Dumb swimming question
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Replies
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Being slimmer in no way makes swimming harder. Practice will mean you improve.0
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I second taking lessons. I've been swimming for 22 yrs. It's true lessons are expensive, but inform yourself at your pool. There are usually family plans, discount specials, group learning, or other ways to save. You'll get more bang for your buck if you learn to swim now instead of waiting. If all else fails get on youtube to try and learn some technique. Have fun.3 -
It can depend where you carry your fat. I coach swimming for triathlon, and often men have more difficulty with their body position than women. They have slim and muscular legs from running and cycling, giving them less lower body buoyancy than women who have more fat on their lower body. It's more likely to be as a result of some technical breakdown (breathing, head position, "pushing down" in the water), but if you combine a technical flaw and low body fat, then yes you may "get away" with more with more fat on the lower limbs. Correcting the technical issue will resolve the problem, though. Most children have low BF, and as someone else said, so do professional swimmers, and they manage just fine...1
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After a loss of 15 lbs in 4 months, I have seen no difference in my swimming speed. (3 or 4x a week with a master's group). Maybe a little less bouyancy, but offset by not hauling a bunch of useless fat around. In my masters club, there are plenty of super fast swimmers in a whole range of body types.2
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I should also add that natural bouyancy is only useful to the beginner swimmer. Intermediate and advanced swimmers will figure out a good streamline body position regardless of body fat.3
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see if you can work a deal with the people working with your daughter if they will do a discounted rate for 4 private lessons? they worst they can say is no- and you're already a customer so they want to make you happy.4
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I (re)started swimming as part of my initial weight loss and it was very effective. I had competed as a middle teen and had the basics down, just no endurance. Will echo all the good advice here. You will see an increase in efficiency and speed with better technique. I watched a lot of the videos from Total Immersion and others to make form improvements. I also followed the 0 to 1650 swim plan to build endurance and was able to do a non-stop full mile (a little more, at 1800 yards) at the end of six weeks. I need to get back in the pool!3
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As i said I'm new to swimming laps.
I make sure I get the lane next to the pool wall. That way the faster swimmers tend to prefer the middle lanes. I can also do a mix of strokes rather than just freestyle.
Don't stress and make it fun.3
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