Sprints to lose weight.

Beau said:

Recently I (65yrs. old) started preparing for senior 50m freestyle
competition by swimming sprints. I swim a 50m wide open and then briskly
walk back to the other end of the 25m pool. I do this many times but
throw in some slower paced free with breast and backstrokes. I keep my
heart rate up the whole workout of about 45 minutes 3 times a week.
After swimming I do my usually weight training and maybe throw in some
treadmilling.

I have found that I have shed a few pounds I didn't need by doing this
routine. My diet and everything else have remained the same. It must be
the sprints or am I imagining this?

Beau

You'll certainly burn up some energy, but it sounds like it's all coming
from your muscles rather than fat stores.
I'd make sure you put in plenty of long slow distance each week. Get
your stroke rate down and try not to go for it every training session.

I think it's the brisk walk. That's what the Surgeon General
recommends for exercise.

"Beau" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

Recently I (65yrs. old) started preparing for senior 50m freestyle
competition by swimming sprints. I swim a 50m wide open and then
briskly walk back to the other end of the 25m pool. I do this many
times but throw in some slower paced free with breast and backstrokes.
I keep my heart rate up the whole workout of about 45 minutes 3 times
a week. After swimming I do my usually weight training and maybe throw
in some treadmilling.

I have found that I have shed a few pounds I didn't need by doing this
routine. My diet and everything else have remained the same. It must
be the sprints or am I imagining this?

There is much evidence, although some would argue that it is not
conclusive evidence, to support the idea that exercising more vigorously
than the tradition "aerobic" pace or "fat-burning zone" effectively
improves not only athletic performance in general but also raises one's
base metabolic rate, the end result being you burn more calories each
day even if the actual calories burned during the workout are the same.
If you want to read about this more, try a web search on "Tabata
Protocol".

Whether or not your training is appropriate to your event and your
overall fitness goals is a different, albeit related, discussion.
Sounds like you're doing fine to me, though.

All that said, it remains indisputable that losing weight means you
aren't eating enough to support your level of activity. The best thing
is the simplest - get on the scale every morning, and eat more or less
accordingly.

Last but not least, resistance training (lifting weights) is, in my
opinion, more important the older we get. I was very happy pursuing
primarily aerobic activities until my early 40's, when I found I was
just losing muscle as I was losing weight. Regular weight lifting in
almost any form will help take care of that.

Steve "51 years young" Freides
http://www.kbnj.com