Swimming bad for fat loss - discuss!
 

What are folks' personal experiences with losing weight/fat by swimming? There are a few articles floating around (ah!) that suggest this might be true. A Google search will quickly reveal the positions. Which appear to be:

• novices don't/can't work hard enough to get a robust enough aerobic benefit
• however, swimming somehow burns enough calories to trigger insane hunger (?), so people overcompensate with food afterwards
• the cold encourages fat retention as a protective mechanism (can't see how this is relevant to anyone who spends less than 40% of their day in a pool, though. I guess this could be meaningful for pros, who don't shed as much fat as other athletes. Still, there could be a selection bias here.)

Personally I get ravenous after a swim, and I *know* I'm not strong enough a swimmer to work all that hard. Maybe there's some voodoo going on with the digestive system, who knows?

Interested in all comments/experiences!

I get killer hunger after swimming! :D

I was on a swim team for several years, was a lifeguard since I was 15 and I swim in the ocean as much as possible, even did a 2 mile ocean challenge and passed.

IMO swimming is a great exercise.

Especially for people who are morbidly obese. I think for the average person, most would actually have to swim, not just play around, to get a good workout.

My kids are all competitive swimmers, and I can tell you this, during the swim season the entire team eats like mad and slims down. I think the trick to using swimming to lose weight is that you have to swim in the evening, and work enough at it that when you get home all you want to do is go to bed. We've also found that soup is a great after swimming snack, it tends to warm you up, fill you up and not have too many calories into the bargain.

Indeed swimming can get you into a eating spree. When i was swimming i had 2 options:
-> Endure it. If you have enough motivation you won't eat.
-> Don't eat before swimming, eat after. I found a neat trick how to eat a little even if i`m almost starving to death. The key is to chew like you never chewed before, i don't know the mechanism behind it ... either you fool your stomach that you have eaten a lot or you just get bored of the food. When i thought about this and tried it for the first time i managed to drop from 1 whole pizza to just 2 slices :D. Hope it helps (>'.')>

I have asthma and my immunologist/asthma specialist has wholeheartedly recommended swimming, even when I was flaring during the summer. The fact its climate controlled helps, as too cold/hot/humid is killer on my asthma. I don't know if I buy the cold water thing, as most pools are heated. And here you don't swim in the lake until its been hot for a stretch, otherwise the water will be horribly cold. It's low impact while giving a great cardio. There are classes offered that are actual fitness classes but in the water, especially good for people with joint/muscle problems.

I do agree that it makes you insane hungry, but knowing that going in, you can just plan meals or snacks for after with lots of filling vegetables.

I wish I could get back into swimming, I loved it as a kid. If I could do it without having to wear a bathing suit I most likely would:o

Cold water does not inhibit fat loss. It causes you to burn more calories in order to maintain your body temperature.

Swimming is a great exercise. I don't know what 'experts' said that overweight people can't work 'hard enough' to elicit a 'good enough' metabolic response, but it sounds like total 'bull' to me. Excuse me, BULL. As with all things, if you're just starting to work out, you're not going to be able to work at the level of a competitive athlete, but that doesn't mean you can't reap the benefits. You get better at a movement/sport/any task in general by practicing it. The more you do, the better you get and the longer, stronger work you can put in over time. The best part about swimming is that if you carry a lot of fat, you will initially have an easier time floating (fat density < water density). As you lose fat, you will have to do more work to stay afloat, which in turn burns more fat, etc. But by the end, you will have a lot of muscle and a lot of swimming practice to compensate!

Well, I'm not an expert that's obvious by my size, but swimming is the ONLY way I was able to drop 50lb. My back used to hurt when walking...now walking isn't even an option as I am recovering from knee surgery. I can't wait to get back into the pool. I wish the weather would cooperate!!!

swimming
 

Swimming is pretty much the only excercise my fiance enjoys so its better than nothing. I tend to think its difficult to swim enough to burn many calories until you're a pretty advanced swimmer.

This. It's the same science behind drinking ice water -- basically, your body is working harder to keep your core temperature up, so you're actually burning more calories.

Also, my brother and I used to live in a house with a backyard pool when we were younger. We went swimming every day in the summer and we were both not only slim and trim, but in excellent shape.

Excellent, excellent arguments and tips, all! Thanks! Agree with everything. Sorry for having abandoned this thread - couldn't get into the forum for a while, so I just gave up.

Have taken to a banana protein shake after a swim, which keeps me out of trouble.

A tip I'm able to offer, which is unrelated to fat loss, but relevant to myopic would-be swimmers who might be reading this thread.

These are the options for swimming in a straight line and not hitting anyone. 1) Prescription goggles. In my area, there's no off-the-shelf, cheap option - they cost about $80 - but apparently Amazon has versions in the 20-buck range for Americans. They only go in .5 increments, though. If your eyes are different scripts, you can buy 2 pairs and swap one lens from each. 2) Wear contacts under really good goggles. The catch (recently learned the hard way) - your face shape can mean you won't get a tight seal. Was told this by a lifeguard when my right eye got a squirt of chlorine. He said to spend ages trying on different pairs to see, and that the most expensive aren't nec. the best. Not found any yet to fit my own apparently weird face. 3) (experimental) I'm going to try wearing scuba goggles over contacts or glasses, if they're cheaper than prescription swim goggles. Open to more ideas!

(Sorry for diverging with this, but it's why I didn't swim for years and years! Just thought there might be other blind/joint-careful people like me out there, who are looking for reasons to stay out of the pool... which is a shame, because swimming is awesome.)

hi,

There is no doubt that swimming is good exercise, and you can burn about 500 calories per hour when you swim, but is swimming a good exercise choice if your primary goal is to lose body weight or SPAM