ashenriver Member

I am not an expert but I don't think they mean sucking in your gut, more of a tightening of the core, which includes yes tightening your stomach as well as your internal muscles. For the internal muscles, the only way I can think to describe it is by kegels, basically the muscles you would use to stop your pee. If anyone…

Oh man, My coach had us doing kicking drills last night. 1500 meters of kicking. It is tiring work just kicking. She had us going hard and fast on timed intervals. I understand what you mean by being able to pull yourself along without kicking. I think that's why she had us doing kick drills. My only advice for the flutter…

Also stress and holding your neck and shoulders differently or tight could cause a tension headache/migraine. Sometimes for me, clenching my jaw due to stress or whatever can cause a migraine.

also bodybuilding.com for a list of exercises, you can search based on body part and equipment

I think you are getting confused between calories and nutrition. For calorie and weight loss you want to log everything you eat, for nutrition you want to make sure what you eat is a balanced diet to give your body the nutrition and fuel it requires. Personally I like to think beer has a lot of minerals, heard that on CBC…

I also want to add a link to Staci from Nerd Fitness, she went from weighing less to weighing more, but she looked skinnier and more fit. http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/ Look for information on body recomposition. I do not know enough to help you, just enough to know…

I have not been blessed in any way and I have a muffin top, so working on that with calorie deficit and I wear pants that hide them, Can't be tight or low rise.

Thanks for this, I was doing them wrong

Ummm... Calorie Deficit and proper fitting pants. That's really all you need to do oh and cannot forget patience

Look for it in the cardiovascular section. The strength training section more for keeping track not calories

My question is How well do chest straps work when they don't actually touch the skin on the chest? I have a very hairy friend and he is looking for a watch heart rate monitor. I had hoped I would get some input reading through this thread but everyone is saying to use a chest strap.

Try eating back only 50% or 75% of your exercise calories. Someone told me that one of the reasons you are so hungry after swimming is that the cold water makes you hungry, try sitting in the hot tub or sauna for a few minutes after swimming to warm your body up. As far as I know using a heart rate monitor is inaccurate…

That is a lot of activity that you will need to be replacing. I do not think running and yoga twice a week will be able to replace that calorie expenditure of hours of swimming 6 times a week. It will take a lot of trial and error I think before you find the right combination of calorie intake and exercise. If you decrease…

Love the body and love the hair

Do not try to run with shin splints, wait until they heal fully then try again going slower. Slower pace, slower intensity and less distance/time) If possible see a physiotherapist. I went to see one and she said a cause might be tight calves (it could also have been my shoes) She gave me some exercises for calf…

Based on your stats given and age. From Scoobys calculator I have for you to lose weight at a healthy rate with lightly active you should be eating between 1800-2000 calories per day. If you are more active then 'lightly' you should be eating more then that. So yes, I want to say 1200 is much too low As well weight gain…

MFP already has that 500 deficit built in. So what you are doing is actually creating a 1000 calorie deficit. (500 from MFP + 500 from you = 1000 calories left per day) MFP is designed for you to eat back a portion of your calories, since the calorie burned is a calculated estimate it is recommended to eat 50-75% of those…

I also want to mention, Make sure you have the correct calorie goal, too often MFP gives people the 1200 calorie minimum which is usually too low. Check out online calorie BMR and TDEE calculators to find the right fit. It is not an exact science so may take some time to find the calorie goal that works best for you. This…

If you swim properly it helps with increasing your strength (which is very different from muscle gain which you will not do eating on a deficit) All that is required for weight loss is a calorie deficit. Swimming increases the calories burned in a day, so as an exercise if you enjoy it, do it. It also depends on the effort…

Google search and watch some videos. They are tough. If you want to do them, you can start with a basic lay down, stand up.

There is almost no chance that you will look manly by lifting weights, Your friend is correct that weights are a good thing, they are actually a great thing. However you do not want to continue with small weights, you want to progressively increase the weights you are lifting. Most start out lifting smaller weights or just…

I know for a fact that you need to remain firm. I do not have children of my own but I visit with my nieces and nephews often. I have friends that joke that we are better with kids then people who have kids. My youngest niece would have terrible temper tantrums, they were not helped by the fact that my sister would give in…

Best bet is to call to find out pricing. Also if your income is low enough you might qualify for assistance. Also with a Y, you usually have to pay a one time maintenance or some other fee, then your monthly fees. If they also offer it you can pay for a 10 visit pass, or drop in rates. It also depends on your area for…

I've been drinking legally since I was 19. I will admit at 19 I didn't know what good beer was. I chose to drink Canadian *shudder* Now I crave a good craft IPA or lager. :drinker: I had some "light" beer on the weekend it wasn't worth the calories. I would have much rather have had a higher calorie tasty beer.

I use my timex tap watch, I put it in the chrono mode and tap after each lap so I don't have to stop. Also keeps track of my time/lap. You can also purchase a Garmin Swim which keeps track of almost everything plus you can turn on the GPS to track open water swimming. My friend has a swimovate poolmate watch that is really…

Training for two open water swims (2.1km and 3.1km) I have a fun run at the end of the month. And supposed to be climbing the Chief with a friend by the end of the summer. Its a 600 plus meter elevation gain with a lot of climbing. Also my main goal isn't necessarily to lose weight, I want to increase my fitness level.

Also you will not be gaining muscle while eating at a deficit. But with new workouts and a greater intensity, you do gain water weight. After a few weeks it will go away. (I see a few people said this already) Also body weight can fluctuate by up to 10 lbs every month. You want to look for trends either upwards or…

I loved reading this thread and reading about everyone's progress. I am another in progress swimstar. I grew up swimming, it was the only sport/activity that I kept up with during the years of growing up. I got out of the habit for a few years and now getting back into it. I signed up for 2 open water swims this summer.…

I will also volunteer

I disagree somewhat I do Tai Chi and while it can be those flowing movements, it is also a martial arts and can be used for self defense. You should see my teacher move when she shows us how it looks when you move fast. We spend a portion of the class actually practicing sparring using the moves we learned. Every form we…