Swimming for cardio / fat-loss and your thoughts

[superbigd]

Beach time boys!!

Well now that I've reached the tender age of 31 I unfortunately have decided I need to start doing more cardio, both for the cardiovascular benefits as well as fat loss. Now for the past three weeks I've done anywhere from 200-300 laps a week in the pool, broken out by 36-72 laps a day ( 1/2 a mile to 1 mile) and I have to say it's such a great workout. You get out of the pool feeling refreshed and your chest feels full and your lungs feel great. At the end of every workout I'll do lap sprints for about four lengths and it's absolutely devistating. Does anyone else swim for cardio and fat loss?

 

[Onacomeback]

Beach time boys!!



Well now that I've reached the tender age of 31 I unfortunately have decided I need to start doing more cardio, both for the cardiovascular benefits as well as fat loss. Now for the past three weeks I've done anywhere from 200-300 laps a week in the pool, broken out by 36-72 laps a day ( 1/2 a mile to 1 mile) and I have to say it's such a great workout. You get out of the pool feeling refreshed and your chest feels full and your lungs feel great. At the end of every workout I'll do lap sprints for about four lengths and it's absolutely devistating. Does anyone else swim for cardio and fat loss?

My memory might be rusty but I think 7-8 yrs ago they did a study and found that the body tended to keep a small layer of fat to offset the cold water?

That seemed to match what we see with swimmers. They get lean but not shredded, keeping a thin layer of fat.

Keep in mind that's just what I remember and my memory isn't perfect


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[Marvin Martian]

When I was a kid we swam almost every day during the summer and I remember being so freaking hungry after a few hours in the pool...

 

[machinemind]

Swimming is excellent cardio, low impact and extremely taxing on the body.

 

[Onacomeback]

When I was a kid we swam almost every day during the summer and I remember being so freaking hungry after a few hours in the pool...

I remember it would make me very relaxed and I'd get that good sleep


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[td]

My memory might be rusty but I think 7-8 yrs ago they did a study and found that the body tended to keep a small layer of fat to offset the cold water?

You'll have to look for that paper. It was a theory. But I've never seen it confirmed.

The exact opposite may be true. During cold exposure, the body loses heat (energy) to the environment. This increases metabolic rate. Heat loss occurs even faster in water due to higher thermal conductivity of water relative to air.

The question is what is the primary energy substrate for this addition expenditure (loss)? It is being studied in relation to brown adipose tissue.

Endocrine Regulation of Subcutaneous Fat Metabolism during Cold Exposure in Humans - KOSKA - 2002 - Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences - Wiley Online Library

 

[asteelz]

Interesting study but I doubt anyone is swimming in 40 degree water.

I was a highly competitive swimmer for about 8 years as a pre teen to high school. Was always very lean but had an extremely difficult time gaining weight.. mind you I was swimming year round and for 1-2 hours a day. Could eat anything and it never stuck. Shoulders and lats developed while the rest of
Me didn't.

 

[nothuman]

I can't think of a better method of cardio than swimming.

 

[Marvin Martian]

Interesting study but I doubt anyone is swimming in 40 degree water.

I was a highly competitive swimmer for about 8 years as a pre teen to high school. Was always very lean but had an extremely difficult time gaining weight.. mind you I was swimming year round and for 1-2 hours a day. Could eat anything and it never stuck. Shoulders and lats developed while the rest of
Me didn't.

I guarantee you nobody is swimming in 40 degree (if we are talking F) water for very long...

Getting as cold as you can stand it definitely burns bodyfat though. It takes much more fuel to heat the body than to cool it.

 

[td]

Interesting study but I doubt anyone is swimming in 40 degree water.

I was a highly competitive swimmer for about 8 years as a pre teen to high school. Was always very lean but had an extremely difficult time gaining weight.. mind you I was swimming year round and for 1-2 hours a day. Could eat anything and it never stuck. Shoulders and lats developed while the rest of
Me didn't.

We're more concerned about the mechanism than the specifics of this experiment. Consider the following:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3701264/

It's showing an increase in metabolism from simply sleeping at 19°C (66°F). Now, consider how much colder 66°F water "feels" as opposed to 66° dry air. Again, this is due to the thermal conductivity of water. When you're swimming, you're losing heat to the water. What is the source of that energy? Is it entirely glucose metabolism? The previous paper seems to indicate it is not.

 

[Mini Truck]

John Meadows does his HIIT cardio in the pool.

Not laps which you're doing, but just something like 10 bursts.
You could probably find it on youtube.

-MT

 

[Mini Truck]

Starts at 12:20 into video

[ame="http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiQ6tKaTx50"]http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiQ6tKaTx50[/ame]

 

[alfresco]

Ditch the swimming

Try treading water, in the deep end of a pool
. . . with your clothes on.

Now that is a workout.

Be sure you have somebody close by. You
don’t want to drown. It is that exhausting.

 

[ALLEX]

Very complete exercise with zero impact. Doesn't get any better...

 

[asteelz]

We're more concerned about the mechanism than the specifics of this experiment. Consider the following:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3701264/

It's showing an increase in metabolism from simply sleeping at 19°C (66°F). Now, consider how much colder 66°F water "feels" as opposed to 66° dry air. Again, this is due to the thermal conductivity of water. When you're swimming, you're losing heat to the water. What is the source of that energy? Is it entirely glucose metabolism? The previous paper seems to indicate it is not.

I follow, ffa to acetyl coa vs glucose. I've seen a few of these studies over the years from subscribing to jcem.

 

[Flex500]

Love it! Mostly because as yo get older (I'm 34) I want to see pens time doing things I like. I jump on a bike for cardio a lot to knock it our quick but 1-2 times a week hit the pool. Great workout!

I'm on vacation now and honestly one of the things I enjoy the most is morning cardio in the pool.

 

[juggy38]

Y'all will have to look for it I'm at work, but there is a study showing swimming stimulates hunger way more than other types of cardio. The participants in the study consumed a lot more calories post swimming than post running.

I know I get ravenous after swimming

 

[little slice]

is your goal to get shredded or just to lose some fat/get in decent shape?

 

[dsteelo455]

Y'all will have to look for it I'm at work, but there is a study showing swimming stimulates hunger way more than other types of cardio. The participants in the study consumed a lot more calories post swimming than post running.

I know I get ravenous after swimming

That's the problem with cardio for many many people, giving in to the increased appetite and then eating lots more than was burned:banghead:

 

[Bam2874]

Y'all will have to look for it I'm at work, but there is a study showing swimming stimulates hunger way more than other types of cardio. The participants in the study consumed a lot more calories post swimming than post running.

I know I get ravenous after swimming

Not sure if this is the same study https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2952805/ since I only glanced it over really quick. According to this study, "Research indicates that swimming may be less effective than land-based activities for inducing weight loss or reductions in body fat [3, 4]. Consistent with this, it has been observed that levels of adiposity are typically higher in swimmers than equal calibre runners [27, 28]. In conclusion, this investigation has shown that an acute bout of moderate intensity swimming suppresses appetite during exercise before leading to an increase later on in the day. Despite this, energy intake and macronutrient selection appear resistant to change over the duration of time examined. Circulating concentrations of acylated ghrelin were suppressed during swimming and this may possibly have contributed to the reduction in appetite observed. Nonetheless, acylated ghrelin does not appear to mediate the reported increase in appetite in the hours after exercise."