I love swimming and, now that it's summer, go a few times a week. Does swimming give me a good cardio workout? What about toning?

--bello42

Swimming is a great cardiovascular workout, Bello. I love swimming; it's the first sport I was ever good at and I started when I was just a little guy. So many of us don't swim because it's hard to get pool time. Since that's not your problem, swim as much as you can!

Because swimming is the one endurance activity that depends more on the upper body than the legs, it's also great for upper body tone. I still think that among endurance athletes, swimmers have the most aesthetically pleasing physiques -- muscular, but not beefy looking.

The only drawback to swimming is that it doesn't recruit your leg muscles that much. The problem has two aspects. First, our leg muscles are much bigger than our upper body muscles, so swimming does not really work a major portion of our total muscle mass. Second, swimming is a non-impact sport. It's great for rehabilitating a knee or ankle, but not great for maintaining bone density.

To round out your program Bello, I recommend doing some lower body resistance exercises twice a week. If you belong to a gym, use the leg extension, leg curl, and leg press machines. If you work out at home, do lunges or leg presses while holding dumbbells in your hands.

Try adding walking, running, in-line skating or cycling two-three times per week to give your legs more work and increase your overall aerobic fitness. You'll make your training more well-rounded and balance your physique. If you keep it up, the next step is trying a triathlon!

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