Swimming same effect as running

[jsun]

Does anyone know if swimming will build up your cardio and if it has the same effect as running? Can you use swimming as a substitute? Just wanted to know since i wanted to drop weight for muay thai.

 

[RogueStatus650]

swimming is BETTER than running, not only are you working out your whole body BUT youre also saving your knees.. running too much same with biking.. is bad for your knees. So i most definitely recommend swimming.

 

[deluxeMT]

swimming is BETTER than running, not only are you working out your whole body BUT youre also saving your knees.. running too much same with biking.. is bad for your knees. So i most definitely recommend swimming.

Wow that's not a broad and slightly retarded statement. Running is not bad for your knees if done correctly and sensibly.

Biking is bad for your knees? Are you kidding me? Apart from swimming cycling is one of the number one things recommended to people rehabilitating their knees who cannot run. It's bad for your knees? How? It's no impact, and unless you ride you bike like a clown on a minature tricycle, it's not going to be damaging for your knees.

Not taking anything away from swimming however, but I did want to point out the inaccuracies in this post.

 

[Ted-P]

Idk...

I aint hatin on road work, but it is a high impact exercise thats done over a long period of time.

Can't be that pretty for the knees in the long run.

 

[Trudge]

depends how you swim/run really
if you run at a high speed for a long time but swim with a lovely breast stroke for 10 minutes then its obviously not as hard/good!

know what i mean?
p.s.Id recomend low impact stuff if your carrying some extra weight though

 

[deluxeMT]

If humans weren't designed to run we'd still be scampering along with our hands on the ground. We just aren't designed to run on paved roads for high milage.

 

[collokwheel]

yeah, i always wonder why people run on sidewalks/roads, especially around nice parks with a dirt trail or grass.

 

[Ian Coe]

yeah, i always wonder why people run on sidewalks/roads, especially around nice parks with a dirt trail or grass.

because they don't want to get their pretty asics dirty?

 

[grrthetree]

asics are teh shits.
But swimming is more total body cardio, less impact. to the guy who said biking is like running, go run until you die.

 

[MMAftfw**]

The problem with swimming is that unless you are good enough at it to do it efficiently then its not going to be good for your cardio. I have friends that can run miles but they can hardly swim a few laps and its not because they dont have good cardio its because they are not good swimmers. Its all relative.

 

[deluxeMT]

The problem with swimming is that unless you are good enough at it to do it efficiently then its not going to be good for your cardio. I have friends that can run miles but they can hardly swim a few laps and its not because they dont have good cardio its because they are not good swimmers. Its all relative.

The truth.

I can run for miles and miles without problems, but get me to do a couple of laps of the pool and I'm a gasping wreck clutching at the edge of the pool afterwards. I'm just so technically inefficient that I'd wager I use as much energy in 2 laps, as someone with good technique would expend in 10 laps.

 

[Sean.]

Unless you are at a competitive level with it you will be wasting your time. Running is better for swimming than swimming is for running, my suggestion would be to get a good playlist on your MP3 player and run until its over. Besides swimming is boring, and this coming from someone who used to swim 7-9000 yards a day for years.

 

[armyofnicks]

Personally I hate running, the only place I can do it at for any amount of time is in the gym, on a treadmill. Even then, I'd rather shoot myself in the face. I'd take swimming any day over running, but it really all comes down to technique and preference.

I prefer doing my cardio training with an elliptical at the gym, and ridding my bike everyday.

 

[dfoster]

I used to swim way better than I could run. Once you get the technique down, it can be pretty boring just looking at the black line. You can definitely increase the intensity by swimming faster, swimming with paddles or fins. I highly recommend swimming with paddles in your hands to workout your upper body. It's way harder than it looks. One of the fun things I used to do is swimming with paddles for a while then take them off, you'll take off like superman flying through the water.

 

[Sean.]

Paddles are also good for learning proper hand technique. If you don't feel like you are really forcing them through the water, you aren't doing it properly.

 

[wbridgewater]

i have a similar question about swimming. Does stroke matter? like say you are training MMA, which stroke would best benefit you? or are they all relativey same be it breast stroke, freestyle or back stroke?

 

[lil_ric23]

I had to add swimming into my cardio training after developing runners knee from to much pavement. It is very hard to get used to and will be very frustrating at first if you haven't tried to swim laps before.

I never realized how hard it would be to get proper breathing technique down and body relaxation to swim laps. I think it's worth the effort though, because you will have a lot better control of your breathing while sparring or fighting... IMO.

 

[snakeryu]

swimming is great, you don't have to get in the pool and swim laps. you can just throw punches,kicks knee in the water just like hitting a bag and when your tired with your arms do back strokes and then continue when ur arms are rested again. Again you have to push urself to get a great cardio workout. If you have your own pool get like 2 or 3 ice bags and put them in but this suggestion is intense. Your body will go numb so don't go in the deep end and keep moving. If ur in a rush to lose that body fat I say do it.

 

[dfoster]

i have a similar question about swimming. Does stroke matter? like say you are training MMA, which stroke would best benefit you? or are they all relativey same be it breast stroke, freestyle or back stroke?

I'm not doing MMA so I wouldn't know which style is best for it. The freestyle is the fastest and most efficient. If you want to put in a lot of laps for cardio, do the freestyle. The main means of propulsion is the lat and the tricep. When you get proficient with your freestyle technique, you'll workout your legs very little. The kicking is to be just enough to keep the body horizontal to reduce drag. The backstroke is a fun stroke, but not much work on the legs either. Breast stroke, you use a lot of the legs along with the arms, same deal with the butterfly. If you want and all body, most energy consuming workout, do the butterfly but you gotta get the technique down. The learning curve can be pretty steep on this stroke. I'd recommend doing both the freestyle and the breast stroke for general conditioning.

 

[tahoe]

The truth.

I can run for miles and miles without problems, but get me to do a couple of laps of the pool and I'm a gasping wreck clutching at the edge of the pool afterwards. I'm just so technically inefficient that I'd wager I use as much energy in 2 laps, as someone with good technique would expend in 10 laps.

I completely agree, i think swimming is more appropriate for MMA. It is more difficult and taxing if your technique is imperfect, the better u get at swimming the easier it becomes