NeilT

After becoming very bored at the Gym I decided to start swimming instead, and have been going once or twice a week for the best part of 3 years.

I've gone from 20 lengths (25m pool) breast stroke to 90 lengths (mostly front crawl broken with some breast stroke), question is, is there any real fitness benefit to swimming this far once or twice a week or am I better off doing a shorter distance 3 times a week. I guess there must be a time where swimming further is simply not providing any real benefit (fitness wise)

Also, I'm finding that I get the start of some nasty cramp in my right leg (always my right!) after around 60, any tips for avoiding this, diet wise?

I'm sure there was someone on Scoobynet (a while ago) who was a pro-swimmer / instructor, so hopefully hes here still and could answer this

cheers

Neil

djuk

Not an answer to your question I'm afraid but I too dont find the gym the most interesting of activities - do you find that swimming helps to a similar extent with muscle definition in addition to fitness?

David

P1Fanatic

The thing with swimming it is all about the pace at which you swim. When I was properly swimming I could swim at a normal pace for ever and a day, but I found swimming at a fast pace a lot more beneficial.

I would suggest you gradually pick up the pace and maybe time your lengths so that you gradually improve. Doing length upon length at a snails pace wont really do any more for your fitness than walking to the local shop.

Simon.

Tiggs

the more you do the better.....but you'll get fit for what your doing.

twice a week for ages will have fitness bebifits that 4 times a week for a bit wont have and vice versa- both are good for.

personally i'd mix it up a bit- one week lay off and do loads when yo do go- following week go a lot but just for a half hour bash.

cramp- like a any sport you need to drink- in a pool you forget as the wetness means you dont feel thirtsty (tech term- wetness) put a water bottle at the poolside and drink evey few mins (as you would in the gym)

big thing to remember with swimming is that despite all the "ohhh, its the only sport that uses all the muscles" talk its actually very easy to do it without much hard work.

its great exercise for all people as even 90 year olds can get some mobility out of it but a fit adult doing breast stroke at a steady pace should go jogging instead!

your body in a pool finds it very easy to maintain a regualr heart beat with modest work (you're lying down after all!) so you HAVE to be aware of your work rate.

crap swimmers get more exercise in this sense than good ones- i can go up and down a pool faster than most but not break a sweat.....chuck a sinker in the deepend and he's exercising!

get a heartrate meter is best idea to see whats really going on with our body- if you need to up the heartrate play with your style (swim witha closed fist is one i do- no good for your stroke but gets the HR up)


Tiggs (ex swimmer and son of swim coach)


ps- note that years of pool chemicals screws up your spelling!

Dave!

I used to use the pool as part of my dieting plan. However, as most of the replies have already pointed out it's too easy to become lazy.
So what i did was 30mins treading water in the deep end.The action of lifting the kness up and kicking down again really stresses the abs and thighs - especially if you don't use your hands/arms. Try it, beleive me it's hard work and you'll get a sweat on!.....oh and if you get lazy doing this..well, you'll drown of course!

D.

Drunken Bungle Whore

Cramp is often caused by a shortage of potassium in your muscles - try eating lots of bananas - a jolly fine source of potassium.

ChrisB

That's me

I find swimming knackers me out completely. I can do back to back spinning classes with a high heart rate but six or eight lengths in a 25m pool and I'm wheezing. At that point, I head for the spa or sauna

NeilT

All good info cheers folks, esp Tiggs.

As far as muscle definition goes I reckon swimming works better for me that the gym ever did, I guess I'm more toned but less bulky.

I def get a water bottle next, I've never really thought about drinking as never had a thirst for it during swimming, like I would in the gym. Bananas are already part of my diet on swim days so think it must be lack of fluid causing cramps

I tend to swim easy for the first 20 then fairly hard for 20 front crawl, then slower for 10 with breast stroke, up to 90, to the pioint last week of almost being sick when I got out of the pool, so I would say its pretty good excercise

I'll start timing my lenghts - and try and improve on this and maybe cut it down a bit (aching badly today after last nights swim)

Almost got the hang of 'tumble turning' last night thats bloomin difficult when
your knackered!

BTW - where can I get a heart rate monitor thats waterpoof Tiggs? Any ideas?


cheers

Neil

Faire D'Income

That has to be one of the best lines I've read for a long time.


I can swim but not very well so the intention is to take lessons soon in order to learn to swim properly. Which stroke gives the best exercise? I presume it's the crawl if done at a reasonable pace with some commitment.

scoob_babe

salt is also good for beating cramp - its not nice when it kicks in mid tumble turn
Ad Tiggs said, you need to pick up your pace plus do intervals where you go flat out for two lengths, give yourself a small rest say 10 seconds and go again. Time yourself going flat out (or get a mate to do this) then work at doing 70% of your max speed and then build up (obviously this does help if you have a hitler-esque person yelling at you!
After going to the gym regularly, I thought I'd do a bit of swimming, I couldn't believe that 25m sprint of butterfly practically killed me off!!!!!!!!!
Never really considered which stroke is best for fitness as they all use the muscles differently.We also didn't get a choice of how the training schedule was written but butterfly and freestyle were the ones I was best at.
You should get someone to check out your breastroke kick to make sure that both legs are kicking out in a mirror image otherwise you have what is known as a 'screw-kick' and you'll end up doing more harm than good.
Anna (ex-swimmer, can give any excuse under the sun for skiving training sessions )

ozzy

Neil,

The thing you have to do to gain fitness is work your whole cardiovascular system. That includes heart, lungs and muscles. To do this correctly you have to train at a certain intensity depending on what you're trying to achieve.

The basic way of monitoring this is via your heart rate, so look at heart rate training zones. Certain sports put emphasis on certain muscle groups and work your body differently i.e. swimming and running are two different forms of exercise. Your heart and lungs don't know which you're doing, it's just certain muscle groups will be worked harder and you'll "feel" different depending on what you do.

Swimming can get your heart and lungs as fit as running with the benefits of less impact. Like running, the key to swimming is breathing. Get your breathing wrong and you'll work yourself much harder and tire quicker.

A 2-mile swim can be very easy if you just paddle along or it could kill you if you try to do it as fast as possible. Unless you keep shocking your body and making it grow, then any distance whether swimming or running will provide no benefit other than keeping a level of fitness.

So, if you simply did 90 laps day-in, day-out for weeks then your body will adapt to that level and you'll hit a plateau. Either keep increasing the distance to build endurance or speed up the laps to work your CV system harder.

No sport on it's own is enough for all-round fitness. You need to mix it up to work your body differently.

Stefan

P.S. Cramp can be low salt levels, usually through dehydration (since you'll sweat sodium out your body) and with swimming and biking it's easy to miss the early signs as water & wind will stop sweat getting in your mouth and actually tasting all the salt you're loosing.

Personally, I have a feeling most pools are too cold and that's not a nice way to train muscles. I drink litres of water a day, spend over 2hrs running almost every day yet I only get cramps in cold water.

scoob_babe

Ozzy - you ever been to Ponds Forge in Sheffield?? Now that is a COLD pool, no wonder a few world records have been set in it, you'd want to get in and out as quick as possible before you freeze!

farmer1

My Chiropracteur told me that Cramp would be from eating to much salt...

ozzy

Normally though, when you exercise you sweat and if you taste it you'll notice the salty taste. Cramps are usually caused by loosing too much fluids and sodium.

It's also true if you eat too much of it, but the important point is keeping the balance correct for your body. Go above or below that and you'll get problems.

Can only speak through experience, but any cramps I've had when not swimming was during long runs (1-2hrs & especially on hot days) when I hadn't been taking on fluids during the runs.

Stefan