GEORGE SPELLWIN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS
Enlightening Men about Anabolic Steroids and Bodybuilding for over Two Decades
|
 Elite Fitness Bodybuilding, Anabolics, Diet, Life Extension, Wellness, Supplements, and Training Boards
 Anabolic Discussion Board
 SWIMMING FOR FAT BURNING - Anyone???
|
| Author | Topic: SWIMMING FOR FAT BURNING - Anyone??? | ||
|
Cool Novice 
Posts: 26 |
Has anyone heard of swimming as part of a fat burning program while on the sauce? Got an injured leg so that's about the only cardio I can do. Please help.     | ||
|
Cool Novice
Posts: 26 |
bump - advice needed - thanks | ||
|
Amateur Bodybuilder 
Posts: 219 |
I am not for sure dude. But swimming is an awesome cardio exercise alot better than just running. Plus you don't sweat all over yourself.  | ||
|
Elite Bodybuilder 
Posts: 666 |
Swimming olympic style with plenty of rest between pool lengths is probably the best fat burning and muscle sparing exercise there is. However, swimming laps for longer periods of time can be catabolic.
| ||
|
Amateur Bodybuilder
Posts: 85 |
Good friend of mine is a swimmer so I hear about it all the time. Truth is swimming isn't all that good for weight loss. So jackass my try to flam me but its true. When ever you put your body in a weightlessness state your not going to burn alot of calories. Don't get me wrong you will but not at a hight rate then if you were running instead. | ||
|
Cool Novice
Posts: 30 |
Swimming is great for fatburning..as long as you do it right | ||
|
Elite Bodybuilder
Posts: 1113 |
Swimming for me is by far the best fat burning exercise. Especially when I'm surfing alot, I'm leaner than if I was just doing cardio at the gym. | ||
|
Cool Novice
Posts: 26 |
Cool, thanks for the advice guys! | ||
|
Cool Novice
Posts: 34 |
I swam for 6 years before the 4 years I swam in highschool. Swimming is the best total body exercise you can do. I played football in college and swimming is way harder. The good thing is that it doesn't hurt (unlike football) I suggest doing 100 to 200 yards at a time, standard pool would equal 4 or 8 lengths. Push yourself. Maybe even have somebody time you. My best time was 48.25 seconds in the 100 so shoot for around 2 min while doing cardio. | ||
|
Amateur Bodybuilder
Posts: 62 |
Swimming like I did it at the NCAA div 1 level is very catabolic! But that was 4 hours a day. But if you keep it to 20 minutes it should be great. | ||
|
Cool Novice
Posts: 30 |
I was a competitive swimmer for a while. Swim like you work out... DO SETS... Rest is not optional, it is a specific amount of time between each set.(I STRESS THIS AS MOST IMPORTANT). Strength and cardio will improve within 1 week becuse of a tolerance to lactic acid. The way pros do it.... The rest time isnt made, the set time is made. This means that the faster you finish your set the more rest you have. If you take it slow, you have less rest. You improve yourself week by week by lowering the set time. example. 10 sets of 2laps(50m) on 1 minute... you will probobly swim the first set in 35 seconds..which leaves you with 25 seconds rest.....by the last set you will probobly be swimming it in 50 seconds...which gives you 10 seconds rest.....After that work out, you can rest before your next one. Use your watch. Because this workout was on 1 min, always leave the wall at the same time. If you do it on 1:15, you will have to do some thinking and remember what time you left the last time. That is a 10 minute set, 15 min workout with warmup and warmdown. After about a week, you would probobly try to do that set on 55 sec. ect.. Add in sets of 4 laps and 8 laps depending on how long you want to work out. Example after gym swim.... warmup 5 min 8 sets of 2laps(50m) on 1min (all freestyle) 4 sets of 4laps(100m) on 2:30 (1 set breaststroke, 1 set backstroke) 2 sets of 8 laps(200m) on 5 min (1 set 100m.back/50m.breast/50m.free warm down Every few days, lower the time... | ||
|
Cool Novice
Posts: 26 |
I guess I should keep my heart rate at about 128 bpm for fat burning, considering I am 185lbs in my 20s. Anything over 150 I hear is catabolic. Does it sound right? | ||
|
Cool Novice
Posts: 39 |
I red somewhere that swimming is not that great because it makes the skin thicker in order to keep heat in the body. And if you look at elite swimmers, considering their huge training they are far from being extra ripped (compare them with athletic sprinters). So I'm not sure that swimming is optimal. [This message has been edited by yarpic (edited March 22, 2001).] | ||
|
Amateur Bodybuilder
Posts: 73 |
Swimming does burn alot of calories and is a very good cardiovascular excersize......BUT that doesnt necessarily mean its going to get you ripped. It can, but you must be sure of one thing....That the water is WARM! Dont flame me.....but if you think about it....most pools can be pretty cool at certain times of the year. Your body's natural reaction when it is in a state of losing body heat is to CONSERVE fat. So if you are swimming in a cool pool, you are burning a lot of calories, but could be losing as much if not more muscle than fat. So is could be possible to lose fat if the water is warmer.....sorry I dont know the exact temperature....But I read a good article about this a while back. ------------------ | ||
|
Elite Bodybuilder
Posts: 1339 |
just make sure the waters not too cool or it will lead to the accumilation of fat for insulation...honest. | ||
|
Cool Novice
Posts: 26 |
Cool, thanx for the info., I'll try to look for a heated pool for optimal results | ||
|
Elite Bodybuilder
Posts: 656 |
Coolhand and others are right. 99% of swimmers are in excellant shape, but never have the ripped look. The body adapts to being in the water. ------------------ | ||
|
Amateur Bodybuilder
Posts: 270 |
I going to suggest that swimming is not a great sport for fat burning or cardivascular training. My reasoning is the fact that while swimming, the amount of active muscle mass is much smaller in comparison to the muscle mass used while cycling or running. Swimmers become better at distance swimming due to peripherial adaptations as opposed to central adaptations. Peripherialy at the level of the muscle, the muscle becomes more adept at unloading of oxygen and dispertion of metabolic waste products. However there isn't a great enought stress placed on the entire system to cause central adaptaions such as increased cardiac output, better oxygen loading and the lungs, increased blood volume etc. Granted swimming does result in a cardiovascular training response and there will be an increased metabolic rate wich will increae fat burning, in comparison to walking or running, it is not as effective. rocko ------------------ | ||
|
Pro Bodybuilder 
Posts: 587 |
quote: exactly correct. and unless your pool is 98.6 degrees, you body is going to have SOME sort of fat saving reaction to prevent heat loss. but, if you're a serious fat ass, i don't think this will matter. only guys who start dropping below 10% or so would be slowed down by this mechanism, i would guess. | ||
|
Cool Novice
Posts: 13 |
I think swimming is the bomb and as for a weightless stay it maybe for some but I sink like a rock as I am sure most of you do too. muscle don't float. but I do 100m and then break until heart rate drop to a moderate level and do another 100m it is like sprint work I only do about 10-15 100's and I am set. and the chlorine kicks all my zits asses get deal | ||
|
Novice 
Posts: 3 |
I had looked into this before. I heard that swimmers' exposure to water leads to subcutaneous fat and water storage....That is why the typical avid swimmer has a smoother physique even if they are lean and muscular(for a non-bodybuilder). If you limit your pool time and stick with the diet I'm sure it won't be a problem. | ||
|
Elite Bodybuilder
Posts: 611 |
SWIMMING IS NOT A GOOD EXERCISE FOR BURING FAT. We watched a video on this in my health class, something about the fact that the water carries away the bodyheat, so you can't get you temperature up enough for it to be effective. They said it can keep a fit person fit, but is one of the worst for an overweight person, or someone looking to lose fat. ------------------ | ||
|
Cool Novice
Posts: 26 |
I ain't a fatass in case anyone was wondering. Was 195lbs at 6' with 7%bf (off the sauce) prior to my knee injury. 214lbs with 7%bf on the sauce. I used to do the treadmill for cardio at a very slight incline at about 4mph (fast walking) for 20 min every other day. Needed to stay lean for fitness modeling. Had to stop training for 10 weeks due to injury and recover from surgery. Just in to my 4 week of training and my weight is at 180lbs don't really know my bf% yet, but you can still see a shady six pack with a little bit of love handles. I am just starting to smarten up with the dieting again 'cause I let loose a little during recovery (the situation got a little depressing so I guess that's why I started to eat whatever). With a still stiff knee joint I can't do the treadmill at the intensity I used to, so my strength coach suggested swimming for cardio. Bottom line is I don't wanna deteriarate while recovering from my injury. I am training with weights (upper body only), and would like to add cardio into my routine again. I am getting better at walking so I can start making some use of the treadmill. I appreciate your guys opinion. I will take it into consideration. | ||
|
Amateur Bodybuilder
Posts: 56 |
Swimming is not a good excercise for fat burning when compared to other, like running, etc., because the body temp. is not raised as much because of the temp. of the water. The higher the body temp. the more calories are burned, so the lower the body temp. the less. |
All times are ET (US) | |
 |
posted March 21, 2001 04:25 PM