swimming - what is vigorous?

pennyns
pennyns Posts: 10 Member
edited December 24 in Fitness and Exercise
I'm a 56 yr old female, 5'7", weight 192 lb. I swim 1 km in 35 min. It feels vigorous to me but I don't know whether this moderate or what - can anyone tell me how you would decide this?

Replies

  • markdev997
    markdev997 Posts: 6 Member
    What are you say????
  • samcorvus
    samcorvus Posts: 112 Member
    Vigorous, as beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. It's not about how fast you're going but how hard your working. That's why the program does not concern itself with distance. As you lose weight and get stronger you'll have to swim faster, harder, and longer to work as hard. Thus what's vigorous for you is not necessarily vigorous for someone else.
  • mummy_gerdes
    mummy_gerdes Posts: 336 Member
    when i was swimming regularly i found that mfp had the same cals burned on vigourous as they did on breast stroke only so as long as your working hard then i think that is vigourous for you. hope that makes sense!! lol.
  • mikeyrp
    mikeyrp Posts: 1,616 Member
    I find effort when swimming really hard to judge because my breathing technique isn't very good - so it feels like a lot more work than my muscles are doing. I guess the best bet is to test with a HRM?

    If in doubt, log as moderate!
  • beachlover317
    beachlover317 Posts: 2,848 Member
    I agree. I did laps yesterday and my heart rate was up quite a bit. This is what I consider vigorous. Each person will be different. I know myself when I am not pushing it while exercising. I go by heart rate, how my muscles feel and how tired I am! :smile:
  • kvhmc
    kvhmc Posts: 33 Member
    Yeah I'm also unsure what mfp thinks is vigorous etc. I think it's up to you to interpret how you feel afterwards and will depend on your fitness level as to what you find difficult. I swim all out for 4 lengths, rest, then repeat so it's a form of HIIT, which I count as vigorous. When I'm just swimming lengths continuously at a moderate rate but I'm not out of breath then it couldn't be counted as vigorous. I'd say 1km in 35 minutes would probably be counted as moderate, but that's only my opinion.
  • Kara_xxx
    Kara_xxx Posts: 635 Member
    Hi,

    I wonder if some of the responses on this thread that I started a few days ago might help you work this out.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/658038-swim-calories
  • ezavora
    ezavora Posts: 59 Member
    Im very interested in this topic. I just moved to the coast and have been swimming in the ocean doing "laps" I have no judgment of how far I am swimming, but know when I feel I need to rest I have a high HR and need to just float awhile. I usually swim for about 45 min (including resting)
  • markdev997
    markdev997 Posts: 6 Member
    Hi,
    I am interested for this topic. Swimming is very help full for losing weight and also good for body fitness.
  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,605 Member
    Swimming is one area where mfp massively overestimates . I'd err on the side of caution.
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