# Swimming for cardio



## SK-XO (Aug 6, 2009)

Whats everyones take on swimming for cardio, instead of morning cardio being say treadmill for 30 min, why not swimming for 30 min? say fairly low intensity 60 lengths?


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## Whimsical (Nov 14, 2010)

swiming 1.5km every morning...

I don't think I'd survive that, but recon it would be great cardio

but why low intensity?


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## SK-XO (Aug 6, 2009)

^To burn fat brah


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## aka (Jun 25, 2010)

I love swimming, great exercise for for everything such as strength, cardio, flexibility and I have never seen a swimmer with a small upper body


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## TNH (Apr 1, 2011)

I have heard that because your body temperature doesnt increase when you swim (because the water is cold) it is not as effective at burning fat.

Most bodybuilders seem to stick to power walking/ bike/ elliptical/ etc... so if fat loss is your goal, not cardiovascular fitness, I would stick to these.


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## energize17 (Jul 25, 2009)

I would do some swimming that is if i knew how to swim.


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## sakso (Mar 14, 2011)

swimming = best cardio ever.. simples.


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## stevo99 (Nov 28, 2008)

and have you also never heard of EPOC or fat thats burnt after the cardio??


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## sully807 (Jul 28, 2010)

TNH said:


> I have heard that because your body temperature doesnt increase when you swim (because the water is cold) it is not as effective at burning fat.
> 
> Most bodybuilders seem to stick to power walking/ bike/ elliptical/ etc... so if fat loss is your goal, not cardiovascular fitness, I would stick to these.


what a load of bollox the reason bbs dont swim is because being severely muscle bound is detrimental to swimming as muscle sinks, and swimming is THE best all rounder, it develops strength, burns fat and increases cardiovascular fitness while having zero impact on joints etc


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## sakso (Mar 14, 2011)

TNH said:


> I have heard that because your body temperature doesnt increase when you swim (because the water is cold) it is not as effective at burning fat.
> 
> Most bodybuilders seem to stick to power walking/ bike/ elliptical/ etc... so if fat loss is your goal, not cardiovascular fitness, I would stick to these.


well I am sorry to burst your bubble but that is total bull crap matey... it doesnt matter if you are in the water or outside, when you are moving your muscles you will be using energy, to use energy your body will burn (use) fat...


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## Guest (May 9, 2011)

TNH said:


> I have heard that because your body temperature doesnt increase when you swim (because the water is cold) it is not as effective at burning fat.
> 
> Most bodybuilders seem to stick to power walking/ bike/ elliptical/ etc... so if fat loss is your goal, not cardiovascular fitness, I would stick to these.


sounds like BS to me, calories in vs out...


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## Guest (May 9, 2011)

sakso said:


> well I am sorry to burst your bubble but that is total bull crap matey... it doesnt matter if you are in the water or outside, when you are moving your muscles you will be using energy, to use energy your body will burn (use) fat...


beat me to it >


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## mal (Dec 31, 2009)

i swim a bit,not sure how good it is for fat burning,if you swim hard for lengths

the stress on the muscle is pretty intense,and can burn out very quickly.

So you have to build up your muscle endurance,ide imagine this might

then hinder gains in the gym?

Last time i was in the pool,i was running lengths(knee rehab lol),sort of waist height,

which might be better suited for bb.

Suppose you'l just have to try for yourself,see if it works for you.


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## SK-XO (Aug 6, 2009)

mal said:


> i swim a bit,not sure how good it is for fat burning,if you swim hard for lengths
> 
> the stress on the muscle is pretty intense,and can burn out very quickly.
> 
> ...


Cheers for all replies...

Well yeah im not going at it hardcore but just wanting to shed body fat, if im honest I hate using cardio machines find it v boring lol, but enjoy swimming. For some reason when I get really hot and sweaty doing cardio I get fkn frustrated as hell and moody/aggresive pmsl. So swimming keeps me cool but I get pretty exhausted. But also wondered if doing to much swimming could have a negative impact on muscle? for example I trained my chest today but then went swimming tonight, im using my chest obviously when swimming so will this be some sort of overtrain of cns? or negative to rest etc.


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## Maturemuscle (Oct 30, 2010)

I would have thought you would have burned more calories swimming in cold water...in an effort not to stay cold in it....swimming is a great all rounder.......if you really want to impress do all the slow lengths to pre exhaust the muscles then swim a few at full speed it gives an all over body pump that looks really impressive when you get out of the pool.....should you want to impress LOL


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## stevo99 (Nov 28, 2008)

i swam competitively as a junior, some of the phyisiques of the guys that carried on into their early twentys were immense. Especiially as swimming was all they did, no weights etc.


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## Cedrick (May 9, 2011)

Hi SK-XO,

I swim 4 laps in pool regularly in the evening and the best cardio exercise as it involves almost every muscle of your body.

I do 40 minutes of jogging in the morning also.


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## C.Hill (Nov 21, 2010)

About a year ago I was swimming 3-4 times a week, best condition I'd been in! Got pics laying around somewhere, sod all bodyfat, just felt like it decreased my recovery time from weight training so gave it up.


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