advice?



M

Matt F

Guest
Hello,

I recently started swimming again after a 2-3 month haitus. I don't do very strenuous workouts, I
generally am in the water for about 45 minutes and swim around 1200yards. My warm-ups and
cool-downs are basically just "easy" 300's, and my workout generally consists of 8 x 80 yards (I'm
stuck in a 20-yard pool) on 1:45, interspersed with 8 x 40 yards on :50. I alternate crawl and
breaststrokes on these.

Now, I started swimming again because I had managed to gain 8 pounds in about 2 weeks (vacation). So
I figured I'd be able to drop this extra padding pretty quickly. However, after two weeks of
swimming the above workout every day, I've not dropped any weight. In fact, I'm 4 pounds heavier
now. I'm just wondering if any of you might have some ideas as to what I am doing wrong? I do know
that towards the end of my sets, after my sprints, my heartrate is pretty high, about 180 or so. But
that could just be the initial transient of building up my endurance, too, I suppose. For the record
I'm 24 years old and weighed 202lbs as of this morning.

As for my diet, it really isn't that bad, though I am going to be much more consciencious about it
from here on out, and cut out unnecessary fats, etc. I just don't get why I'm having such a hard
time even seeing 1 pound come off! I refuse to give up, but I thought this would be a good place to
find some answers.

Thanks in advance,

Matt
 
"Matt F" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Hello,
>
> I recently started swimming again after a 2-3 month haitus. I don't do
very
> strenuous workouts, I generally am in the water for about 45 minutes and swim around 1200yards. My
> warm-ups and cool-downs are basically just
"easy"
> 300's, and my workout generally consists of 8 x 80 yards (I'm stuck in a 20-yard pool) on 1:45,
> interspersed with 8 x 40 yards on :50. I alternate crawl and breaststrokes on these.
>
> Now, I started swimming again because I had managed to gain 8 pounds in about 2 weeks (vacation).
> So I figured I'd be able to drop this extra padding pretty quickly. However, after two weeks of
> swimming the above workout every day, I've not dropped any weight. In fact, I'm 4 pounds heavier
> now. I'm just wondering if any of you might have some ideas as to what I am doing wrong? I do know
> that towards the end of my sets, after
my
> sprints, my heartrate is pretty high, about 180 or so. But that could
just
> be the initial transient of building up my endurance, too, I suppose. For the record I'm 24 years
> old and weighed 202lbs as of this morning.
>
> As for my diet, it really isn't that bad, though I am going to be much
more
> consciencious about it from here on out, and cut out unnecessary fats,
etc.
> I just don't get why I'm having such a hard time even seeing 1 pound come off! I refuse to give
> up, but I thought this would be a good place to
find
> some answers.
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Matt

In my experience swimming is great for fitness, but does little for weight reduction. You need to
watch what you eat and drink, and how much, for that. Swimming a lot doesn't mean you can eat
anything and stay slim. For evidence look at long distance open water swimmers who do phenomenal
mileages but remain fat because the eat a lot.
 
"Matt F" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Hello,
>
> I recently started swimming again after a 2-3 month haitus. I don't do
very
> strenuous workouts, I generally am in the water for about 45 minutes and swim around 1200yards. My
> warm-ups and cool-downs are basically just
"easy"
> 300's, and my workout generally consists of 8 x 80 yards (I'm stuck in a 20-yard pool) on 1:45,
> interspersed with 8 x 40 yards on :50. I alternate crawl and breaststrokes on these.
>
> Now, I started swimming again because I had managed to gain 8 pounds in about 2 weeks (vacation).
> So I figured I'd be able to drop this extra padding pretty quickly. However, after two weeks of
> swimming the above workout every day, I've not dropped any weight. In fact, I'm 4 pounds heavier
> now. I'm just wondering if any of you might have some ideas as to what I am doing wrong? I do know
> that towards the end of my sets, after
my
> sprints, my heartrate is pretty high, about 180 or so. But that could
just
> be the initial transient of building up my endurance, too, I suppose. For the record I'm 24 years
> old and weighed 202lbs as of this morning.
>
> As for my diet, it really isn't that bad, though I am going to be much
more
> consciencious about it from here on out, and cut out unnecessary fats,
etc.
> I just don't get why I'm having such a hard time even seeing 1 pound come off! I refuse to give
> up, but I thought this would be a good place to
find
> some answers.
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Matt
>

Counting calories (in other words watching what you eat) in combination with exercise is about the
best way to lose the weight. If you're battling with the final 10-15 pounds, those are very hard to
lose. You have to be very precise wit the diet and exercise when you're that close. If you have
50,60 or more pounds to lose,. there is a lot more room for error. The closer you get to the ideal
weight, the less room you have for error.
 
On Tue, 26 Aug 2003 16:14:31 +0100, "Duncan Heenan" <[email protected]> wrote:

>In my experience swimming is great for fitness, but does little for weight reduction.

The only time I lose weight swimming is if I do long aerobic swims, 1000 yds or more instead of lots
of short repeats.

I think this is analogous to weight loss from jogging or LSD running as opposed to doing
track sprints.

Donal Fagan AIA Donal@DonalO'Fagan.com (Anglicise the name to reply by e-mail)
 
"Duncan Heenan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Matt F" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> > Hello,
> >
> > I recently started swimming again after a 2-3 month haitus. I don't do
> very
> > strenuous workouts, I generally am in the water for about 45 minutes and swim around 1200yards.
> > My warm-ups and cool-downs are basically just
> "easy"
> > 300's, and my workout generally consists of 8 x 80 yards (I'm stuck in a 20-yard pool) on 1:45,
> > interspersed with 8 x 40 yards on :50. I
alternate
> > crawl and breaststrokes on these.
> >
> > Now, I started swimming again because I had managed to gain 8 pounds in about 2 weeks
> > (vacation). So I figured I'd be able to drop this extra padding pretty quickly. However, after
> > two weeks of swimming the above workout every day, I've not dropped any weight. In fact, I'm 4
> > pounds heavier now. I'm just wondering if any of you might have some ideas as
to
> > what I am doing wrong? I do know that towards the end of my sets, after
> my
> > sprints, my heartrate is pretty high, about 180 or so. But that could
> just
> > be the initial transient of building up my endurance, too, I suppose.
For
> > the record I'm 24 years old and weighed 202lbs as of this morning.
> >
> > As for my diet, it really isn't that bad, though I am going to be much
> more
> > consciencious about it from here on out, and cut out unnecessary fats,
> etc.
> > I just don't get why I'm having such a hard time even seeing 1 pound
come
> > off! I refuse to give up, but I thought this would be a good place to
> find
> > some answers.
> >
> > Thanks in advance,
> >
> > Matt
>
> In my experience swimming is great for fitness, but does little for weight reduction. You need to
> watch what you eat and drink, and how much, for
that.
> Swimming a lot doesn't mean you can eat anything and stay slim. For
evidence
> look at long distance open water swimmers who do phenomenal mileages but remain fat because the
> eat a lot.

I started swimming almost 7 weeks ago, from a sedentary lifestyle, about 30-40 lb overweight. Lost
close to 15 pounds in that time, I'm guessing mostly Fat, because my muscles are actually looking
bigger. I'm having a heck of a time eating enough.

Swimming about an hour to hour and a quarter every day.
 
"DaKitty" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:jRT2b.20303$S_.11905@fed1read01...

> Counting calories (in other words watching what you eat) in combination
with
> exercise is about the best way to lose the weight. If you're battling with the final 10-15 pounds,
> those are very hard to
lose.
> You have to be very precise wit the diet and exercise when you're that close. If you have 50,60 or
> more pounds to lose,. there is a lot more
room
> for error. The closer you get to the ideal weight, the less room you have for error.

Yeah, no doubt, that's exactly what I'm doing too. Well, kinda...I lost about 40 pounds last year by
swimming (combined with an over-the-shelf weight loss product that has gained notoriety in recent
years). When I went on vacation last month I gained 10 pounds! So that's what I'm trying to do, get
those "last" ten pounds off.

Matt
 
"Donal Fagan" <Donal@DonalO'Fagan.com> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Tue, 26 Aug 2003 16:14:31 +0100, "Duncan Heenan" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >In my experience swimming is great for fitness, but does little for weight reduction.
>
> The only time I lose weight swimming is if I do long aerobic swims, 1000 yds or more instead of
> lots of short repeats.
>
> I think this is analogous to weight loss from jogging or LSD running as opposed to doing track
> sprints.

Thanks for the advice...I hanged my workout today to incorporate longer sets....i need to work on my
stamina, but today I started doing the following workout, one of each for crawl and breast: 2X200,
then 2X150, then 2X100, another 2X150, and finally another 2X200...somehow my workout ended up being
shorter than usual (obviously due to the lack of all those rest periods from my prior workouts), and
i was able to keep my heartrate under 180 for the most part.

Thinking this will give me faster results.

Matt
 
"Matt F" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
>
> "DaKitty" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:jRT2b.20303$S_.11905@fed1read01...
>
> > Counting calories (in other words watching what you eat) in combination
> with
> > exercise is about the best way to lose the weight. If you're battling with the final 10-15
> > pounds, those are very hard to
> lose.
> > You have to be very precise wit the diet and exercise when you're that close. If you have 50,60
> > or more pounds to lose,. there is a lot more
> room
> > for error. The closer you get to the ideal weight, the less room you
have
> > for error.
>
>
> Yeah, no doubt, that's exactly what I'm doing too. Well, kinda...I lost about 40 pounds last year
> by swimming (combined with an over-the-shelf weight loss product that has gained notoriety in
> recent years). When I
went
> on vacation last month I gained 10 pounds! So that's what I'm trying to
do,
> get those "last" ten pounds off.
>
> Matt

Congratulations! :)

Well, don't stress the extra 10 pounds too much, especially because it's from the vacation. As you
get back into your pre-vacation routine, the pounds will come off.

The last 10 pounds can be kind of weird, if you push too hard to lose them, your body reacts to
hanging on to them harder. (There's a much more scientific explanation for that, but I only have 2-3
minutes to make this post, so you're getting a super-simplistic version of
it. It's likely you've heard of that already.)
 
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