swimming
- Thread starter manguy
- Start date
Not sure on specific details...but I've been able to do a tabata/HIIT-ish type training.
I've been an on again off again swimmer since I started college long ago and far away. Luckily as a kid I swam on a swim team and practiced a lot so I'm fairly proficient. I've had buddies at school that don't even know how to swim and it must really suck not even having the option.
Anyway I just started putting in some swimming along with my elliptical training.
To do the HIITish type training....I warm up for about 15 minutes...which currently ends up being about 500 meters (20 lengths of the pool). I tend to gradually ramp up the speed from pretty damn slow to a good 60 percent effort as close as I can judge.
Then I'll do 50 meters at near full speed...basically what i can keep up for 50 meters and be nearly wasted at the end but still able to swim.
Then I'll do 50 meters of active recovery.
I repeated this 3 more times. And then cooled down with about 200 meters I think....it was a total of like 28 mins in the water. Would have cooled down more but the open pool hours were over.
Felt like a pretty good work out to me, and probably bumped up the fat burn and muscle work over just swimming at a constant pace.
That being said I'll probably alternate this with going at a constant pace (faster each time/or push it more every week) for the entire time.
Don't have any studies to back it up, but I think for people that need to lose substantial weight this can be a way of getting into the game faster, instead of taking the time to build up a huge cardio base before you start HIIT.
I think you can get away with it because swimming and elliptical machines are so much lower impact then running.
I've been an on again off again swimmer since I started college long ago and far away. Luckily as a kid I swam on a swim team and practiced a lot so I'm fairly proficient. I've had buddies at school that don't even know how to swim and it must really suck not even having the option.
Anyway I just started putting in some swimming along with my elliptical training.
To do the HIITish type training....I warm up for about 15 minutes...which currently ends up being about 500 meters (20 lengths of the pool). I tend to gradually ramp up the speed from pretty damn slow to a good 60 percent effort as close as I can judge.
Then I'll do 50 meters at near full speed...basically what i can keep up for 50 meters and be nearly wasted at the end but still able to swim.
Then I'll do 50 meters of active recovery.
I repeated this 3 more times. And then cooled down with about 200 meters I think....it was a total of like 28 mins in the water. Would have cooled down more but the open pool hours were over.
Felt like a pretty good work out to me, and probably bumped up the fat burn and muscle work over just swimming at a constant pace.
That being said I'll probably alternate this with going at a constant pace (faster each time/or push it more every week) for the entire time.
Don't have any studies to back it up, but I think for people that need to lose substantial weight this can be a way of getting into the game faster, instead of taking the time to build up a huge cardio base before you start HIIT.
I think you can get away with it because swimming and elliptical machines are so much lower impact then running.
again no studies, but swimming does engage more muscles than jogging/running. Actually I think in my case I tend to go easier on my legs, and really work out my arms/chest/back/core. In this regard I think its a really good complement to jogging/running/elliptical machine.
bdweezil6998
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plus it's easier on the joints. It's always good to change up the cardio to keep the joints from getting too banged up.
hmm complement, u dont think i can use it as a supplement. like i like swimming and would rather do it then jogging. im not looken to make big changes its just that my gut has gotten big and i just gotta burn some fat thats it.Carlson said:
CowboyPete
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Swimming will work just about every muscle in your body if you vary your strokes. That plus the fact that you have to breathe intermittently will do wonders for cardio.
M
MPCOA
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It varies from person to person, but swimming almost burns as many calories as running. It is also easier on the joints for those carrying extra weight.
manguy said:
My conclusions don't come from a huge wealth of knowledge about working out, so definitely take them with a grain of salt.
I was just pointing out that in my workouts, when I'm swimming at a comfy cardio pace, my legs don't seem to get much of a workout. Most of my effort tends to focus on my arms/shoulders/back/core...basically upper body. In the fast portions its a different story as everything is ramped up to push against the resistance of the water and faster speeds.
If your completely new to swimming this might be different as it does hit either different muscles or hits the muscles differently then jogging.
In your original post you said you just need to lose some extra fat, so in that case I imagine swimming done right is just as good as jogging/running/elliptical training done right for burning fat.
I suppose my point of view is from myself being significantly overweight and trying to get in shape and lose weight to a point where I'm comfortable starting Judo.
I tend to try to think in overall body developement which is where my complement instead of suplement coment was coming from. From that point of view I really need to get back to doing some body weight squats or use a stair climber cause even with an I think awesome cardiovascular system for my weight I still get short of breath after climing like 3 flights of stairs.
When I can climb stairs all day without getting short of breath I'll know I'm on my way.
EDIT - damn all my posts end up really long. I suppose when I've been around he long enough I'll have the expertise to say what I just said in a couple sentences.
