how much = too much

Quoted message said:

I just heard a bit late that you should exercise every other day, but
lately I've been managing 30-60min/day of swimming--any chance it's
remotely too much? I don't swim particularly hard and I'd think I'm not
overdoing it, just making sure I'm not mistaken.

Seb

I'm no expert and not a good swimmer but I swim at least 1 hour a day
Monday through Friday. I take weekends off, mainly because too many
families with kids are there and swimming laps is impossible.

Quoted message said:

I just heard a bit late that you should exercise every other day, but
lately I've been managing 30-60min/day of swimming--any chance it's
remotely too much? I don't swim particularly hard and I'd think I'm not
overdoing it, just making sure I'm not mistaken.

Seb

Conventional wisdom among bodybuilders has, for a long time, been that
it is best to exercise every other day (with an intervening day of rest
to allow the muscles to grow), though some bodybuilders who prefer to
exercise every day try to achieve the same result by alternating upper
body and lower body workouts (giving each set of muscles their
intervening day of rest).

Swimming, however, involves more than just bodybuilding. At least as
important is developing the skill to move through the water efficiently,
and skills tend to develop more quickly when you practice them every day.

The best approach may be to swim every day, but emphasize different
strokes on different days, so that you are not working out exactly the
same muscles two days in a row.

Bob

Robert W. McAdams wrote:
[snip]

Quoted message said:

Conventional wisdom among bodybuilders has, for a long time, been that
it is best to exercise every other day (with an intervening day of rest
to allow the muscles to grow), though some bodybuilders who prefer to
exercise every day try to achieve the same result by alternating upper
body and lower body workouts (giving each set of muscles their
intervening day of rest).

Swimming, however, involves more than just bodybuilding. At least as
important is developing the skill to move through the water efficiently,
and skills tend to develop more quickly when you practice them every day.

The best approach may be to swim every day, but emphasize different
strokes on different days, so that you are not working out exactly the
same muscles two days in a row.

Bob

Hmm, I'm still stuck with breastroke because I totally forgot
everything else from PE back in school (I can do backstroke too but in
a public pool it's collision hazard). I have to say I'm not interested
so much in swimming efficiency, just using up my fat tissues and
hopefully getting some muscle tone and better breathing. I was a tiny
bit concerned because exercising too much, it's said, actually wastes
muscle away. But my stuff is much less intensive than bodybuilding so I
wasn't sure.

Seb

Quoted message said:

I just heard a bit late that you should exercise every other day, but
lately I've been managing 30-60min/day of swimming--any chance it's
remotely too much? I don't swim particularly hard and I'd think I'm not
overdoing it, just making sure I'm not mistaken.

Seb

Bodybuilding is a special case since bodybuilders are trying to get the
maximum muscular growth for appearance sake. Weight lifters in general
don't work the same muscle group two days in a row, so that the body has
time to strengthen and repair. Most any aerobic exercise can be done
everyday.
madelaine

"Madelaine" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I just heard a bit late that you should exercise every other day, but
lately I've been managing 30-60min/day of swimming--any chance it's
remotely too much? I don't swim particularly hard and I'd think I'm
not
overdoing it, just making sure I'm not mistaken.

Seb

Bodybuilding is a special case since bodybuilders are trying to get
the maximum muscular growth for appearance sake. Weight lifters in
general don't work the same muscle group two days in a row, so that
the body has time to strengthen and repair. Most any aerobic exercise
can be done everyday.

Not to get off-topic completely but many people who lift weights purely
for strength train every day and often train the same muscles every day.
A popular weight lifting book is "Power To The People!" by Pavel
Tsatsouline and he recommends deadlifting Monday through Friday and
taking the weekends off. There is quite a wide variety of opinion on
this subject in the lifting community, and Pavel's (and my) opinion is
in the minority but his approach has worked very well for me. As I've
gotten older I've found I can work my upper body every day without any
problems but I prefer to deadlift only 3x/week - but that's just me.

-S-

Quoted message said:

Hmm, I'm still stuck with breastroke because I totally forgot
everything else from PE back in school (I can do backstroke too but in
a public pool it's collision hazard). I have to say I'm not interested
so much in swimming efficiency, just using up my fat tissues and
hopefully getting some muscle tone and better breathing. I was a tiny
bit concerned because exercising too much, it's said, actually wastes
muscle away. But my stuff is much less intensive than bodybuilding so I
wasn't sure.

What you describe is an aerobic workout. This is accomplished easily
enough by just getting in the water and going for half an hour straight
while keeping your heart rate in the "exercise" zone. Your general
practice doc or any of the trainers at the club you've joined should be
able to help you calculate what that heart rate target should be.
You'll notice I'm not giving a formula... it's more complex than just
taking an age and saying "here you go," as your general health, among
other things, needs to be taken into consideration as well. A 30 year
male old who's BMI is 40 will have a totally different target than a 30
year old with a 18 BMI.

"Chris Zakelj" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

What you describe is an aerobic workout. This is accomplished easily
enough by just getting in the water and going for half an hour straight
while keeping your heart rate in the "exercise" zone. Your general
practice doc or any of the trainers at the club you've joined should be
able to help you calculate what that heart rate target should be.
You'll notice I'm not giving a formula... it's more complex than just
taking an age and saying "here you go," as your general health, among
other things, needs to be taken into consideration as well. A 30 year
male old who's BMI is 40 will have a totally different target than a 30
year old with a 18 BMI.

Age yes.

BMI?

Can you supply a cite that shows that the relationship between BMI and
predicted maximum heart rate (and hence training zones) is anything other
than tenuous?

Your body will tell you if you are training to much, fatigue sets in and you
will get sick, not serious sickness though. Something like a cold. It is
just your body's way of saying you need to relax. Relax for a day or two if
it gets worse see your doctor, but depending on your fitness level a cold
can last any thing from a couple of hours to 6 weeks.
<[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

I just heard a bit late that you should exercise every other day, but
lately I've been managing 30-60min/day of swimming--any chance it's
remotely too much? I don't swim particularly hard and I'd think I'm not
overdoing it, just making sure I'm not mistaken.

Seb

jtaylor said:

"Chris Zakelj" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

What you describe is an aerobic workout. This is accomplished easily
enough by just getting in the water and going for half an hour straight
while keeping your heart rate in the "exercise" zone. Your general
practice doc or any of the trainers at the club you've joined should be
able to help you calculate what that heart rate target should be.
You'll notice I'm not giving a formula... it's more complex than just
taking an age and saying "here you go," as your general health, among
other things, needs to be taken into consideration as well. A 30 year
male old who's BMI is 40 will have a totally different target than a 30
year old with a 18 BMI.

Age yes.

BMI?

Can you supply a cite that shows that the relationship between BMI and
predicted maximum heart rate (and hence training zones) is anything other
than tenuous?

You mean like actual studies done by groups like the American Medical
Association and such? No. There probably is no pretty mathematical
formula (I'm too lazy to look 😉), and even if there were, I'd be very
suspicious of it. Just look at things from a 'common sense' point of
view... If you've got someone who's 60 years old, never done a bit of
physical work in his life besides roll out of bed and drive to/from the
office, with a family history of high cholesterol and diabetes, how can
you possibly expect his target to be the exact same as a 60 year old
triathlon athlete with below average risk factors across the board?
It's silly to expect a nice, neat little flyer or the treadmill computer
to know what's really best for you. Doctors and good physical trainers
have training and experience to recognize this. Microchips don't (at
least not yet).

"Chris Zakelj" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

jtaylor said:

"Chris Zakelj" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

What you describe is an aerobic workout. This is accomplished easily
enough by just getting in the water and going for half an hour straight
while keeping your heart rate in the "exercise" zone. Your general
practice doc or any of the trainers at the club you've joined should be
able to help you calculate what that heart rate target should be.
You'll notice I'm not giving a formula... it's more complex than just
taking an age and saying "here you go," as your general health, among
other things, needs to be taken into consideration as well. A 30 year
male old who's BMI is 40 will have a totally different target than a 30
year old with a 18 BMI.

Age yes.

BMI?

Can you supply a cite that shows that the relationship between BMI and
predicted maximum heart rate (and hence training zones) is anything

other

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

than tenuous?

You mean like actual studies done by groups like the American Medical
Association and such? No. There probably is no pretty mathematical
formula (I'm too lazy to look 😉), and even if there were, I'd be very
suspicious of it.

So you were trolling?

jtaylor said:

"Chris Zakelj" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

jtaylor said:

"Chris Zakelj" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
> What you describe is an aerobic workout. This is accomplished easily
> enough by just getting in the water and going for half an hour straight
> while keeping your heart rate in the "exercise" zone. Your general
> practice doc or any of the trainers at the club you've joined should be
> able to help you calculate what that heart rate target should be.
> You'll notice I'm not giving a formula... it's more complex than just
> taking an age and saying "here you go," as your general health, among
> other things, needs to be taken into consideration as well. A 30 year
> male old who's BMI is 40 will have a totally different target than a 30
> year old with a 18 BMI.
Age yes.

BMI?

Can you supply a cite that shows that the relationship between BMI and
predicted maximum heart rate (and hence training zones) is anything

other

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

than tenuous?

You mean like actual studies done by groups like the American Medical
Association and such? No. There probably is no pretty mathematical
formula (I'm too lazy to look 😉), and even if there were, I'd be very
suspicious of it.

So you were trolling?

Normally I wouldn't chase bait like this, but since it's obvious you're
not going to let go, the intent was to share with Seb (the OP) the
wisdom that any new exercise regimen is best started with a doctor's
consultation, and that what is appropriate for one person is not
necessarily right for another. But since you're apparently too busy
nitpicking whether or not I'm up to date on the latest research, and
missing the entire point, I bid you adieu. Unlike others who live here,
I don't have time or patience to deal with you.