Swim Away Fat?
April 10th 2007 13:23
There is a variety of activities which can lay fair claim to improving fitness in anyone engaging in them. The term fitness,however, is a chameleonic one. The fact is that I have met many people over the years who were engaging in legitimate fitness activities that were not capable of yielding the specific results they were seeking. An excellent example of a super fitness activity that can be misapplied is swimming.
No one with any sense would argue about the salutary effects of swimming. It is excellent at improving lung and heart capacity. It is as friendly to aging joints as you can find. Yet, it is frequently the place where we find individuals who
are looking for an exercise that will help them lose weight. It is not the exercise for that.
Man is a land mammal. There are mammals who spend considerable time submerged in water. The seal, the whale and the walrus come to mind. It doesn't take a genius to realize that these creatures share the characteristic of having an extensive layer of blubber coating their internal organs to shield them from water temperatures below the ambient temperatures of the air. The reality is that any mammal who is immersed in water on a regular basis will begin to hoard its fat stores to protect itself.
I always say that your body will do what it is programmed to do whether you like it or not. Tell yourself that a swimming program will help you lose weight and your body will hoard its fat regardless. You will be fitter in lung and heart capacity,your skeletal muscles will be working against resistance, but you will be forced to diet more fiercely to overcome the fat saving mechanism of your body.
If you are severely overweight or have severe problems with joints water exercise may be right for you(if your doctor agrees.). If not, you are better off trying any reasonable land exercise to help reduce fat rather than swimming. Aerobic exercise certainly alerts the body to the need to limit its mass.
It is also true that done extensively aerobic exercise will cause a certain amount of fat retention.This time the body is being signaled that it adapt to the possibility of such a great caloric deficit that starvation might set in. Those who walk or run for fitness need to accept this reality. Weight training does not cause the same kind of fat retention as swimming and land aerobic exercise. Weights cause muscle growth and that is means more caloric expenditure long term , but weigh training cannot consume huge numbers of calories in the short term.
The need of someone who wishes to burn fat is for a good amount of activity on land and real changes in eating habits to eliminate junk and excessive calories. The attempt to rely on exercise exclusively to consume one's way out of overweight is very difficult and ill-advised. So is entering into an exercise program without understanding what best serves your goals. Your servant, as always.
are looking for an exercise that will help them lose weight. It is not the exercise for that.
Man is a land mammal. There are mammals who spend considerable time submerged in water. The seal, the whale and the walrus come to mind. It doesn't take a genius to realize that these creatures share the characteristic of having an extensive layer of blubber coating their internal organs to shield them from water temperatures below the ambient temperatures of the air. The reality is that any mammal who is immersed in water on a regular basis will begin to hoard its fat stores to protect itself.
I always say that your body will do what it is programmed to do whether you like it or not. Tell yourself that a swimming program will help you lose weight and your body will hoard its fat regardless. You will be fitter in lung and heart capacity,your skeletal muscles will be working against resistance, but you will be forced to diet more fiercely to overcome the fat saving mechanism of your body.
If you are severely overweight or have severe problems with joints water exercise may be right for you(if your doctor agrees.). If not, you are better off trying any reasonable land exercise to help reduce fat rather than swimming. Aerobic exercise certainly alerts the body to the need to limit its mass.
It is also true that done extensively aerobic exercise will cause a certain amount of fat retention.This time the body is being signaled that it adapt to the possibility of such a great caloric deficit that starvation might set in. Those who walk or run for fitness need to accept this reality. Weight training does not cause the same kind of fat retention as swimming and land aerobic exercise. Weights cause muscle growth and that is means more caloric expenditure long term , but weigh training cannot consume huge numbers of calories in the short term.
The need of someone who wishes to burn fat is for a good amount of activity on land and real changes in eating habits to eliminate junk and excessive calories. The attempt to rely on exercise exclusively to consume one's way out of overweight is very difficult and ill-advised. So is entering into an exercise program without understanding what best serves your goals. Your servant, as always.
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