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I don't know what is the best. But my son is a competitive swimmer, high school age, and none of the kids on his team are overweight.
I have to try really hard to keep weight on him.
3 hours a day; six days a week - plus a couple of early morning workouts thrown in - he seems to be burning major calories.
In fact, if anyone has any ideas other than protein shakes (which he already does) as to how to get a few extra calories into him - let me know. I think he's too thin.
I was just thinking this the other day at the gym while looking into the pool of swimmers. I noticed most of the swimmers were over weight. I recalled a friend of mine constantly swimming and he was over weight as well. Unless you're swimming Michael Phelps mileage everyday, I doubt swimming is that effective for the average person.
That's because most adult swimmers are what we call "noodlers." They get in the water, drift down the pool and back a few times, and consider that a workout.
You do not need to swim Phelps' like mileage to be fit. Same thing with runners - they don't need to run like the top 0.1% of people at the sport to be fit.
Swim hard enough to elevate your heart rate, just like a runner or cyclist would, and fitness will develop accordingly. Unfortunately, many adult swimmers have such poor technique they can't swim 25 yards without panting. So they slow down enough to not pant. That defeats the entire point of exercise.
I am 50+, swim about 13,000 yards total per week over four days. Each workout is just over an hour (so 3000 yds/hour). My fitness is equal or better most my age, whether they run, lift, or dabble in triathlons.
I don't know what is the best. But my son is a competitive swimmer, high school age, and none of the kids on his team are overweight.
I have to try really hard to keep weight on him.
3 hours a day; six days a week - plus a couple of early morning workouts thrown in - he seems to be burning major calories.
In fact, if anyone has any ideas other than protein shakes (which he already does) as to how to get a few extra calories into him - let me know. I think he's too thin.
My two sons were competitive swimmers and had a schedule similar to what you describe. They were always incredibly lean. I see no harm in your son increasing his overall calorie intake. Carbs are not bad - he will burn them up. Just make them good carbs - not much sugar but lots of pasta, some bread, waffles, pancakes, etc. He can probably add to his protein intake too. While he is in heavy training (this part of the season for most swimmers), his muscles are constantly torn down and it might help him to take in more protein. Lean dairy, cheese, eggs, etc. are all appropriate for him.
Teach him about what he is eating - so when he retires from sport eventually he understands he can't keep eating 5,000 calories a day.
Just make them good carbs - not much sugar but lots of pasta, some bread, waffles, pancakes, etc.
To call such things good carbs is just wrong. Good carbs would include real whole grains (oats, rice), quinoa, veggies (though not very dense in calories), beans, fruits, maltodextrin, and dextrose.
Everything you listed is processed and refined. Also, forget about things labeled as "made with whole grains". Just eat the actual whole grains if you want carbs.
To call such things good carbs is just wrong. Good carbs would include real whole grains (oats, rice), quinoa, veggies (though not very dense in calories), beans, fruits, maltodextrin, and dextrose.
Everything you listed is processed and refined. Also, forget about things labeled as "made with whole grains". Just eat the actual whole grains if you want carbs.
You should read more before comming with dismissing statements.
First off you should look at the difference between whole-grain and non wholegrain(this will tell you that the main win in chosing wholegrain is keeping the fibers)
Then you can look at what ammounts of fibers a person needs, you'll find that this paases pretty quickly for a person who choses whole-grain.
then you can always check up the difference in metabolizing simple vs complex carbs.
And when you're done you'll find that pasta; whole-grain or not is a pretty darn good carb source, with the added plus of a high protein content per unit of weight.
values/100g(in swedish, kolhydrater=carbs, all uncooked for easy measurements)
Pasta(not wholegrain): Energi (kcal)kcal360 Proteing12,5 Fettg1,2 Kolhydraterg71,9 Monosackariderg0,3 Disackariderg0,2 Sackarosg0,2 Fullkorn totaltg0
Raw rice(uncooked): Energi (kcal)kcal365 Proteing9,4 Fettg3,0 Kolhydraterg71,9 Monosackariderg0,0 Disackariderg0,5 Sackarosg0,5 Fullkorn totaltg100
Potato: Energi (kcal)kcal81 Proteing1,8 Fettg0,1 Kolhydraterg16,8 Fibrerg2,2 Monosackariderg0,0 Disackariderg0,3 Sackarosg0,3 Fullkorn totaltg0
[livsmedelsverket(swedish FDA)]
Cereal on the other hand is a HUGE bagie in this field;
while they contain a lot of complext carbs their content of simple carbs are also HUGE, and tha goes not only for the "with wholegrain" but also for the "ENTIRE whole-grain" ones. Energi (kcal)kcal386 Proteing14,6 Fettg1,7 Kolhydraterg75,1
and now look at the simple carbs: Monosackariderg1,1 Disackariderg14,9 Sackarosg13,1 Fullkorn totaltg15
one word; insane.
let's compare with sugar: Energi (kcal)kcal405 Proteing0,0 Fettg0,0 Kolhydraterg99,6 Monosackariderg0,0 Disackariderg100,0 Sackarosg100,0
[livsmedelsverket(swedish FDA)]
So we see that potatoes, rawrice and pasta hold somewhat equal stands as carbohydrate sources, while cereal hold a huge ammount of simple carbohydrates, aka sugarspecies. Though yo will have to eat a lot of potatoes... Edit; saw that the nice tables dissapeared, hope you understand the info anyway
You've heard it a hundred times like myself. But swimming doesn't exercise the legs that much and leg muscles are the strongest muscles in the body so you would think that they would need much more exercise than the upper body. What is your opinion?
Actually it really does give your legs a hell of a workout. Upper body too.
If you're doing breaststroke, you can easily get yourself some super-strong thighs & a bubble butt.
I think it depends on what type of swimming you are doing, how much you push yourself, how much you focus on form, and whether or not you vary your swim workouts.
Just drifting casually from one end of the pool to the other isn't going to do anything. Also, I see a lot of people with TERRIBLE form that focus on just going as fast as possible. I've found if I pay attention to form & speed it's a great workout for arms, legs, and especially core muscles. Also, there are plenty of ways to vary the workout using kickboards & the little leg float things.
As to whether it's the best, well that's all relative based on what you're trying to accomplish. For me, swimming helps keep my muscles nice & stretched out, helps with core strength & posture, and keeps my shoulders/back looking great. I also like it because even after a tiring workout like running or a long spin class I can still hit the pool for awhile-- it's refreshing & a different workout so it's easy to piggyback it on the more strenuous stuff for a longer workout.
Well, one salient point is that Olympic swimmers (the men), have incredible physiques. Huge shoulders, slim waists, tapered legs. So you know swimming must be one hell of a great exercise if done at the proper intensity level.
I'm a runner myself and know little about swimming, but come on... contrast the body of a marathon runner to an accomplished swimmer.
Well, one salient point is that Olympic swimmers (the men), have incredible physiques. Huge shoulders, slim waists, tapered legs. So you know swimming must be one hell of a great exercise if done at the proper intensity level.
I'm a runner myself and know little about swimming, but come on... contrast the body of a marathon runner to an accomplished swimmer.
No comparison!
Swimmers do a LOT of weight training which often explains their build. Marathon runners on the other hand do very little weight training. Now, compare swimmers to sprinters (instead of marathon runners) and the swimmers pale in comparison to them in the muscle body build department.
Well, one salient point is that Olympic swimmers (the men), have incredible physiques. Huge shoulders, slim waists, tapered legs. So you know swimming must be one hell of a great exercise if done at the proper intensity level.
I'm a runner myself and know little about swimming, but come on... contrast the body of a marathon runner to an accomplished swimmer.
No comparison!
You are aware that
a) swimmers work out a lot in gyms
b) marathon runners are probably some of the puniest of sportsmen, and don't compare well with couch-patoe-joe in terms of muscle mass...
c) hardly onyone you see swimming in open pools do it even remotely near enough to produce results ofr their muscly physique?
If you aren't pulling serious milage in a rather high tempo with good technique, you can forget about swimming as good form of exercise.
On a nother note, I have 1 former competing swimmer as a neighbor and 4 in my class, all have astma/lungproblems from breething chloride for years.
Not exactly what I'd do for health.
This thread still lacks one thing;
what is it supposed to be the best exercise for?
is cardio? is it muscle building? what are we even talking about comparing?
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