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Swim Fast to Slim Fast

Posted on: Friday, 15 July 2005, 03:00 CDT

THE WORLD'S FOREMOST AUTHORITY ON ADULT SWIMMING

Stroke your way from body bountiful to body beautiful.

"CAN YOU LOSE WEIGHT BY SWIMMING?"

Regrettably-and frequently-popular answers come from fitness "experts" with little experience in swimming or from scientists who make faulty judgments based upon suspect methodologies. Typically, they assert that swimming plays only a marginal role in personal weight reduction.

Two of the more prominent proponents of the "can't-lose-weight- by-swimming" camp are Grant Gwinup, M.D. (The American Journal of Sports Medicine, Vol. 15, Issue 3, pp. 275-279, 1987) and former talk show host, Gabe Mirkin, M.D.

Both used obese populations as subjects, but the extent and intensity of the swimming required by Gwinup's subjects seem to have been significantly less arduous than that demanded of his walkers and cyclists.

Gwinup concluded that in the absence of a controlled diet, swimming had little or no effect on weight loss. He speculated that all three groups (brisk walkers, stationary cyclists and swimmers) burned a similar number of calories (a dangerous assumption, indeed), but that swimmers counteracted their exercise by eating more.

Tacoma, Wash., physician Jane Moore suggests "the number of calories burned in a workout is much different for 3,000 yards with intervals than a 500 swim in 30 minutes"-a position that would prompt a "Well, duh" from most Masters participants although not garnering a second look from some researchers.

Mirkin's poorly designed University of Colorado study indicated that obese people were much more apt to better their health through "running, aerobic dancing, racquetball and cycling" than through swimming. His premise and following logic was that land-based exercisers are surrounded by air, which helps to increase body temperature and speed up metabolism.

ABOVE * Alex Kostich

Alex Kostich, three-time Pan-American gold medalist and accomplished open water racer, says that swimming more yardage efficiently at higher intensity levels will burn more calories and contribute to weight loss.

Conversely, Mirkin theorized that swimmers are at a great disadvantage in , boosting their metabolism because they are constantly immersed in the cooling effects of water.

ON THE OTHER HAND...

A 1993 study done for the Educational Testing Service in Princeton, N.J., looked at the calorie-burning potential of swimming and found that in a given amount of time, champion swimmers burned about 25 percent more calories swimming than champion runners when running all-out.

The message seems to be that improved technique and mechanical efficiency translate into farther, faster, longer swimming and greater calorie burn.

Steve Blair, CEO and president of the Cooper Institute in Dallas (think aerobics), opines that anything that contributes to negative energy balance will promote weight loss. He includes swimming in that category

Dave Tanner, a high school coach who swam on four Indiana NCAA championship teams, has a Ph.D. in human performance/exercise physiology and helps coordinate Indiana University's Counsilman Center for Swimming Research. He loathes the survival of the swimming-as-a-nonweight-loss-activity myth. He says the key to losing weight is to expend more calories than you consume, of which lengthy exercise is a critical component.

An approximate value for caloric expenditure, Tanner says, is 400 kilocalories (kcal)/mile for swimming, as compared to 100 kcal/mile for running and walking or 30 kcal/mile biking or 500 kcal/hour for an aerobics class.

In reality, many people who hope to lose weight by swimming don't have very good technique so they don't swim very far. Consequently, they spend a good deal of time resting on the wall, limiting energy expenditure. Not surprisingly, they fail to lose weight.

"There are other factors, but the main reason swimming does not have a great reputation for being an effective weight loss exercise is because the duration is not long enough," Tanner says.

A 1993 study done for the Educational Testing Service in Princeton, N.J., looked at the calorie-burning potential of swimming and found that in a given amount of time, champion swimmers burned about 25 percent more calories swimming than champion runners when running all-out.

FREQUENCY, INTENSITY AND DURATION

William D. McArdle, Frank I. Katch and Victor Katch wrote "Exercise Physiology: Energy, Nutrition and Human Performance." Now in its fifth edition, the book is considered the bible of upper level college physiology courses. The authors, all present or retired university professors, have studied and written on the subject for years.

They pinpoint frequency, intensity and duration as critical factors when considering exercise and weight loss and acknowledge "precise quantification and regulation of energy expenditure is difficult during such activities."

As a caveat, they say while the "threshold exercise energy is probably highly individualized, it is generally recommended that each exercise session burn at least 300 kcal." Thirty minutes of vigorous swimming should fill the bill, they report.

McArdle, et al, will get no argument from Alex Kostich, three- time Pan-American gold medalist and accomplished open water racer. The Stanford graduate writes for active.com and says the answer lies in the type and intensity of a workout routine.

Escaping one's comfort zone through improved efficiency and more yardage at higher intensity levels will burn more calories and contribute to weight loss, notes Kostich.

SURFING THE WEB

Web users can find animated testimonials on weight loss by checking out various discussion forums.

Jim Borkowski of Memphis, Tenn., attributes "consistent swimming" to his loss of 70 pounds in just over six months. "A miracle cure," he says.

Dorothy Debolt swims for the McKinley YMCA in Champaign, Ill., and credits "watching what I eat, swimming and weight training for a loss of 35 permanent pounds over a two-year period. It's all about calories in, calories out. If swimming helps you burn more calories than you eat, you will lose weight," she says.

David Wesley, a Cheyenne, Wyo., swimmer adds: "Aerobic workouts are the way to go, lots of yardage. Get that heart rate up and keep it extended for periods of time. How much fat you want to lose is up to how hard you want to work."

Opinions also vary on the kcal values assigned to specific forms of exercise and the energy required to drop weight. Matt Best in Saunas, Calif., affirms that depending on skill level and workout intensity, swimming an hour may burn from 200 to 600-plus calories.

"At that level, if you reduce caloric intake and continue to burn calories via swimming, you are virtually guaranteed to see results," he says.

For true believers, there is little doubt concerning swimmings benefits. However, warns Fritz Lehman of Raleigh Area Masters, "Just like anything else, it takes patience, time and effort."

The patience piece is critical. Most overweight people didn't gain excess tonnage overnight, so permanent good riddance is not likely to occur in even a fortnight. A key is to develop eating habits that will well serve an athlete over a lifetime. "The main thing," suggests one swimmer, "is to get addicted to swimming, not food."

Now there's a weighty idea.

Check out Swimming World Interactive at www.SwimmingWorldMagazine.com for additional resources and some interesting statistics about weight loss.

Michael J. Stott is a contributing editor to Swimming World Magazine.

Copyright Sports Publications, Inc. Jul 2005

Source: Swimming World and Junior Swimmer

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