There are alot swimmers who are either “fat” or skinny and swim really fast is mainly on their technique. I am swimming in high school right now and highly possible in college and my teammate is 5’11 and weights 110lbs,with basically no fat but he destroys in backstroke.
my point is I get the feeling that alot of you put emphasis on being physically powerful or fit to swim, while that is true I know its more technique more than anything.
also just to put it out there, like I said I swim for my high school and it is VERY competitive, we swim 6 days a week and i workout 5 days a week, I have noticed that swimming is a great way to release lactic acid and stretch my muscles out. Just something on the side.
just wanted to throw it out there that some people on here swim because they are unable to do other cardio. due to congenital defects in both knees and after multiple sprains in both, it usually hurts to walk and im unable to run. even a mild scramble (actually a technical term for very light hikes) swells one of my knees for weeks.
in addition to being extremely serious about weight training, the best i can do is swim. it helps me burn calories and try and chop the fat.
Rad
[quote]FightingScott wrote:
bushidobadboy wrote:
FightingScott wrote:
bushidobadboy wrote:
Swimming is damn hard work, especially if you lack the Bouyency provided by fat. Fat is less dense than water of course, which is why oil floats on water.
Swimming is not recommended for cutting because the body tends to adapt by actually storing subQ fat. I don’t know if this is in response to thermal loss or to improve Bouyency levels.
Bushy
The body doesn’t adapt like that.
You know, I hear you, really I do, but I’m positive I read a fairly convincing study (maybe more than one) that said for equivalent calories burned through exercise, swimmers had a higher proportion of sub Q body fat. Of course there could be numerous factors at play like nutrition or rest, but these were proper athletes, not just serious recreational exercisers.
If it wasn’t for that, and other ‘evidence’ (I use the term lightly, lol - mostly what I see of swimmers physiques (great shape but not that lean IMO)), I would totally agree with you. Nature it seems, may see things differently. I can’t say for sure, even in my own mind, so I’m not going to try and convince anyone else, lol.
Bushy
Cause and effect just doesn’t occur like that with induvidual adaptations. Swimmers are not as lean as other athletes, that’s true. Their ideal bodyfat is about 3 percent higher than the ideal bodyfat for other sports, but their ideal bodyfat is still pretty lean.
Swimmers aren’t as lean as sprinters, wide receivers, and middle-weight boxers not because their body senses that they would go faster in the pool from having slightly more fat, but because swimmers don’t burn up that fat and people who are genetically pre-disposed to be world class swimmers carry that tiny extra 2 or 3 percent of bodyfat that allows them to be more boyant. If you go from being a runner to a swimmer, the reason you’ll get less ripped isn’t because your body is adapting to have a better composition for swimming. Your body is just not burning as much fat. [/quote]
WOW…
Makes sense coming to think of it, guess it was one of those things you notice but make nothing of until someone brings it up…
Googling “Swimming” and “Fat” produces quite a bit of evidence pointing to the apparent conclusion that swimmers generally have higher body fat levels than Land based athletes a la runners and cyclist with similar fitness levels.
However scientific studies seem to be non existent or inconclusive (perhaps I just haven’t searched long enough) as to exactly why this is so.
Maybe Fatter is faster, maybe it’s the temperature, maybe it’s the appetite, the horizontal position… who knows
It’ll be interesting however to find out if it is Swimming makes you store more subcutenous fat or just doesn’t burn it off as efficiently?
Also any guess as to what volume is needed to alter your body composition as opposed to that of a 100m/200m track sprinter… Is it Pro athlete level training, or recreational 3 times a week to loose beer bellies and not getting ripped.
I’ve noticed that while swimmers seem to store subcutenous fat (under the skin) but have no Omental/Viceral fat (internal, you know the Pot belly look)