To swim or not to swim?

[img]. To swim or not to swim. Low impact does not mean zero impact. https://www.bucknell.edu/athletics/recreation-services/swimming-information http://bmhmag.com/what-swimming-can-do-for-mental-health/ "Swimming is also great for the mental health and wellbeing. It can be a relaxing and meditative exercise, it reduces stress.[/img]Weightlessness of water can have a calming effect on the mind, and it helps provide a distraction from life to improve mindfulness. And, for many people, it can be readily accessible without high gym fees or lots of equipment."



"A close friend of mine likes to swim. She prefers ocean swimming. An hour or so of swimming against waves in the open water is something she finds challenging physically and mentally. She was telling about it and I shook my head and admitted that it wasn’t for me. She laughed and said it didn’t have to be for me. "

I swim regularly and do not experience any more hunger than after other forms of exercise. Note that it takes some time to work up swimming technique and it really helps to have stroke advice. It's amazing how you think you are doing it exactly as on youtube, then the coach takes a video on their phone and shows it to you...yikes!

Also, the muscles specific to swimming take a while to build up, so at first it's hard to get your HR up.

The best overall approach is to join a master's team. Or, if your pool doesn't have one, start one!

I'm not especially hungry after I swim but what I do tend to do when I swim is swim in the morning and eat my usual breakfast right after. In reality that's true for when I run as well (though there's a bit more of a break between the two because of logistical issues), but I'm rarely ravenous after I swim.

Mari22na wrote: »

Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »

I swim regularly and do not experience any more hunger than after other forms of exercise. Note that it takes some time to work up swimming technique and it really helps to have stroke advice. It's amazing how you think you are doing it exactly as on youtube, then the coach takes a video on their phone and shows it to you...yikes!

Also, the muscles specific to swimming take a while to build up, so at first it's hard to get your HR up.

The best overall approach is to join a master's team. Or, if your pool doesn't have one, start one!

Yes, if the hunger is too overpowering, must simply stay out of the pool. Remaining on the couch at the speed of zero is preferred. Not. Take a leap and jump on in. The water is fine.

Who suggested that?

I took some aqua cycling classes this summer. It was fun. But yes, I was starving afterwards.

As Mari22na alluded to, swimming is great for my mental health. I took adult lessons and only learned how to swim with my face in the water doing an actual swimming stroke not long ago. As such, I spend so much time concentrating on breathing properly, stroking properly and, most importantly, not drowning that I don't think about anything but those three things while in the pool. It is such a pleasure to empty my mind of work, money, food, family, politics or anything else for the duration of my swim that I think I benefit more from that than I do in any physical terms.