Swimming
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x_stephisaur_x
Posts: 149 Member
Hi All
Looking for some suggestions on how to make Swimming an effective form of exercise. I'd like to go twice a week for about half an hour initially, with a gym session once a week. My exercise has been on the back burner for a little while so trying to come up with something sustainable.
Any suggestions/tips would be appreciated
Looking for some suggestions on how to make Swimming an effective form of exercise. I'd like to go twice a week for about half an hour initially, with a gym session once a week. My exercise has been on the back burner for a little while so trying to come up with something sustainable.
Any suggestions/tips would be appreciated
2
Replies
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You aren't giving a lot of information. Are you a beginner? Do you know how to swim? Suggesting how to exercise with swimming depends on the person and their goals. For example there are obese or elderly posters that will do just fine walking in the pool. Then there are people that don't know how to swim, but want to learn.
I welcome you to swimming (I've been swimming for 25 yrs) or returning, as the case may be.2 -
snowflake954 wrote: »You aren't giving a lot of information. Are you a beginner? Do you know how to swim? Suggesting how to exercise with swimming depends on the person and their goals. For example there are obese or elderly posters that will do just fine walking in the pool. Then there are people that don't know how to swim, but want to learn.
I welcome you to swimming (I've been swimming for 25 yrs) or returning, as the case may be.
You're absolutely right, how unhelpful of me!
Yes, I know how to swim (good start). I am reasonably proficient, but I don't get chance to do it as often as I would like, which is what I would like to change. I used to swim a lot when I was at uni, but now it's just as and when I can. My front crawl and breast stroke are good, back stroke is ok but I can't butterfly to save my life
I'm overweight, but able to do a good cardio workout. My podiatrist has just suggested that I go for something lower impact as I have hypermobile ankles.
Hopefully that is better info! 3 -
Swimming is very good exercise. If you already know how and especially, how to breath, then you're good to go. A warm-up is helpful and then start slow. See where you're at without pushing. Then you can start to ramp up slowly. I watch the better swimmers always, for ideas. If you find that you have difficulty with certain styles, or your form is off, then look into taking a few lessons.
As for weight loss, swimming is dehydrating, and makes you hungry. Be careful afterwards. Good luck.2 -
snowflake954 wrote: »Swimming is very good exercise. If you already know how and especially, how to breath, then you're good to go. A warm-up is helpful and then start slow. See where you're at without pushing. Then you can start to ramp up slowly. I watch the better swimmers always, for ideas. If you find that you have difficulty with certain styles, or your form is off, then look into taking a few lessons.
As for weight loss, swimming is dehydrating, and makes you hungry. Be careful afterwards. Good luck.
Thank you for the tips I hadn't considered lessons as an adult, maybe I'll learn butterfly one day! 1 -
Sound to me like the only thing you need to work on is making the time and having a place to go:-)
I swim an average of 3x per week 2000 yards in about 55 minutes.
I've got bad ankles, knees and hips, and occasional back problems-- all of which are alleviated by swimming.
My suggestions:
*GO. :-) Since lockdown, I've had to sign up for a Lane at least 24 hours in advance. I lock in those swim times in my calendar for the week, and feel obligated to go because I know if I don't, I'm taking a lane from someone else
*don't worry too much about speed and endurance at first. You'll go faster and longer over time.
* If it's possible, rent a locker at the facility. Keeping my swim and shower gear at the Y is SOOO much better than schlepping wet gear around in my car and inevitably forgetting to pack something vital
* experiment with different strokes to see how they make you feel. I do mostly freestyle, but like a few lengths of breast, back and side strokes for stretching different muscle groups
* if you wear a cap, wet your hair first. Sounds counterintuitive, but wet hair won't wick up chlorinated pool water, and the cap fits more snugly.
* make your own after-swim dechlorinator by dissolving a couple of Vitamin C tablets in a 12oz spray bottle of water. The very mild acid solution neutralizes the hyper-basic chlorine. I use it mostly on my face, neck and arms before I shower so I don't smell the chlorine all day afterwards.
* HAVE FUN!!8 -
rosebarnalice wrote: »Sound to me like the only thing you need to work on is making the time and having a place to go:-)
I swim an average of 3x per week 2000 yards in about 55 minutes.
I've got bad ankles, knees and hips, and occasional back problems-- all of which are alleviated by swimming.
My suggestions:
*GO. :-) Since lockdown, I've had to sign up for a Lane at least 24 hours in advance. I lock in those swim times in my calendar for the week, and feel obligated to go because I know if I don't, I'm taking a lane from someone else
*don't worry too much about speed and endurance at first. You'll go faster and longer over time.
* If it's possible, rent a locker at the facility. Keeping my swim and shower gear at the Y is SOOO much better than schlepping wet gear around in my car and inevitably forgetting to pack something vital
* experiment with different strokes to see how they make you feel. I do mostly freestyle, but like a few lengths of breast, back and side strokes for stretching different muscle groups
* if you wear a cap, wet your hair first. Sounds counterintuitive, but wet hair won't wick up chlorinated pool water, and the cap fits more snugly.
* make your own after-swim dechlorinator by dissolving a couple of Vitamin C tablets in a 12oz spray bottle of water. The very mild acid solution neutralizes the hyper-basic chlorine. I use it mostly on my face, neck and arms before I shower so I don't smell the chlorine all day afterwards.
* HAVE FUN!!
Ahh thank you, this is so helpful
I'm going to speak to them this weekend (they have a joining offer where I get the rest of September free but that seems a bit stupid for 3 days so I'm holding out for next month's ) they have pool booking in place, I just want to find out how much notice it needs to be. I'm very excited to be getting back in the water!
Swimming cap tip is wonderful, thank you. I remember always ripping my hair out when I swam at school because it was dry, so I will try this
The vitamin c spray sounds fantastic, I will definitely try that out!1 -
Adam Peaty has hypermobile ankles too, he's a pretty good swimmer!1
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I haven’t swum since before COVID kicked off. I have a dodgy hip so can only manage crawl (freestyle) but I think it’s a great exercise.
I used to find if I hadn’t swum for a while that it would only take 2-3 weeks of swimming twice a week before I would notice it changing the shape of my body. If I was reasonably fit I’d do a kilometre but it might take me a few weeks to work up to that after a break. I’m sure if you keep at it you will notice a difference.
Not sure about effect on my weight as I was happy with my weight and not weighing in at the time. My weight loss journey has only started recently after lots of pasta and bread making during lockdown.
1 -
Pools around me (North East US) opened up long before a number of other things (with restrictions). There haven't been any specific reports of COVID outbreaks originating in pool facilities, so that is comforting. Maybe chlorine really is the magic bullet! (Please don't drink it.) I've been going since around February. I also jog, cycle/spin, hike, SUP, and sometimes rollerblade, so I only swim twice a week at most. Still, it's one of my favorite things to do!
Ignore all the BS about swimming making you gain weight. (_Eating too much_ is the only thing that makes you gain weight!) This myth comes from the fact that swimming is a great sport if you are a bit on the heavier side. I've known some amazing swimmers who were a bit heavier, in fact.
I had good results tracking my swims just by entering the time in the MFP web site (use "Swimming laps, freestyle, light/moderate effort," best to include moving time only). More recently, I track my pool workouts using a Garmin watch.
My big "a-hah!" moment for swimming was getting some coaching on my stroke. A few private stroke lessons can really pay off. Even better would be to take an adult class, meeting a few people who are interested in swimming with you.
Best of luck!3 -
Truth in advertising: I am not a swimmer. I have to swim some. (I'm a rower. They're skinny boats. They flip. Gotta swim.) I actively dislike swimming, though. Quite a few among my casual friends are swimmers or triathletes, and I'm typing mostly from what I know from them.
In my area (non-large metro area) the YMCA has a tri team, and offers a range of swimming classes for adults. Some are offered *for* the tri team, but are open to others who aren't triathletes. Shortly before the tri team got formalized, I took lap swimming classes at the Y, which were good/useful. (Before that, I'd taken adult learn-to-swim classes. Before those, I could swim enough to save myself, but the classes made a huge difference. They were small (low enrollment) so the instructor tailored instruction to each of our levels individually during the class, though we were at different levels going in).
In this area (again, metro, but not huge), there's a masters swim club. Some of my friends belong to that, which creates some structure for swim improvement, too. Some clubs, IMU, compete. I don't know a lot about the local club, except that there is one. (You probably already know this, but in this context, "masters" pretty much means post-collegiate adults; it doesn't mean excellence at some elite level.)
Main message: You might find adult swim lessons of some type, or adult groups/clubs, if you look around. That could be useful.1 -
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I haven’t swum since before COVID kicked off. I have a dodgy hip so can only manage crawl (freestyle) but I think it’s a great exercise.
I used to find if I hadn’t swum for a while that it would only take 2-3 weeks of swimming twice a week before I would notice it changing the shape of my body. If I was reasonably fit I’d do a kilometre but it might take me a few weeks to work up to that after a break. I’m sure if you keep at it you will notice a difference.
Not sure about effect on my weight as I was happy with my weight and not weighing in at the time. My weight loss journey has only started recently after lots of pasta and bread making during lockdown.
That's helpful, thank you
Lockdowns have definitely had a detrimental effect on my weight too - it's harder when you can't fob your bakes off on others
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Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »Pools around me (North East US) opened up long before a number of other things (with restrictions). There haven't been any specific reports of COVID outbreaks originating in pool facilities, so that is comforting. Maybe chlorine really is the magic bullet! (Please don't drink it.) I've been going since around February. I also jog, cycle/spin, hike, SUP, and sometimes rollerblade, so I only swim twice a week at most. Still, it's one of my favorite things to do!
Ignore all the BS about swimming making you gain weight. (_Eating too much_ is the only thing that makes you gain weight!) This myth comes from the fact that swimming is a great sport if you are a bit on the heavier side. I've known some amazing swimmers who were a bit heavier, in fact.
I had good results tracking my swims just by entering the time in the MFP web site (use "Swimming laps, freestyle, light/moderate effort," best to include moving time only). More recently, I track my pool workouts using a Garmin watch.
My big "a-hah!" moment for swimming was getting some coaching on my stroke. A few private stroke lessons can really pay off. Even better would be to take an adult class, meeting a few people who are interested in swimming with you.
Best of luck!
I had read that Coronavirus can't survive in chlorine, so that's reassuring. I'd not heard about Swimming making you gain weight, but if I'm honest I'm trying not to focus on the number on the scale. I want to focus on my measurements and how my clothes fit.
I believe the gym I am joining offers adult swimming lessons, it's something I may look at once I get back into the swing of it 1 -
Truth in advertising: I am not a swimmer. I have to swim some. (I'm a rower. They're skinny boats. They flip. Gotta swim.) I actively dislike swimming, though. Quite a few among my casual friends are swimmers or triathletes, and I'm typing mostly from what I know from them.
In my area (non-large metro area) the YMCA has a tri team, and offers a range of swimming classes for adults. Some are offered *for* the tri team, but are open to others who aren't triathletes. Shortly before the tri team got formalized, I took lap swimming classes at the Y, which were good/useful. (Before that, I'd taken adult learn-to-swim classes. Before those, I could swim enough to save myself, but the classes made a huge difference. They were small (low enrollment) so the instructor tailored instruction to each of our levels individually during the class, though we were at different levels going in).
In this area (again, metro, but not huge), there's a masters swim club. Some of my friends belong to that, which creates some structure for swim improvement, too. Some clubs, IMU, compete. I don't know a lot about the local club, except that there is one. (You probably already know this, but in this context, "masters" pretty much means post-collegiate adults; it doesn't mean excellence at some elite level.)
Main message: You might find adult swim lessons of some type, or adult groups/clubs, if you look around. That could be useful.
I would love to row, I've always enjoyed using the rowing machine but I've never had the opportunity to actually get on the water. One day, maybe
Thank you for explaining the masters thing, I actually didn't know what it meant I'm in the UK so things are a little different here. I think the gym I am joining offer adult swimming lessons though, so I will look into that. No point in a group/class as they all seem to assume that nobody has a job based on the times of them 2 -
x_stephisaur_x wrote: »Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »Pools around me (North East US) opened up long before a number of other things (with restrictions). There haven't been any specific reports of COVID outbreaks originating in pool facilities, so that is comforting. Maybe chlorine really is the magic bullet! (Please don't drink it.) I've been going since around February. I also jog, cycle/spin, hike, SUP, and sometimes rollerblade, so I only swim twice a week at most. Still, it's one of my favorite things to do!
Ignore all the BS about swimming making you gain weight. (_Eating too much_ is the only thing that makes you gain weight!) This myth comes from the fact that swimming is a great sport if you are a bit on the heavier side. I've known some amazing swimmers who were a bit heavier, in fact.
I had good results tracking my swims just by entering the time in the MFP web site (use "Swimming laps, freestyle, light/moderate effort," best to include moving time only). More recently, I track my pool workouts using a Garmin watch.
My big "a-hah!" moment for swimming was getting some coaching on my stroke. A few private stroke lessons can really pay off. Even better would be to take an adult class, meeting a few people who are interested in swimming with you.
Best of luck!
I had read that Coronavirus can't survive in chlorine, so that's reassuring. I'd not heard about Swimming making you gain weight, but if I'm honest I'm trying not to focus on the number on the scale. I want to focus on my measurements and how my clothes fit.
I believe the gym I am joining offers adult swimming lessons, it's something I may look at once I get back into the swing of it
Swimming does not make you gain weight, however, it can make you hungry. Because it's dehydrating, you need to drink after, and be careful of your calorie intake. People that are not prepared can wind up eating way more than they burn.
However, it's fantastic exercise.1 -
snowflake954 wrote: »Swimming does not make you gain weight, however, it can make you hungry. Because it's dehydrating, you need to drink after, and be careful of your calorie intake. People that are not prepared can wind up eating way more than they burn.
However, it's fantastic exercise.
Thanks Snowflake, I don't think I was clear - I hadn't heard the rumour that it made you gain weight, but I do know that it's eating like a piggy that usually does same with any exercise! I gained weight during marathon training because I underestimated calories and overestimated burn, so I won't be making that mistake again. Thank you for your insight 3 -
OP, you've received some great advice from others. I'll add my two cents:
Since you are already able to swim, you could easily develop a swim habit that would improve your fitness. One of the great benefits of swimming is that it can build great cardio capacity while not subjecting your joints and muscles to the pounding that other activities, such as running, impart.
I'd also suggest looking for a swim group or swim coach if you can. Two reasons for this: 1) Swimming is ALL about technique. Having someone on deck or underwater watching you swim and offering tips is very beneficial.
2) Building a swim habit is easier if you are able to swim with others occasionally. You get to see people at different levels of performance and it becomes a way to gauge your improvement and fitness. Its also fun. Having a regular time and group to meet can make it a very pleasant experience that you'll look forward to each week.
Best of luck.5 -
Ditto to adult lessons or coaching- even if it's just a few sessions. Some years ago I wanted some technique adjustments, so I just asked one of the lifeguards for suggestions. Got put in touch with the local high school coach who was happy to meet me at the pool a couple of times for a few $$.
Then recently I was dealing with a chronic shoulder impingement and couldn't tolerate NSIAD antiinflammatories any longer, so I searched for a PT who did aquatic therapy to help me adjust my stroke to alleviate shoulder stress. He also coached me with some water dumbbell exercises. I freestyle now like a flying gecko, but much less shoulder pain!2 -
OP, you've received some great advice from others. I'll add my two cents:
Since you are already able to swim, you could easily develop a swim habit that would improve your fitness. One of the great benefits of swimming is that it can build great cardio capacity while not subjecting your joints and muscles to the pounding that other activities, such as running, impart.
I'd also suggest looking for a swim group or swim coach if you can. Two reasons for this: 1) Swimming is ALL about technique. Having someone on deck or underwater watching you swim and offering tips is very beneficial.
2) Building a swim habit is easier if you are able to swim with others occasionally. You get to see people at different levels of performance and it becomes a way to gauge your improvement and fitness. Its also fun. Having a regular time and group to meet can make it a very pleasant experience that you'll look forward to each week.
Best of luck.
Thank you 0 -
rosebarnalice wrote: »Ditto to adult lessons or coaching- even if it's just a few sessions. Some years ago I wanted some technique adjustments, so I just asked one of the lifeguards for suggestions. Got put in touch with the local high school coach who was happy to meet me at the pool a couple of times for a few $$.
Then recently I was dealing with a chronic shoulder impingement and couldn't tolerate NSIAD antiinflammatories any longer, so I searched for a PT who did aquatic therapy to help me adjust my stroke to alleviate shoulder stress. He also coached me with some water dumbbell exercises. I freestyle now like a flying gecko, but much less shoulder pain!
Thank you glad your shoulder pain has improved!
I am curious what "freestyle" means to you, I've seen in mentioned a few times as though it's its own stroke, but when I was at school it just meant "however you want to swim" 0
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