| belamenina
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| I'm wondering if swimming is definitely recommended to lose weight with the SBD. I have just began to swim and I'm doing one hour four times a week. I hate sweating so that's why I'm swimming... |
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Sat Aug 11, 2007 10:29 pm |
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| SarBear
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I highly recommend swimming!! When I first started, I swam about 5 days per week for an hour and the weight just fell off. I still do swimming once or twice per week, but now I balance it with running. It's an amazing workout because you work your entire body. My arms got nicely toned from swimming.
In my opinion, swimming is probably the best exercise for heavier people because 1) you're weightless in the water so you can do more (less frustrating) 2) heavy people are at higher risk for joint pain, and swimming has no impact, so that solves that and 3) Swimming is fun and non-sweaty, so it's not as "painful" as a regular land workout.
If you really end up enjoying it, you may want to invest in a water music player. I got a special system for my ipod, so that I can swim with my Ipod, which made swimming even more fun. An hour of straight swimming can get boring, so I really like this: http://www.h2oaudio.com/
Hope this helps!! |
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Sat Aug 11, 2007 11:01 pm |
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| belamenina
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Thank you so much for the information about swimming and plus the aquatic ipod...it definitely sounds interesting. Well, I enjoy swimming a lot and this time I'm trying to stick to the schedule so I don't miss any class. I just started this week but seems like I've been swimming for a longer time. I do have an elliptical at home. My brother lost 120 lbs with the SBD and working out on the elliptical. The problem is that I really hate sweating...so maybe in the future who knows I might change my mind and work on the elliptical some other days. I'll see if I can get that waterproof case for the ipod and the aquatic headphones of course. So thanks again, I really appreciate your help!
belamenina |
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Sun Aug 12, 2007 12:37 am |
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| Smurlene
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| I love, love, love swimming! When I do it faithfully, I lose weight and feel superb! |
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Mon Aug 13, 2007 4:38 pm |
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| alaskagrown
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I really enjoy swimming as well - I don't think that any other form of exercise make me feel so happy and relaxed afterwards.
My problem is that I never feel like my form is good enough to be really effective in the water - I only know a couple strokes, and not very well! Any suggestions? |
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Thu Aug 16, 2007 3:53 am |
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| salmonlady
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Thanks for starting a thread on swimming. Last spring I took a water aerobics class which I loved. This fall I will take it again, but I'm also thinking about just swimming.
My problem is I lack the lung capacity. I stumbled across the zero to 1650 in six weeks (1650 yards being the swimmer's mile).
http://www.ruthkazez.com/SwimWorkouts/ZeroTo1mile.html
Has anyone tried this?
I'll let you know if I do.
Salmon |
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Fri Aug 24, 2007 5:24 pm |
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| Smurlene
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| I would love to hear more about that salmon. I, too, have moderate to low lung capacity (for various reasons). |
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Fri Aug 24, 2007 7:17 pm |
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| salmonlady
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Smurlene
I'll let you know if I actually put the zero to 1650 into practice!
Salmon |
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Mon Aug 27, 2007 12:54 am |
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| salmonlady
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Hey I did swim yesterday. For all of 20 minutes--that was all I could manage, but I figure I'll build up gradually.
Salmon |
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Tue Aug 28, 2007 1:22 pm |
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| TKfromUK
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| I occasionally go swimming to my local swimming pool, and I enjoy it very much. I am not sure how much it is going to help me lose weight (I am a very confident but a very slow swimmer), but it certainly makes me feel good about myself. Also, an hour swimming is an hour of not worrying about food :) |
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Tue Aug 28, 2007 2:39 pm |
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| Smurlene
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salmon--Way to go! 20 minutes is a long time in the water. The other night, I swam for 30 and I was exhausted.
TK--Swimming is so relaxing and rejuvinating. To me, there is no better exercise on Earth. |
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Wed Aug 29, 2007 12:32 am |
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| bio fish
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I was a swimming instructor for about 7 years through both the American Red Cross and YMCA.
I'd like to echo what others have said already. Swimming is wonderful exercise. It works out your entire body both the obvious large muscle groups in you arms and legs and many smaller muscles through your core you use to stabilize yourself in the water. It's very easy on the joints and you don't sweat.
Any movement through the water is going to benefit you but if you would like to improve your technique I suggest calling your local YMCA and speaking with the aquatic director. The Y I worked at ran adult swim lessons for beginners and for more advanced swimmer who wanted to improve technique. And we also offered private lessons which is a great option if you’d like a couple sessions one on one to address a particular problem you’re having or just to get some general feedback. The best way to improve your strokes is to have someone else watch you, and give you feedback as it’s hard to tell exactly what you’re doing on your own. It’s also a great place to get advise on your workouts. There are many options besides just getting in and swimming fro 20 minutes strait. Doing intervals (swimming a set distance and then resting for a set time and repeating) or switching up your strokes can increase the intensity of you workout as well as make it more interesting.
If you’re swimming at a guarded pool and it’s pretty quite. (ie a few adults swimming laps and no unattended kids) don’t hesitate to ask the lifeguard for a little feedback. Many guards are also instructors or have competitive swimming experience and will be happy to give you a few pointers. Besides if there just a few of you swimming back and forth she’s probably bored out of her mind.
Also if you like working out in the water but want to try something other than swimming laps look for a water aerobics or aquisise class. They’re pretty common and can be a lot of fun. |
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Wed Aug 29, 2007 4:06 pm |
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| salmonlady
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Hey thanks for the good information, bio fish.
Just to reinforce your last point, water aerobics is great! We have a course at a pool nearby which really kicks your you know what....It's started a new session this week and I am really looking forward to it (yes it will help you lose weight).
I liked your suggestion about speaking to the Y instructors about ways to improve your strokes.
What do you think of the Total Immersion classes?
Salmon |
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Thu Aug 30, 2007 6:24 pm |
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| bio fish
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Salmon,
I wasn’t familiar with total immersion, but I looked up their website and read what Wikipedia had to say about it. My main concern from reading their web site would be that they seems to rely heavily on books and DVD’s. They seemed to suggest that people should buy their products and practice on their own before attending a class, in my opinion that’s a BAD idea. It’s very hard to analyze your own technique in the water, and practicing on your own is more likely to lead to ingrained bad habits than picking up good ones. Which of course are much harder to break than just starting fresh. With so many products I would also worry that their coaches might becomes sales people for their products, but I could be wrong.
They also gave no indication of their instructor student ratio in their classes and workshops. I wouldn’t suggest bothering with a class with more than about 8 students, smaller if you’re a real beginner. When you get beyond that you’re more likely to have a coach assigning drills instead of individually correcting a student’s strokes.
However their basic principles of streamlining, balance and efficiency in the water sound fine.
If you really want to improve your swimming I think the key is to finding a good coach/instructor who can give you some one on one attention and plenty of time to practice. Whether they are following Total Immersion program, YMCA or American Red Cross probably doesn’t matter for the average fitness/recreational swimmer. |
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Fri Aug 31, 2007 3:15 pm |
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| bio fish
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I took a look at the 0 to 1650 workout. It looks like a pretty good schedule. One thing it doesn’t address is the intensity at which you swim. The long distance at the beginning would make a good warm up, start off as slow and gradually build up speed but stay at a comfortable intensity, you shouldn’t be getting out of breath yet. Then as the distances get shorter increase your intensity so that you can finish the distance but you’re a bit winded and need a break. Just make sure you take time to cool down as well. Either take it easy on your last couple of 25’s or add on a slow leisurely 50 to recover if you think you can handle one more lab.
Also Salmon and Smurlene and anyone else who feels they have problems with lung capacity. Make sure you’re breathing all the time. Most beginner swimmers tend to hold their breath under water. What you should be doing is inhaling when your face is out of the water and exhaling when your face is under the water. You need to find a comfortable breathing rhythm so you’re never out of air, or holding your breath. Nobody would try to take up running while holding their breath most of the time, so why would you try to work out in the pool holding your breath? |
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Fri Aug 31, 2007 3:35 pm |
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