Comments on: Swimming Workout – Sport Specific Circuit Training

By: MotleyHealth

MotleyHealth — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 15:44:39 +0000

Sorry Mahmoud, can you re-phrase your question please.

By: mahmoud

mahmoud — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 09:53:19 +0000

how many kilos should 11 years old water polo swim ??

By: Mohamad

Mohamad — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 06:52:34 +0000

Thanks for your help
Your advice was so usefull for my training but I need more exact plan

By: MotleyHealth

MotleyHealth — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 21:13:07 +0000

That is excellent Babu, well done. We have some cycling workouts and running advice for when you need it!

By: Babu

Babu — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 20:56:12 +0000

Hi, due to an extremely hectic work schedule I could do no physical activity for over a year and gained a fair amount of weight, but last summer I started swimming and kept at it since then, today I can do 2km/hour in the pool and I occasionally follow it up with weight training as well, I swim 5-6 days of the week, averaging 2km/day, have trimmed down a lot as a result, am 6’3″, 220 and may take up triathlon training too :)

By: MotleyHealth

MotleyHealth — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 01:24:42 +0000

Hi Helena, swimming is an excellent way to get fit and lose weight. However, it is just not the best way. If it is all you can do, do it. A lot of people stay very fit from swimming. Really the research is talking about cutting off the last of the fat content.

By: Helena

Helena — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 13:18:25 +0000

I am confused after reading this article. After excersizing on land (running, circuits, gym work, skipping and boxing) I have been able to tone up and improve my fitness. BUT my joints are now worn away to the point of having arthritus and I am only early 30′s. I have put on a lot of weight because I can’t work out like I used to. I have just started swimming, this is all I can do now. If it wasn’t for reading the comments, I would be very disheartened by this. Swimming is the only thing that doesn’t leave my knees feeling painful.

By: lucy howard

lucy howard — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 15:34:36 +0000

I hear you James!

it takes weeks to build to a powerful level – maybe even months! when my brother tried he nearly gave up he felt that it had no impact until I protested for him to carry on. six weeks to 3 mouths later he looked fitter and he was crazy with energy.

I hope this helps, that’s if that was what you wanted to hear.

By: SwimmerFan

SwimmerFan — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 03:46:42 +0000

If you are looking to lose that last bit of body fat then DIET is going to be key, not extra cardio. Running even isn’t going to be the best way to lose the last bit of body fat. People who already have lost weight cannot produce enough energy through cardio to create enough of a deficit. Competing professional athletes usually can and do, but usually us mere mortals cannot. Also, swimmers DO have higher body fat than runners, but fat %s are relative. Competitive swimmers might be 11% where competitive runners are extremely lean at 6%. I’d be the farm that most non-competitive people would take that 11% any day of the week. Also building muscle, ie hypertrophy, comes from weight resistance exercises AND feeding the muscle, you have the eat more.

By: MotleyHealth

MotleyHealth — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 19:29:43 +0000

Hi Lance. Glad you shared with us. This article is a bit misleading. It is really not aimed at people looking to lose a lot of weight, instead at those looking to trim down the last bit of fat. Swimming is an excellent form of exercise and likewise a great way to lose weight. But, if you are looking to lose the last bit body fat then swimming may not be the best way.

Well done to you on losing weight and getting fit though, excellent job. Keep up the good work. Maybe soon you will be in the 34 inch jammers again!

By: Lance

Lance — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:01:09 +0000

OK, I agree that swimming is best accompanied by other forms of exercise, and I would say the same about any other form as well. What I would like to know, and what was not included in the article is, what was the workout used, if any?
I’m 39 and was sedentary. I started swimming (yes, for the first time other than putzing around in the pool as a kid) in March 2009. I was 338lbs with a 50 waist size. In May 09, I joined a masters program at the Y, where the real swimming began. By July 09 I was under 300. Nothing changed but swimming. I actually ate *more* food, and did absolutely no other exercise. I burn about 2000 calories, in the water, every 2 hour session that we have. I swim 6 days a week. I am now buying regular size 38 jammers (was 50). That decrease in waist size, is, by the way, exclusively from swimming. I have recently added running, resistance and cycling to the mix, now that my weight is down and my cardio performance is up. Swimming is one of the BEST ways to lose weight IF done correctly. LOTS of interval training and different strokes. Take those same people in that study and give them to a masters coach and your results will be different.

By: GeekFish

GeekFish — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 16:01:02 +0000

SwimmerKitty is partially right. Look at the water polo players, they have a great physique but they are not 100% lean due to the fact the they need some fat to float better in the water and make easier their lives. On the other hand, of course and you burn fat with swimming! Try to do interval training swimming for 40 minutes 2-3 times a week and you will see the results, of fat reduce and toning of your muscles.

By: swimmerkitty

swimmerkitty — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 19:12:32 +0000

one thing no one has mentioned is that the body does not lose fat in water. One of the main reasons swimmers have higher body fat % than other sports is that the body saves fat to help keep it afloat.

That being said all those worried people that want to swim to lose weight. If you are going from being a couch potato to swimming 3-5 times a week of course you are going to lose weight even if you do not change your eating habits because you will be burning more calories than you were sitting on the couch. How much weight you need/intend to lose depends on weather you should incorporate running or something else into your workout regime.

By: Jeswah

Jeswah — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 06:15:56 +0000

I typically swim pretty frequently, i’m already pretty lean, but was really busy with work, etc. for about 5 months and didnt get to exercise as much as i like, afterwards wanted to trim up a bit. I’m 6’5 and about 215-220, takes a couple weeks to get back into it but after a few weeks i can always tell a difference. The article is right in some ways, you need to mix it up a bit and from my experience, swimming windsprint style at a higher intensity level, like around 80-85% with a couple hard laps in there and short breaks seems to work better than cruising and not really taking breaks, i’ve seen some of the same people going to the pool for a long time, some of them maybe mid thirties, who seem to swim for hours but look the same months down the road. had a pretty big friend who gains weight easily but has a large muscular frame, he can drop a lot of weight with just not ordering the extras in his diet, and swimming around 5 times a week on average. i guess everyone is different, you wont get too cut from swimming: toned shoulders, etc, but like it says, you gotta mix it up.

By: MotleyHealth

MotleyHealth — Tue, 18 May 2010 18:38:13 +0000

Wise words Moosa. I like the “calorie bank account” idea.

By: Moosa

Moosa — Tue, 18 May 2010 17:42:07 +0000

There are research reports and there are research reports. I worked in the sugar industry some time ago and they sponsored one research report that said sugar is not bad for you and it does not cause diabetes. That is partially true but my point is that it all depends on what was the purpose behind the research report.

Dear Swembroek, if you love swimming and hate other exercises – my recommendation to you is stay with swimming. Weight loss is all about your calorie Bank account. If you are burning (Withdrawing out) more calories than you are eating (Depositing into) then you are going to lose weight. Swimming burns calories – just maintain your diet and you will lose weight.

By: MotleyHealth

MotleyHealth — Sun, 16 May 2010 23:40:20 +0000

IT is a bit misleading. The key point is that swimming is not the best way to lose weight. It is an excellent way to get fit and a healthy form of exercise which will help people lose weight. So keep swimming. The most important factor of any exercise is that you enjoy it, this helps with motivation. If you are looking to cut your body fat to very low levels then you may need to do some dry training like professional swimmers do, but if you just want to be fit and healthy do not worry about the study.

By: Swembroek

Swembroek — Sun, 16 May 2010 19:29:41 +0000

I was extremely confused after reading that study, as I have just started swimming for exercise. No exercise has ever left me feeling so stretched and good afterwards, and I even feel as if my back is “elongated”. A good, well exercised feeling. So, do I continue to swim or do I use the boring Orbitreck instead? Yes, I want to lose weight. Yes, I want to become fit. I don’t like exercise, and swimming is the first exercise ever that I really, really enjoy. I’m really unsure as to whether I should continue, or start with something else.

By: MotleyHealth

MotleyHealth — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 08:18:46 +0000

The study did not say that swimming did not help people to lose weight, just that compared with other forms of exercise, it is not the best way to lose weight. Many professional swimmers do “dry training” to help reduce and burn body fat. But swimming has many advantages over other forms of exercise, mainly concerning the fact that there is less pressure places on joints and it causes less injury.

By: isabeau

isabeau — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 01:17:31 +0000

I had a really hard time losing the baby weight after my second child. I was holding on to and extra 10-15lbs for almost a year. I took up swimming and steadily, without changing anything else, I lost that weight. While I do eat healthily, I also did throughout the year that I didn’t lost the baby weight. I try to swim 4-6 times a week and try to do at least 1km each workout. I don’t know about the results of this study, but from my experience swimming is a great weight loss AND toning activity.