Swimming your way thin??
Find a Conversation
Swimming your way thin??
| Mon, 06-27-2005 - 6:37pm |
how much should you swim to get a good workout? I normally swim during the summer, but for losing weight and/or toneing my body, about how much is good to start out with? I'm firmilliar with laps and Meters, so what like 500m? I know 1800m is one mile, what do you all think would be a good starting point? I plan on swimming 2 days a week along with going to the gym 3days a week.
Jen
233/228/135

Hi Jen! I love swimming and used to swim competitively (I curse the day I gave it up). Five hundred meters is a less than a third of a mile. In a standard Olympic size pool, this is 10 laps.
IMO, the important thing with swimming isn't distance so much as it is intensity and duration. It's pretty easy to do a lot of laps, which won't burn many calories. As with running, sprints are going to give you the best results (alternating slow and easy laps with hard, all-out swims). Alternating strokes is good too, because each one works your muscles in a slightly different manner. Do a "medley"--one or two laps of each stroke. If you've never tried the butterfly, you should. It is HARD, but that's good when it comes to building muscle and losing weight. I remember coming home from swim practice and feeling like every muscle in my body was made of rubber. (I also used to get HOT during swim practice--my face would feel like it was on fire, and it wasn't because of the sun! LOL!)
Here's a link to a web page with swim workouts for beginners. Good luck, and enjoy. I can't wait to get back in the pool.
http://www.worldwideaquatics.com/Workouts/beginner.htm