Anyone swimming for weight loss ??

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tabinmaine
tabinmaine Posts: 965 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I started this weight loss journey running, and walking on a incline. I still do that and lift weights. My new love recently has been to swim. I am fortunate that my gym is in a hotel, so the pool is part of the membership as well. It's not olympic size but it's a fairly good size pool, probably 40x70

I swam all day every day as a kid because we had a pool and so that is how I spent my summers. Have not swam much as an adult, only when on vacation etc... recently I have been swimming 3-4x a week for approx 45-60 min. I LOVE it !

I find now, i don't want to run, or do the elliptical, they seem like such chores or boring... I want to be in the pool !! I don't stand around, I swim laps the whole time I am in there, front crawl and breaststroke mainly.

So my question is, has anyone on here lost a lot of weight using swimming for their cardio ? I still love to lift weights, but I would rather be in the pool than do anything when it comes to cardio. Its bringing back a lot of happy childhood memories for me.

Replies

  • PrincessLou71186
    PrincessLou71186 Posts: 747 Member
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    I plan on swimming six times a week for 30 minutes when doing other cardio and 60 minutes when (like now) I fall down the stairs and bruise my ankle bone or cause other injury's to myself. Lol.

    Plenty of people who are heavier at the start of their journey swim because they find it easier and lose a sufficient amount of weight (obviously teamed with better eating habits) to then take on further cardio exercises.
  • elcar7
    elcar7 Posts: 124 Member
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    Hey!

    I'm not swimming to lose weight at the moment, but I used to be in the swimming team as a teenager.
    For swimming you have to do way longer exercise to burn the same amount of calories and have the same effects on an elliptical etc. - so probably not the most effective cardio.
    Personally I think I've been in pools too much of my lifetime already, so I don't really like it to lose weight.

    But if you prefer doing longer hours, but being in the pool rather than on the elliptical, feel free to do so!
  • BPayton27
    BPayton27 Posts: 626 Member
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    Swimming is great cardio. You WILL get a good workout. I agree with the above, too. When I was very heavy post knee surgery, my physical therapist recommended that I get in the pool and it did help. My gym doubles as a swim club. There are 2 regulation sized lap pools where meets are held. When I do 60 minutes of laps, I get out feeling more exhausted than having paired strength training with cardio for 90 minutes!

    If you're bored with your routine there's nothing wrong with mixing it up.
  • stinyfish
    stinyfish Posts: 3
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    I use it three to four times per week as an addition to my regular cardio workouts. Try to find a loca Master's swim club in your area. They will be able to help you get the most out of your swim workout.
  • tabinmaine
    tabinmaine Posts: 965 Member
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    Hey!

    I'm not swimming to lose weight at the moment, but I used to be in the swimming team as a teenager.
    For swimming you have to do way longer exercise to burn the same amount of calories and have the same effects on an elliptical etc. - so probably not the most effective cardio.
    Personally I think I've been in pools too much of my lifetime already, so I don't really like it to lose weight.

    But if you prefer doing longer hours, but being in the pool rather than on the elliptical, feel free to do so!

    Hummm, not so sure about this. 1 hr of laps in the pool, swimming hard laps, is completely exhausting to me. A 3 mile run on the treadmill and 45 min of heavy lifting afterwards is not completely exhausting to me ???

    I can swim and burn 700 cal in hour, or I can run on the treadmill for 650 cal in hour..... treadmill does not use my whole body though.
  • rob_v
    rob_v Posts: 270 Member
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    I swim 2-3 days a week for any where between and hr and 1 1/2 hrs and love it. My gym offers whats called a Masters Swimming program. (http://www.usms.org/)

    Its a great structured program with a coach. 10x better than going in the pool and just doing laps. Been doing it for almost 2 years now and its been great.
  • amh1974
    amh1974 Posts: 79 Member
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    I love to swim! I try to get to the pool 2 times a week where I go to school. I love it because it's not like running, walking, jogging, eliptical... It's quiet, lets you think. I love the way I feel in the water and how easy it is on my joints and back. I grew up swimming on a swim team and have missed it so much. I think it's a harder exercise and bigger calorie burner than many people on this forum say. I've done a bit of research and it is the best overall toning exercise you can do and it will burn a ton of calories. I love that it hits every part of my body with one exercise. Do some research yourself but be sure to look at credible sites.
  • tabinmaine
    tabinmaine Posts: 965 Member
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    I should mention that I am swimming approx 260ft in a minute, not sure if that is fast or not lol
  • alabughosh
    alabughosh Posts: 132 Member
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    I'm starting swimming up again this weekend with the Davis Aquatic Masters (DAM). I'll let you know, but I anticipate it will speed my weight loss up a lot. I think when you are trying to lose weight, its better to vary your exercise or else your body gets really used to what its doing and soon 260ft/minute (about 80 yards/minute) is gonna burn nothing for you. This is how the club I swim with divides up the days of the week:

    Kick/Pull (alternating exercises with a kick board, fins, buoys, etc)
    IM (a mixture of butterfly, backstroke, breastroke, freestyle)
    Sprinting (Stuff like swimming 50 yards as fast as you can and then resting 30 seconds and repeating)
    Distance (Which is what it sounds like most of your current workouts have focused on...this is good for endurance)
    * There are also a lot of drills you can do. This website has a list of drills and video tutorials.
    http://www.damfast.org/instruction.htm

    I'll keep you posted on how swimming affects my weight loss. Good luck with your workouts! :)
  • tabinmaine
    tabinmaine Posts: 965 Member
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    I was thinking of getting the kick boards for leg workouts , doing laps with the board and then some swim etc... I do sprints a few times while I am swimming, but mainly for endurance, I like a long consistant swim with no stopping other than to turn around and go back the other way haha
    I'll keep you posted on how swimming affects my weight loss. Good luck with your workouts! :)
    [/quote]
    I'm starting swimming up again this weekend with the Davis Aquatic Masters (DAM). I'll let you know, but I anticipate it will speed my weight loss up a lot. I think when you are trying to lose weight, its better to vary your exercise or else your body gets really used to what its doing and soon 260ft/minute (about 80 yards/minute) is gonna burn nothing for you. This is how the club I swim with divides up the days of the week:

    Kick/Pull (alternating exercises with a kick board, fins, buoys, etc)
    IM (a mixture of butterfly, backstroke, breastroke, freestyle)
    Sprinting (Stuff like swimming 50 yards as fast as you can and then resting 30 seconds and repeating)
    Distance (Which is what it sounds like most of your current workouts have focused on...this is good for endurance)
    * There are also a lot of drills you can do. This website has a list of drills and video tutorials.
    http://www.damfast.org/instruction.htm

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