Swimming

Swimming Basics

Step off terra firma into a body of water and start swimming. There's no better way to take a load off, tone your muscles, and bolster your cardiovascular stamina.

Swimming is a great cardiovascular workout. It’s also a workout you can do without a lot of gear if you can find a body of water and the temperature is right.

There are four basic strokes: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle. Most recreational swimmers stick with freestyle, also known as the crawl. You can either swim laps in the pool or head for an ocean, lake, or any other body of water that's large enough and deep enough to submerge your body.

Swimming depends more on the upper body and core than the legs, making it great for upper body and ab tone. The only drawback is that some strokes don’t use your leg muscles that much so you may not work a major portion of your total muscle mass. While swimming is great for rehabilitating a knee or ankle, it doesn’t do much for maintaining bone density and studies show it may not be the best weight loss activity either.

Upside of Swimming

Water's natural buoyancy. It supports about 90 percent of your body weight, so there's no painful jarring of your joints. Not only does this prevent injury, it helps prevent post-workout soreness.
Water is also 14 times thicker than air so it offers plenty of muscle toning resistance in any direction you move.
Swimming is a good exercise when recovering from a hip, knee or ankle injury.

Downside of Swimming

You need a certain amount of skill so you don't, well, flop around like a fish out of water.
Scientists speculate that you burn less fat and more glucose and that water keeps your body temperature and heart rate somewhat lower than do land-based workouts. For this reason, swimming is not the best choice for weight loss.
Depending on where you live, you may have trouble finding a place to swim, especially during winter months.

Is Swimming for You?

This chart can help you see how swimming fits your goals and lifestyle concerns.

Body Parts Worked	Arms, heart, lungs
Calories Burned	While it varies by stroke, a 150-pound person swimming freestyle burns about 545 calories per hour, a 200-pound person burns 725
Gear	A swimsuit and goggles. For skill drills you may want to have a kick board, swim fins, and hand paddles.
Location	A pool or some other body of water
Time	20-60 minutes, 3-5 days a week
Schedule/Flexibility	Depends on finding a body of water and the temperature being warm enough

Swimming Tips

Supplement your swim program with 2-3 weekly weight training sessions to ensure that you stimulate bone growth. Do some land based cardio activity too.
If you haven't dipped a toe into a pool since summer camp, take a lesson or two. Breathing rhythm and technique are the keys to flying through the water like a dolphin.
A good pair of goggles will let you see where you’re swimming without the annoying stinging eyes later.

Liz Neporent, MA on Swimming

Whether it’s in a pool, lake or ocean, swimming is a great workout. You’ll build strength, especially in your arms, and endurance. The effort of swimming also burns calories, works your heart and lungs, and increases flexibility.

Swimming does this all in a low impact environment. The buoyancy of water reduces the effects of gravity on your joints – so if jogging hurts your knees, try hopping in the pool for a swim.

Swimming also has the benefit of minimal equipment. Find a bathing suit and a pair of goggles and off you go. If you aren’t a strong swimmer, you may find fins helpful and it’s a good idea to take a few lessons.

iVillagers on Swimming

"I am a lifeguard and I swim two hours a day, six days a week. My arms and legs look really good, but my stomach still looks flabby. I wouldn't recommend swimming to lose weight unless you are doing another exercise with it." --An iVillager

"When I started swimming, I was very unfit and overweight. Five months later I have lost weight and swim up two to three kilometers per day!" --An iVillager

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