swimming to burn fat
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Nubianspirit2
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swimming to burn fat
Hi everyone. New to this site and just getting into the flow of exercising, though i need all the help i can get especially with weight training. I just wondered why out of all the workouts or exercises recommended for burning fat and weight loss, that swimming wasn't mentioned. Isn't it a good form of exercise?
Yes, but it can sometimes become adaptive a tad too easily.
Swimming is resistance exercise, but the body could get used to it, if you keep doing the same thing over and over.
The only ways to make it less adaptive, would probably be either to change the speed / intensity of the swimming, on a regular basis, or change the style, I.E. Crawl one week, Backstroke the next etc etc.
A good one for Joint protection though, as the joints don't get vibration and shocks in them, like you would with running, or some other forms of non-static cardio.
So it is good, but the other caution to heed, is if someone plans to do do weights programmes too, as being resistance work, you might find weights work suffers a little, owing to recovery time from swimming, so for people who do weights and swim, this should be something to consider.
Swimming is resistance exercise, but the body could get used to it, if you keep doing the same thing over and over.
The only ways to make it less adaptive, would probably be either to change the speed / intensity of the swimming, on a regular basis, or change the style, I.E. Crawl one week, Backstroke the next etc etc.
A good one for Joint protection though, as the joints don't get vibration and shocks in them, like you would with running, or some other forms of non-static cardio.
So it is good, but the other caution to heed, is if someone plans to do do weights programmes too, as being resistance work, you might find weights work suffers a little, owing to recovery time from swimming, so for people who do weights and swim, this should be something to consider.
Swimming is an excellent form of excercise for the whole body. I will be honest though... Most individuals have trouble keeping the intensity high enough for it to be effective and without a clean diet it will only do a little. Swimming is best used as one of many exercises to acheive healthy living.
For example, doing swimming sprints for 10-15 minutes followed by 15 minutes of steady paced laps would be great a couple of times a week.
But without gaining some muscle to help burn fat it can only do so much. So 3x a week you should do full body workouts with free weights and compound movements such as squats, deadlifts, bench press, military press, upright rows, bent rows, and chin-ups.
Now it isn't the best for the metabolism to rest 2 days in a row, so either have two days off interspaced in the above workouts or add another cardio day.
For example, treadmill, cycling, elyptical or rowing. Do sprints for 15 minutes then easy then moderate for a total of about 30 to 40 minutes.
Sprints are usually best in a 1:2 ratio. so hard for 1 minute and relaxed pace for 2 minutes, 5-10 times then real easy for 5 minutes then 15 minutes of steady paced excercise with a cool down and stretch afterwards.
For swimming sprints: 1 length hard, get out walk back and do it again, about 15 to 20x would be great and then do about 15 minutes of laps, stretch and go home!
Don't forget to eat clean and about 4 to 8 meals a day with protein every meal.
Cheers
For example, doing swimming sprints for 10-15 minutes followed by 15 minutes of steady paced laps would be great a couple of times a week.
But without gaining some muscle to help burn fat it can only do so much. So 3x a week you should do full body workouts with free weights and compound movements such as squats, deadlifts, bench press, military press, upright rows, bent rows, and chin-ups.
Now it isn't the best for the metabolism to rest 2 days in a row, so either have two days off interspaced in the above workouts or add another cardio day.
For example, treadmill, cycling, elyptical or rowing. Do sprints for 15 minutes then easy then moderate for a total of about 30 to 40 minutes.
Sprints are usually best in a 1:2 ratio. so hard for 1 minute and relaxed pace for 2 minutes, 5-10 times then real easy for 5 minutes then 15 minutes of steady paced excercise with a cool down and stretch afterwards.
For swimming sprints: 1 length hard, get out walk back and do it again, about 15 to 20x would be great and then do about 15 minutes of laps, stretch and go home!
Don't forget to eat clean and about 4 to 8 meals a day with protein every meal.
Cheers
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Nubianspirit2
- STARTING OUT
- Posts: 25
- Joined: Thu Aug 28, 2008 9:58 am
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Nubianspirit2
- STARTING OUT
- Posts: 25
- Joined: Thu Aug 28, 2008 9:58 am
sprints are also known as interval training. They are better for muscle maintenance/growth and for burning calories/fat.
For swimming sprints: 1 length hard, get out walk back and do it again, about 15 to 20x would be great and then do about 15 minutes of laps, stretch and go home! This is done with swim team practices.
When doing this style of "cardio" it is more anarobic like weight lifting and will keep your metabolism higher for longer.....
for example: These are estamations for example not actual figures....
if you do one hour on the treadmill at a steady jog you burn lots of calories then and there, which is great, but....
if you do 1/2 hour to an hour of weights, or 15-20 minutes of sprints you won't burn a high number of calories then and there but, for the next 12 to 24 and up hours you metabolism will increase.....
so if you burned about 750 calories by jogging...cool
but with sprints and weight lifting you only burned say 250 calories....
that's a difference of 500 calories, steady pace won right? wrong....
now for the next 12 hours you're burning say 25 calories more an hour evan in the rested state thats 300 calories, alot closer now. Double it if your body stays up for 24 hours etc.
Now lets also look at....
muscle increases metabolism thus the bodies ability to burn fat. Sprints and weight lifting build muscle, whereas with steady rate cardio actually decreases muscle mass (proven by many studies) so decreases metabolism.
It is also proven that over time the body becomes efficient at steady paced cardio (if you run 5 km every other day for 1 hour consitantly), your body will actually burn less calories every time you do it thus becoming more efficient at preserving valuable fuel it wants to keep.
Hope this helps and it wasn't too much of a lecture....
Cheers
For swimming sprints: 1 length hard, get out walk back and do it again, about 15 to 20x would be great and then do about 15 minutes of laps, stretch and go home! This is done with swim team practices.
When doing this style of "cardio" it is more anarobic like weight lifting and will keep your metabolism higher for longer.....
for example: These are estamations for example not actual figures....
if you do one hour on the treadmill at a steady jog you burn lots of calories then and there, which is great, but....
if you do 1/2 hour to an hour of weights, or 15-20 minutes of sprints you won't burn a high number of calories then and there but, for the next 12 to 24 and up hours you metabolism will increase.....
so if you burned about 750 calories by jogging...cool
but with sprints and weight lifting you only burned say 250 calories....
that's a difference of 500 calories, steady pace won right? wrong....
now for the next 12 hours you're burning say 25 calories more an hour evan in the rested state thats 300 calories, alot closer now. Double it if your body stays up for 24 hours etc.
Now lets also look at....
muscle increases metabolism thus the bodies ability to burn fat. Sprints and weight lifting build muscle, whereas with steady rate cardio actually decreases muscle mass (proven by many studies) so decreases metabolism.
It is also proven that over time the body becomes efficient at steady paced cardio (if you run 5 km every other day for 1 hour consitantly), your body will actually burn less calories every time you do it thus becoming more efficient at preserving valuable fuel it wants to keep.
Hope this helps and it wasn't too much of a lecture....
Cheers
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Nubianspirit2
- STARTING OUT
- Posts: 25
- Joined: Thu Aug 28, 2008 9:58 am
Thanks so much for that advice Vamp. Thanks to everyone for replying quickly too. What you said about muscle burning fat more than cardio was an eye opener, Vamp. I thought and had been convinced by other people that cardio was the most important thing to be doing, then add weight training. I was told to build up muscle i had to be lean and to be lean i had to concerntrate on cardio. I will increase weight training days and decrease cardio days.
Thanks again everyone
Thanks again everyone
Nubian,
Don't get me wrong, cardio has its benifits especially for your heart....
Remember the old saying "everything in moderation".
I tend to like it because it means we get a little of everything. LOL.
So say you did 3 days full body weights, 2 days of sprints/intervals and then 1 day of steady paced cardio and one day of rest. (How can so many religions be wrong about a day of rest
) This way you get a bit of everything and reap great rewards from them all!
Cheers
Vamp
Don't get me wrong, cardio has its benifits especially for your heart....
Remember the old saying "everything in moderation".
I tend to like it because it means we get a little of everything. LOL.
So say you did 3 days full body weights, 2 days of sprints/intervals and then 1 day of steady paced cardio and one day of rest. (How can so many religions be wrong about a day of rest
) This way you get a bit of everything and reap great rewards from them all! Cheers
Vamp