Is swimming really help to loss weight?

[Danny]

Originally Posted by sclim

Just my 2c: I'm more on the side of those who say you can't out-run a fork (I love that). If that's true, then it's even more true that you can't out-swim a fork!

For those who advocate swimming as a weigh loss method, citing the caloric cost of swimming, I would advise that while in theory, any small caloric cost will help, to be truly effective, the caloric cost of the activity has to be significant.

One detriment that must be considered is that TI is all about efficiency. If you are an excellent TI student, then your swimming is smooth and waste-free, or, in other words not very conducive to weight loss. The only way for an efficient swimmer who is swimming at a level nowhere near his top speed to burn large amounts of calories is to swim long hours to make up the deficit due to low number of calories per hour of swimming. This would generally only apply to serious or competitive swimmers, although the latter group would be burning more calories per minute because they are training at fast speeds as well as huge distances daily.

Some evidence that this is true is the fact that in my pool (and I'm sure this is true at most other pools) there are significant numbers of individuals with varying levels of excess body fat who, nevertheless, swim quite well, and with respectable durations. This speaks to two facts -- firstly, excess body fat in itself does not impair the ability to swim well or even fast, and secondly, for these people at least, swimming has not been enough to removed the excess fat that we are observing now (although, to be fair, we have no insight as to whether that individual is in the process of successful weight loss or not).

In contrast, in groups of habitual distance runners, the incidence of individuals with residual excess body fat seems to be less, as is the degree of the excess. It is useful to remember that for an average person about 100 calories is burned per mile run (over and above the background metabolic burning of calories).

Working backwards to get calories per minute of running for runners of various speeds, even slow runners burn more calories per minute than most swimmers (I'm talking about non-competitive swimmers here).

sclim, this post is almost a year old, so I doubt you will read my response, but I did want to differ slightly with what you are saying above. The first thing to keep in mind is that most swimmers swim with lousy technique, because developing swimming technique that lets you swim distance at a high exertion level is more difficult than developing running technique that lets you run distance at a high exertion level. I would compare the swimming that most people you see doing laps down at the pool with running in deep snow. That is, it's great exercise, but it's so unpleasant that no one in their right mind does it at the exertion level and for the time that most serious runners put into running. However, a good swimmer who knows how to push himself using his core in a rhythmic fashion can swim 40 continuous minutes or a span of hours at a pace that a lot of runners run for 40 minutes, and that, I think, is a better comparison. Unfortunately, I don't think we have any real data for this, that I know of at least.

The other thing to keep in mind is that there is a selective process that works against fat runners in that they are more likely to develop impact injuries when they put in heavy miles. This fact has nothing to do with how many calories are being burnt.

Finally, I have heard one form of speculation, and I have no idea how true it is, that you need to get your body temperature up to a certain level before you can start to efficiently burn fat, and swimming tends to keep your temperature down, which may hinder that process. No idea if there is any truth to this, it's a folk story, that one might want to consider.

In summary, it's difficult to compare the two activities.

Yes it will help, the good thing about swimming is it work you're hole body equally so that's the best way, but I would also suggest doing power walks or just taking a nice walk with friend or jogging or bike riding as well it will help you a lot and plus its amazing for you're legs

Interesting you ask about 'weight'. I am currently training for aquathlons (swim:run). Before this I was an ultra distance trail runner and my upper body was quite lean and not very developed. Since I really started swimming seriously I have put on a lot of muscle in my back, shoulders, upper arms. I have actually gained weight in both muscle from the adaptation and fat due to the fact my calorie expenditure from training has reduced as I'm not doing the same volume of running. My weight has gone up since getting serious about swimming!

[Grant]

That was my experience as well. After having to give up running because of damaged knee, I took up swimming. At the time I was rail thin as I was doing marathons and 1/2 marathons. After swimming five days a week for about 4 to 6 months I noticed that the garbage I carried out weekly was definitely lighter and my collar size went up by .5 inch. Makes sense as my upper body was trash with just running. My weight did go up but not a lot and when I did more yard work in the spring, summer and fall it fell off by about 1/2 the gain.
I really think that swimming is the best balanced, low impact exerzise available to us aging athletes. I took up swimming when I was 58 and have been at it for about 23 years. TI for about 15.
Thank you Terry.

Originally Posted by andymark25415

Hello everyone this is my first time in this forum and i want to know that Is swimming really help to loss weight fast?

Yes, swimming does help to lose weight as it is same as doing exercise. But you should keep it for regular basis. Don't skip the days and have patients to see the results. I will also suggest you have Green Tea that includes antioxidants helps in reduce of weight.

For sure, I think that's the best practice to lose the weight and to keep your whole body in a good fit. Almost all muscles are active when you are training on the water. The only question is how often you go to the pool. To maximize your result you may also combine it with CrossFit gym, and results could be very surprising

[lloyddinma]

Have had the same issue when I swim. But then I started volunteering at this other facility that uses ozone and never experienced the itching on days when I go there.

Quite certain it is from chlorine.

Swimming burns lots of calories and very effective for weight loss.

Swimming is my favourite excerise!

It is also good for health and well being, including mental well being.

It is not the best excerise for weight loss - running and aerobics are much better.

The best way to burn calories in the pool is to swim at the highest intensity as possible. Repeat sets of different strokes and drills at various intervals is good way to burn calories and strengthen different muscle groups.

I alway find my stomach feels very firm after doing dolphin kick on my back!

Why Water Works
The body-shaping benefits of swimming workouts are the result of a perfect storm of calorie burn and muscle recruitment. An easy swim burns around 500 calories an hour, while a vigorous effort can torch almost 700. And because water is nearly 800 times denser than air, each kick, push, and pull is like a mini resistance workout for your entire body—especially your core, hips, arms, shoulders, and glutes. So in addition to blasting calories as you swim, you build lean muscle, which ignites your metabolism so that you burn more calories once you've showered and dried off.

The irony is that while swimming makes you lean and mean, it's also kind to your body. Water basically neutralizes gravity, so you become virtually weightless when immersed, giving your joints a much-needed vacation. "You can swim almost every day without risking injury," says Joel Stager, Ph.D., director of the Counsilman Center for the Science of Swimming at Indiana University at Bloomington, who has studied the effects of swimming for years. "You can't say the same for running or strength training."

And that makes swimming something you can do for your entire life—a major bonus because it can literally help you stay younger: "Our research shows that habitual swimmers are biologically up to 20 years younger than their actual age," Stager says. The data, which were presented at an American College of Sports Medicine Conference, revealed that a swimmer's blood pressure, cholesterol levels, cardiovascular performance, central nervous system, and cognitive functioning are all comparable to someone far younger.