Is Swimming Great Exercise?

As a swimmer I can tell you it IS great exercise! As well as getting a cardio workout, you can also tone your muscles. I'm not sure whether you're talking about a gym or another pool, but the best thing you can do is talk to a swim instructor or lifeguard and get them to tailor a program for you (number of laps, strokes to benefit certain areas, etc.). Good luck!

Have you ever seen a chubby competitive swimmer?

It's nice because the water takes the strain off of your joints. Buoyancy is therapeutic.

80% of weight loss happens in the kitchen. Exercise is great (swimming being a good one), but unless you are tracking how much you are eating and creating a calorie deficit, you won't lose weight.

Swimming (and water aerobics), as said, are great for both cardio and toning.

If you want to track how many calories you are by swimming, get a heart rate monitor that works in the water and has a chest strap (Polar brand HRMs are what I use for water aerobics). This will help you determine how long you need to work out and how hard you are working. A lot of people think they are burning more calories than they actually are and, therefore, overcompensate by eating more.

swimming is great exercise - I swim almost every day (live in Fl) and the instructor at my prevent Diabetes class says that swimming is a great total body workout - esp for beginners. However - to tone a certain area there is no doubt you need to use resistance of some type - like the weight machines- but for over all weight loss and just to get started and get your muscles toned it is great. I swim about 10 laps in an Olympic size pool every day the weather permits. a lot of people I know swim a lot more but that is about all I have the stamina for right now. I am losing weight , but on the days I can't swim I also walk for about 45 min. It takes me about the same amount of time to swim those laps as I have to rest between laps. usually when I'm at the Y anyway to use the pool I also work out in the gym on the weights a little - to tone. I am losing 2 to 3 # a week - I can easily live with that. I recognize that I am very fortunate to live only about a city block from the YMCA.

Swimming is great exercise, but as has been pointed out, fat loss isn't going to happen by exercise alone. It happens primarily by how you eat. And old axiom in the weight lifting world says "You Can't Out train a bad diet" which is so very true.

Another myth is muscle "toning". There is no such thing. There is muscle building and fat loss. That is how the shape of a muscle shows. And you can't determine the shape of a muscle by how you work it. This is determined genetically.

Work hard and eat right. That's the only way to success.

I wanted to add - if you swim at a gym or a place like a YMCA they will probably have ankle and wrist water weights you can use as you swim. they are not heavy weights - they are foam - but they give more resistance against the water and help build muscle-helps tone arms and legs. I use them a lot.

It can be good exercise but, as already mentioned, fat loss is mostly a result of diet. Not just calories in/out. That is just one component.

OMGosh, KittyLouWhoToo, thank you for your "toning" comment. That word makes my skin crawl!

On 4/15/2014 willdob3 said:

It can be good exercise but, as already mentioned, fat loss is mostly a result of diet. Not just calories in/out. That is just one component.

OMGosh, KittyLouWhoToo, thank you for your "toning" comment. That word makes my skin crawl!

It just makes me a little crazy because it's a word that's used by so many people (mostly women) and it's meaningless.

It's the same thing with "starvation mode." Yes it doesn't exist and is a myth, but everyone knows what you mean when you refer to it.

Consider it shorthand