Swimming for health.

[Vellson]

I like swimming best cardio exercise as it involves most of the body parts while swimming and has many benefits like:

It prevents you from obesity and joint problems
It fights against stork and heart disease
It dramatically improves muscle tone
It improves athletic speed and performance
It allows you to achieve your fitness goals much faster

[Littlelebowski]

Odd, you posted elsewhere that crossfit and running are your favorites.

I'll bite; what are you favorite swimming workouts?

[jmoore]

It fights against stork and heart disease


So - it prevents pregnancy (I assume that is what "stork" disease is????)

Sorry - couldn't pass it up:) - john

PS - BTW, I am the KING of transposed letters and mis-typing:)

[Vic303]

I like swimming, but it takes a pool being convenient to my location and my schedule. Neither is particularly convenient...so I walk or ride my bike.

[Atlshaun]

I prefer swimming because of bad knees

[WillBrink]

I like swimming best cardio exercise as it involves most of the body parts while swimming and has many benefits like:

It prevents you from obesity and joint problems
It fights against stork and heart disease
It dramatically improves muscle tone
It improves athletic speed and performance
It allows you to achieve your fitness goals much faster

Swimming for health, for sure. Swimming for reasons listed above (SPAM...) not so much. While swimming has it's health benefits to be sure, can make one fitter, it generally sucks for weight loss, and "dramatically improves muscle tone"? It's terrible at that too.

Go look up the actual data on swimming for weight loss (or building muscle) and it's clearly poor at either. A decent write up on the topic:

"If you want to lose weight, you're better off walking around a pool than swimming in it," Cate says. "That's obviously a bit extreme, but it does make the point. From a fat loss perspective, swimming has some real negatives compared to other forms of exercise."

One of the problems is buoyancy. When you're in the pool, your weight is supported by water, so you don't burn as much energy to move. And the more body fat you have, the more this applies – because fat floats. So someone with more body fat will actually burn fewer kilojoules swimming than someone who is slimmer (all other things being equal). Likewise, a woman's higher proportion of body fat means she will burn fewer kilojoules than a man swimming under the same conditions.

Temperature is another possible issue. Whatever your size or gender, it's usually easier to maintain your normal body temperature during and after a swim, compared to exercising on land, Cate says. This may mean you burn comparatively less fuel, because you don't have to work as hard to maintain your body temperature and keep yourself cool. (But the effect of different water temperatures on fat loss among swimmers has not been thoroughly tested.)

Finally, it is quite likely you will eat more after a swim. Many people notice exercise suppresses their appetite, but there's evidence this is less pronounced if you exercise in water. Again, it's thought changes to body temperature play a role. This might be one reason elite swimmers often have more body fat than their counterparts who exercise on land, Cate says."

http://www.abc.net.au/health/talkinghealth/factbuster/stories/2010/02/18/2822633.htm#.URFUv4V0w7A

Good exercise, and better than nothing for sure (swam yesterday myself...) but it's far from an optimal form of exercise for those looking to lose fat, increase strength, or any of the benefits listed above, with the possible exception of being a good choice for those with joint issues.

[Littlelebowski]

Good exercise, and better than nothing for sure (swam yesterday myself...) but it's far from an optimal form of exercise for those looking to lose fat, increase strength, or any of the benefits listed above, with the possible exception of being a good choice for those with joint issues.

Like gunshot wounds :D

[WillBrink]

Like gunshot wounds :D

I'm happy to report I have no personal experience with that! But, swimming can be excellent rehab and form of exercise for those with various physical limitations.

My personal rule of exercise: do what you enjoy if you have the choice as it will greatly increase the likelihood you'll continue to do it.

Consistency is literally half the battle.

[Pi3]

Too me, it is the best low inpact excercise. It's inpossible to get overheated. Some people have sinus problems from the Chlorine.
http://forums.usms.org/archive/index.php/t-444.html

[wild_wild_wes]

I swam last month and lost 4 pounds. I did laps for 45 minutes before work, three times a week. But, I also did two HIIT sessions per week, and three strength training workouts per week. Also, I was on a daily 1800 calorie eating plan. So, who knows how effective the swimming was for weight loss. I wasn't pushing myself in the water; I counted those as LISS workouts.

But, the chlorine is hard on my nasal passages, so I won' be swimming again for the next two months.

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

I got plantar fasciitis when I was in the Navy, very painful and it made running a no go. I swam my PT test the entire time, I got very into it for a long time. I was never able to push myself to the point of vomiting while running, but I did it several times when swimming. The pool at Damneck va, naval base was awesome and there were plenty of combat swimmers there to teach you how to get the most out of your technique. In all swimming has done a lot for me.