July 25, 2008
No Playing in the Pool
Vigorous swimming, not Marco Polo, is the way to get fit in the water.
Q: Is it true that swimming isn't as effective for weight loss as other forms of exercise?
A: Swimming is a great form of exercise because it's easy on your joints and effective for improving cardiovascular fitness, but some research shows that at the recreational level it's less helpful for weight loss than land-based workouts. This is largely because most people just don't have the technique to swim fast enough or long enough for significant calorie burning. Fit, fish-like swimmers may burn 600 calories or considerably more in an hour workout, but the average swimmer may splash across the pool at only half the speed and poop out after 20 minutes, burning just 100 calories. It's easy to become a faster walker or cyclist, but because swimming requires specialized skills, it's not as easy to become a faster swimmer.
In one study, competitive swimmers who swam the longest distances had the least amount of body fat, so swimming — at least at advanced levels —does seem to help with weight control. If you enjoy swimming and want to lose weight, aim to improve your technique by taking a few lessons or joining a masters program; go to the U.S. Masters Swimming Website to find a club near you. Also try mixing land-based activities into your workout program.
Q: Do I have to work out for 30 consecutive minutes or are shorter workouts just as effective?
A: Good news for this time-crunched world we live in — you don't have to do your entire exercise routine all in one shot to slim down or boost your cardiovascular fitness.
Plenty of evidence suggests that accumulating physical activity in short, intermittent bouts can be just as effective as continuous exercise for increasing overall fitness. Consider a University of Wisconsin study that divided 30 overweight college students into three groups. One group did three 10-minute exercise sessions a day five days a week. The second group did two 15-minute exercise sessions, and the third did one 30-minute session. All groups exercised at 75 percent of maximum effort and all were on a calorie-restricted diet. After 12 weeks, all three groups lost the same amount of weight, between 11 and 19.5 pounds and realized the same gains in cardio fitness.
Ten-minute bouts of exercise won't turn you into a world-class athlete, but then again neither will 30-minute bouts. But, if doing several smaller workouts fits into your schedule better than one long session, go for it.
About Our Expert: Suzanne Schlosberg is the author of The Ultimate Workout Log and The Essential Fertility Log and coauthor of Fitness for Dummies and The Fat-Free Truth. She's a health and fitness writer living in Bend, Oregon.
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