Swimming

[OilyWaterMIXER]

I am doing some swimming. I wish I could do more. What a great whole-body exercise. Tires you out quickly.

What moves do you do when you swim? How long do you swim for? How do you measure exertion?

 

[tomcat27]

usually I swim the front crawl or breaststroke. we time our laps with a clock, so you can easily measure improvement. if you really wanna exert alot, try the butterfly.

 

[OilyWaterMIXER]

Originally Posted By: tomcat27
usually I swim the front crawl or breaststroke. we time our laps with a clock, so you can easily measure improvement. if you really wanna exert alot, try the butterfly.


The front crawl must be the standard stroke I do. I also like to swim underwater. When I move my arms out and to the side, then repeat, minimal kicking.

It just got cool out so I just stopped. But, now I want to find a pool. It could really turn up the exercise. I do have a gut.

 

[Kestas]

Swimming is the only exercise I don't mind doing. I typically swim a half mile at a time doing the breaststroke. I have to take a number of breaks while swimming because my side starts to hurt. I could never understand why.

 

[aquariuscsm]

I love to swim!! I'm a total fish,I could live in the water. Whether I'm skiing,surfing,swimming,etc. I love anything to do with the water.

 

[Garak]

I like to play in the water. Swimming, well, I don't do that very well. I could make good practice for lifeguards if I hang out in the deep end too long.

 

[jimbrewer]

I used to do 2000 yards, no stops, crawl. Took 43 minutes, although my times went lower when the water was cooler. Recreational swimmers suffer very few injuries. You could swim every day pretty hard every day months on end if you want to. So your fitness level can be terrific.

As a running retread it took me awhile to adjust. No elastic waistband on trunks. Board shorts. I had to learn how to do a flip turn.Goggles are essential, or you'll barely be able to drive home.

The goggles were kind of uncomfortable but they opened up a whole new world. The swimmer girls are waaay more attractive than the ones sunning themselves by the pool. Swimming does wonders for the feminine physique. No one cared about their zonked out hair.

 

[BeerCan]

I swim like a rock. Total landlubber.

 

[oilmutt]

I have a 25k gallon pool in the back yard,swim about 30 to 45 minutes a day!

 

[Lyman]

I grew up with a pool and used to swim everyday. It's been a while now. I just moved to where I have a pool again but haven't had the time to swim. I am going to have to make more time for myself.

 

[supton]

I go a couple times a year. My wife mocks my dog-paddle, but it's all I ever learned. No real enjoyment for me, save on a hot day; I burn too easily, and once I take off my glasses I can't see far.

When I was younger I floated like a rock. With middle age spread it's not so bad. Couple years ago we went down to the Cape and I was gently surprised both at being able to swim in warm ocean water and that I floated better in salt water--growing up I found Maine water a bit too cold.

 

[dlayman]

Originally Posted By: jimbrewer
I used to do 2000 yards, no stops, crawl. Took 43 minutes, although my times went lower when the water was cooler. Recreational swimmers suffer very few injuries. You could swim every day pretty hard every day months on end if you want to. So your fitness level can be terrific.



In general this is true, but not always. I'm a distance swimmer. For many years I did over 1000 miles a year, sometimes as much as 8 miles in a day. Once you get into distances and doing it every day, rotator cuff problems can become very common. I use the pool at a major university and half the team deals with rotator cuff problems, constantly having to ice. Even kids' club teams have swimmers suffering from this. If you increase distance do it slowly and back off if you feel any pain the shoulder or triceps area. If you ever get a major tear, your swimming days are over.

 

[jimbrewer]

Sure, but 1000 miles swimming is like 4000 miles running.

 

[ironman_gq]

It's great exercise! I will say that it's not without potential injury, I was a competitive swimmer and we swam 7-10,000 yards every day up to 20,000 during parts of the season. My shoulders, knees and hips took a sever beating that took quite a while to recover from after I quit. Lots of rotator cuff injuries and joint problems. Oddly enough you build a lot of muscle but the joints don't grow in a corresponding way as the joints and bones aren't carrying any additional weight, just the attachment points for the muscles and ligaments. Took several years of weight training before my shoulders and knees quit hurting every day.

 

[OVERKILL]

I used to swim competitively on the local University team. Typical warm up would be 500m of IM (the pool is 50M), so you'd do 100M breast, 100M back, 100M fly, 200m free (front crawl). You might then do another 500M of breast or free....etc. Fly was always the most physically demanding, I could do freestyle until the cows came home. IIRC, we'd typically swim 2-3Km a session. It has been quite a few years since I've done it.

 

[Al]

Swimming is great..I have an inground for 30+ years. But it doesn't give a complete workout. You need something you can do 365 days.