fast forward 3 years I have regained the weight , had a baby , had 3 surgeries ( caesarean , gall bladder surgery , acl replair of the knee ).

I'm just 4 months post delivery and surgery hence looking for mild exercises .

I have started swimming 1 hour everyday doing light to moderate pace swimming for 45-60 mins .
I prefer swimming as it helps me handle the stress as well .

If anyone could tell me if that's a good plan to lose weight ?

Or should I mix cardio and weights at gym with swimming ? How many days of each ?

So if someone could give me a good routine to follow so to help me lose weight ?

Thank you

Ps -I cannot really go full swing at the gym for now just basics .

Replies

  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
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    Weigh loss is about consuming fewer calories than your body is using.

    Exercise is great but you need to watch how many calories you consume. You won't lose weight if you still take in more calories than you use.

    Are you logging your calorie intake? Using a food scale for solids? Double-checking the MFP database entries for nutritional information accuracy?
  • goalie234
    goalie234 Posts: 97 Member
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    Yes I am logging . But was wondering if swimming didn't burn as many calories as a gym workout or vice versa ? How to combine the two ?
  • dancing_daisy
    dancing_daisy Posts: 162 Member
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    Swimming is a great work out, it works alot of muscles but puts less pressure on the likes of your joints. Scar tissue is very durable but swimming may be good at first to stop any unnecessary movement from jumping up and down. Swimming burns a lot of calories, more so in less time than most of the gym equipment I use but then it would depend what equipment you were using and how.
    I would give warning though; I scaled back my swimming as I found it significantly increased my appetite. Apparently, ‘swimmers appetite' really is a thing.

    What are you trying to combine? Swimming and gym work? Or exercise and calorie consumption?
  • mitch16
    mitch16 Posts: 2,113 Member
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    You're 4 months out from the ACL repair? Did you orthopaed/PT clear you for full swimming? Swim kicks (even freestyle) are open chain kinetic and are pretty hard on the ACL.

    (I had ACL surgery in May and my orthopaed (highly regarded in his field here in the US) has only cleared me for swimming if I use a pull buoy (no kicks).)
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
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    swimming is a fantastic form of exercise, and is very multi-faceted. you can push yourself hard for an anaerobic workout, it's fantastic cardio, and can be used for many people to recover from surgery or injuries because of it's extremely low impact.

    but like others said, you should be cleared by your doctor for any kind of training.
  • goalie234
    goalie234 Posts: 97 Member
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    dancing_daisy wrote: »
    Swimming is a great work out, it works alot of muscles but puts less pressure on the likes of your joints. Scar tissue is very durable but swimming may be good at first to stop any unnecessary movement from jumping up and down. Swimming burns a lot of calories, more so in less time than most of the gym equipment I use but then it would depend what equipment you were using and how.
    I would give warning though; I scaled back my swimming as I found it significantly increased my appetite. Apparently, ‘swimmers appetite' really is a thing.

    What are you trying to combine? Swimming and gym work? Or exercise and calorie consumption?


    Yes trying to combine gym and swimming ..
    I used to do 30 mins cardio and 30 mins weights .
    So if I were to combine gym and swimming post surgery how would an ideal week look like ?

    3 days swimming 3 days weights at gym etc ?
  • goalie234
    goalie234 Posts: 97 Member
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    mitch16 wrote: »
    You're 4 months out from the ACL repair? Did you orthopaed/PT clear you for full swimming? Swim kicks (even freestyle) are open chain kinetic and are pretty hard on the ACL.

    (I had ACL surgery in May and my orthopaed (highly regarded in his field here in the US) has only cleared me for swimming if I use a pull buoy (no kicks).)

    Sorry that I wasn't clear ..
    I had an acl surgery in March 2015 . Got pregnant in sept 2015 and delivered June 2016 and had caesarean then .

    I have been cleared for full exercise by my ortho for all exercises .
    My gynaecologist cleared me for all cardio and swimming .
    As for lifting weights beyond 8-10kg and doing any abdominal crunches etc I need to weight 2 more months .
  • Alidecker
    Alidecker Posts: 1,262 Member
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    dancing_daisy wrote: »
    Swimming is a great work out, it works alot of muscles but puts less pressure on the likes of your joints. Scar tissue is very durable but swimming may be good at first to stop any unnecessary movement from jumping up and down. Swimming burns a lot of calories, more so in less time than most of the gym equipment I use but then it would depend what equipment you were using and how.
    I would give warning though; I scaled back my swimming as I found it significantly increased my appetite. Apparently, ‘swimmers appetite' really is a thing.

    What are you trying to combine? Swimming and gym work? Or exercise and calorie consumption?

    "Swimmers appetite" is definitely a thing for me. I only do it once a week at this point, unless I sign up for a triathlon, then I have to go a little more. I have found that if I swim in the evenings instead of the mornings, the appetite isn't as bad...although maybe it's because I eat a late dinner and don't stay up too late. If I go on the morning, I have all day to be hungry...like yesterday, it was a bad one.
  • Elise4270
    Elise4270 Posts: 8,375 Member
    edited October 2016
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    I think you can definitely keep your weight in check by swimming. If your up to adding more than swimming or think your not getting out of it what you want. Then add something more vigorous once a week. Basically an hour of moderate exercise burns the same no matter what your doing. Oh don't discount adding a weight day or two!

    I had hip surgery 4 months ago and swimming helps burn enough to keep me on track. I hate the old people pool though. Enjoy!
  • lizandrashaw
    lizandrashaw Posts: 154 Member
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    One great way to burn more calories swimming is by including interval sprints in the workout. Here are some links:
    http://www.shape.com/fitness/workouts/beat-winter-blues-60-minute-interval-swimming-workout
    http://watchfit.com/exercise/hiit-swimming-workout/
    You can find more by googling swimming interval sprints. Adapt the suggestions to your current fitness level and have fun!

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