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StackedXXX
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..for a cardio workout. Is it more fat burning, muscle sparring??
Swimming instead of treadmill..
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StackedXXX
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This is a difficult question to answer. There's a lot of controversy over whether or not swimming is a good exercise to burn fat.
There are a lot of factors involved here. What stroke will you use? How efficient is your stroke? Are you able to swim for at least 30 minutes continuously using your chosen stroke or do you go into an anaerobic state quickly and take rests?
A lot of people will end up short of breath due to stroke inefficiency and basically not getting enough air (mainly in freestyle). I wouldn't consider oxygen deprevation to be an ideal cardio workout even though the swimmer may feel that he's greatly exerting himself.
Even if you can swim efficiently, heartrate is always lower while swimming compared to on-land exercises. This is probably due to the horizontal postion in swimming and the fact that in water there is no load on the spine. Even if you can swim efficiently, you'll probably have to exert yourself more to get the same fat-burning effect. Water automatically cools the body too, so by eliminating sweating it may also result in less calories burned.
I swim once or twice a week and use the bike, elliptical and rower on my other cardio workouts. I wouldn't rely on swimming as a fat burner, but living in the tropics I find it a welcome relief to the heat.
There are a lot of factors involved here. What stroke will you use? How efficient is your stroke? Are you able to swim for at least 30 minutes continuously using your chosen stroke or do you go into an anaerobic state quickly and take rests?
A lot of people will end up short of breath due to stroke inefficiency and basically not getting enough air (mainly in freestyle). I wouldn't consider oxygen deprevation to be an ideal cardio workout even though the swimmer may feel that he's greatly exerting himself.
Even if you can swim efficiently, heartrate is always lower while swimming compared to on-land exercises. This is probably due to the horizontal postion in swimming and the fact that in water there is no load on the spine. Even if you can swim efficiently, you'll probably have to exert yourself more to get the same fat-burning effect. Water automatically cools the body too, so by eliminating sweating it may also result in less calories burned.
I swim once or twice a week and use the bike, elliptical and rower on my other cardio workouts. I wouldn't rely on swimming as a fat burner, but living in the tropics I find it a welcome relief to the heat.
Pro Swimmers are fatter than pro runners.
The theory is that the cooler temperature limits the release of GH compared to running and cycling
And given most people don't have great muscular endurance in their upper body compared to legs, its likely that your HR is lower and ur burning fewer cals too
The theory is that the cooler temperature limits the release of GH compared to running and cycling
And given most people don't have great muscular endurance in their upper body compared to legs, its likely that your HR is lower and ur burning fewer cals too
Sim882 said:
Pro swimmers usually have better, more muscular and balanced physiques than pro runners (other than sprinters that is).
If a person's muscular endurance is limited, they would struggle more thereby increasing their HR and calorie burning. It's pretty obvious that a novice swimmer is going to have a higher HR than a pro swimmer at the same intensity.
In actual fact using the legs more in swimming increases the HR more rapidly than arm movements. Next time you swim (if you ever do), try using a pull-buoy to take your legs out of the movement - you will find it easier.
