Swimming - Satan’s exercise?

kaitslosingweight wrote: »

Lol, disregard Satan’s exercise, it’s supposed to epitomize the attitudes I’ve been met with when I tell others that right now the only exercise I’m able to do is swim or walk. I have a knee and a bank injury sustained on Xmas eve and I still haven’t recovered. The responses have ranged from:

- you’ll be so hungry afterwards you’ll over eat and there goes your calorie deficit.
- you won’t build muscle or change your body composition with swimming unless you’re swimming with the intensity of an Olympian and go for hours and hours
- complete waste of time unless done vigorously

It’s been fun learning how evil swimming is, lol 👍🏻

However, that being said, it’s still going to be my go-to method of exercising until I’m cleared by my doctor do conventional strength training which is my typical go-to when trying to lose weight.

I guess I’m just asking if I really will be wasting my time by swimming/walking.. especially if I’m not capable of doing either at a vigorous pace yet.

Thoughts about swimming for exercise?

I realize ultimately it’s being in a calorie deficit (PERIOD) that determines weight loss but I want to get the most out of what I’m doing.

The notion that any physical activity or exercise is a waste of time is laughable and ignorant, particularly when we're talking overall health and wellness. If you look on the National Weight Control Registry you will note that the primary exercise performed by those maintaining a healthy weight long term is walking. I know quite a few people who are very healthy and fit and they don't "workout" at all...they're just physically active and enjoy riding their bikes or mountain biking or hiking or whatever.

I find these kind of "wasting your time" comments come from people who don't understand the benefit of variable workout intensities and think that everything has to be a strenuous sufferfest to be of any benefit, when in reality it's a hugely sub-optimal way to train. This is where you get stupid quotes like, "your workout is my warmup" and other such nonsense.

Also, there is a difference between something being a waste of time and something being optimal or sub-optimal for particular fitness goals. Walking would be sub-optimal exercise for someone who wants to run a marathon outside of a recovery activity for example. While swimming provides some resistance, it's not an optimal way to build muscle. That said, you are injured so you can only do what you can do. I've spent the last few months injured and only being able to walk...that has happened to me on a few occasions over the last eight years. Just walking is sub-optimal to what I want fitness wise, but it was what I was able to do and since my overall health and well-being is my primary concern, walk I did...not a waste of time.

From one who was morbidly overweight 11 yrs ago and never considered myself an athlete, I had roux en y bariatic surgery, lost 137 lbs (it wasn't all easy) and began to swim as I had always liked it. I became fit enough to swim Alcatraz to San Francisco for Sharkfest 2 yrs in a row (6-7 yrs ago). I can swim up to 2-1/2 hrs without stopping...but, that said, I encountered some physical problems that grounded me so I went back to some bad eating habits and gained back about 40 lbs (agh!!!)...I only swam a few times last year. This past September, I had a complete right hip replacement, was told I wouldn't be able to swim for 3 months and was back in the pool at 5 weeks. My husband bought us a new elliptical for strength and cardio workouts and within a week of my 3 month recovery, I was swimming a fast nonstop 1 hr at our local pool. Then, on Dec. 5th, I fell and broke the 5th metatarsal in my right foot. I was told it would be 6-8 weeks before I could be weight-bearing again. I insisted I was going to be in a walking boot. After 3 weeks, I could drive and the doctor said I could swim if I didn't kick my foot hard. But depression got the better of me through most of December and the first part of this month. However, reading some comments on MyFitnessPal today, got me off my butt and I just did 23 minutes on the elliptical (I still need to wear a short walking boot). I plan to get into the pool tomorrow. Let me share this with you: At Sharkfest, one swimmer had no arms and no legs and he beat me. There were swimmers in their 80s who weren't even wearing wetsuits. Swimming is the #1 exercise you can do for life...it forgives all body types, is easy on your joints and relaxes you. If you don't have one, get a SwimP3 player, download your favorite songs and you'll be surprised how long you can swim as you forget yourself in your tunes. So get in that water!!!! Start with just 5 minutes...you'll be surprised how quickly you will begin to feel better. Oh, and no, swimming does not make you hungry and feel like eating. Quite the contrary, I feel less hungry.

azulvioleta6 wrote: »

The people who flit around and spend most of their time resting don't get much out of it.

I swim hard and don't stop until I have done at least a mile...NOT a swimmer's mile, a full 5,280 feet. It's great for alternating with higher-impact exercises.

They get more out of it than they would sitting on their couch.

Not every one is physically capable of herculean tasks in the pool. And that's okay. You do you. The beauty about swimming (and any other form of exercise for that matter) is that the longer you do it, the more you can do.