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Old 05-25-22, 02:59 PM  
OSusanna
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Western WA
Does anyone swim or do water aerobics regularly?

Hi everyone. Because of a minor spinal injury (very minor and due to degeneration) I have joined the Y and started water aerobics. Eventually I’d like to get my cardio fitness back up to what it was and then try lap swimming. Right now I feel very “worked” after class 2 x a week.

All my land exercise activities left me achy. So far this doesn’t.

I’m 47 and no consistent cardio since late 2020. I’ve never restarted from so sedentary of a lifestyle before. Does anyone remember how long it takes to see measureable cardio improvement?

Also for any swimmers, have any done masters swimming? I was thinking of making that a long long range goal.

Thank you!
Oh and for land exercise I am doing t-tapp still for strength.
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Old 05-25-22, 04:11 PM  
bee
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Join Date: Jul 2008
It's probably hard to predict exactly how long it'll take to get your cardio fitness back -- so many variables -- but I would think a few weeks? I was a swimmer in high school and then did masters swimming probably thirty-ish years ago. One thing I will tell you..... maybe fifteen or twenty years ago I was in pretty good shape for home workouts -- doing the original Firms, maybe some Cathe's at that point. I took my kids swimming and I got so out of breath so quickly even though I was in great shape. Swimming laps is definitely a different kind of fitness. Back when I was in high school I was swimming laps -- swim team practice --3-4 hours each day, five days a week. One weekend day off I decided to go for a run. I couldn't run very far at all -- got completely winded! It wasn't because I wasn't in shape because I was in great shape. Just a different sort of shape, I guess. I'm telling you all of this just in case it helps to keep in mind on your journey back to lap swimming. Have fun!
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Old 05-25-22, 04:59 PM  
OSusanna
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Western WA
Thank you! I’ve heard about the differences before between water and land exercise before. I’m really curious now why it would be different. You’re right though, a swimmer isn’t always fit to run and vice versa. How interesting!
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Old 05-26-22, 12:22 PM  
bee
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Join Date: Jul 2008
Quote:
Originally Posted by OSusanna View Post
Thank you! I’ve heard about the differences before between water and land exercise before. I’m really curious now why it would be different. You’re right though, a swimmer isn’t always fit to run and vice versa. How interesting!
It seems counterintuitive, doesn't it? I sometimes think maybe it's just me. You'll have to report back!
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Old 05-26-22, 05:26 PM  
wendug
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Chicago burb
I wish there was someplace I could swim regularly. No Y near me and most of the fitness centers don't have pools. The park district offers the use of the local high school pool on Saturdays only in the AM.

I was a competitive swimmer for years. I started out swimming very young. So young that I don't even remember learning how to swim. I was always on several swim teams that allowed me to compete year round. In high school, our coach had us come in early before school and we would run, lift weights, and do some aerobics to cross train with swimming. It is indeed quite different- the land vs. water exercises. I definitely noticed joint pain (especially while running), but I am not a runner. Swimming is definitely a joint friendly exercise!

I agree with bee, it's going to take a bit of time to get your swimming fitness back. Like with anything, take it slow and it will come. Although I think I'm in pretty good shape, I wouldn't jump into an advanced yoga class because I just don't do yoga often.

Enjoy swimming!
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Old 05-26-22, 09:56 PM  
OSusanna
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Western WA
I can say so far ( 4 water aerobics sessions over 2 weeks) that I am working really hard. The water dumbbells really really work! I hope I can get some muscle mass out of this.

I’ll report back after 6 weeks.
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Old 10-03-22, 04:19 PM  
OSusanna
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Western WA
Update to swimming

So it has been longer than six weeks. I thought I would update on how difficult it is to start to swim! Part of it was me because I have an injury that needed some attention and so I missed a good month to six weeks of potential training.

Swimming is very difficult and very technical. I’m in the middle now of a swim lessons session of five weeks. I got some good news that I am close to being ready for masters swim, but I am still struggling with the cardiovascular element of all of this. Last week we had a class just on breathing and what I found is that I was panic breathing and that was causing me to not get the right amount of air and slowing me down quite honestly. So I am now going slow to go fast which means that I’m really spending a lot of brain energy on it. This is not a work out where you can check out as a beginner.

I’m still recovering from it better than anything else that I have tried lately and so I feel hopeful about that. I’m trying to be in the pool 3 to 4 times a week and I’m hoping to maybe start masters in the beginning of 2023 and my coach already says that I may be able to start sooner than that. I doubt that because I am so out of shape but I’m gonna keep working.

I miss my videos. I miss land workouts. I miss jump rope. But my injury doesn’t really allow me to do those things right now and maybe not ever again so I’ve got to figure out how to like water workouts. All my years of videos have left me with a good feel for body mechanics which is proving to work really well now that I’m swimming. The attention that I have placed on the form for T-Tapp and Essentrics has paid off when learning swimming techniques.

Checking again. Is anybody else working out in the water?
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Old 10-04-22, 02:53 AM  
Negin
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
I used to swim far more often than I do now. Your post is motivating me to do it more often. It's always been way up there among my favorite forms of exercise. I'm no expert or anything by any means, and only swim breaststroke, nothing fancy. One thing I have noticed, and this is a good reminder for me to keep it up, is that when I stick to it, I'm often in the best shape ever. I'm not sure how much I would enjoy it if I were taking classes or anything. When I swim, I just do laps and do it for fun.

Sorry to hear about your injury. I know that it must be frustrating missing all your other workouts, but I think that you're doing great, and am happy to hear that the Essentrics and T-Tapp have helped. Swimming has so many benefits. There are a few books on it that I've enjoyed, as well as articles and studies. I've read some of them.

"The more you swim, eat right and avoid tobacco, the longer you’ll live, according to two studies of more than 355,000 people. You may add as many as 10 years to your life, according to the heart researcher who led the studies. Although the super-healthy (defined as nonsmokers who have normal blood pressure and low cholesterol levels) constituted only 10 percent of those surveyed, their results made a big impact. The death rate from heart disease was nearly 80 percent lower for these people, who were mostly middle-aged when both studies began, than it was for the rest of the group. Overall, only six to eight percent of the low-risk men died of heart attacks, compared with a heart disease death rate of nearly 30 percent in the whole group.
One study that was called “Research Swimming and All-Cause Mortality Risk Compared with Running, Walking, and Sedentary Habits in Men.” This study looked at around 40,000 men for over 30 years. In the 13-year study, 11% of the people in the sedentary group passed away, the folks who walked lost 7.8%, the runners lost 6.6%, and the most surprising statistic was the swimmers they only lost 1.9% during the study."

There are a bunch of more benefits, but I won't overwhelm you here.

Both of my parents, ages 92 and 81, swim regularly. My dad swims twice a day. My father-in-law is 80 and he swims as well.
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Old 10-04-22, 05:56 PM  
OSusanna
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Western WA
Thank you Negin! You reminded me that I am embarking on here fitness journey for the rest of my life. I see a lot of what I would think of as very elderly people at the pool, sometimes coming in with walkers or canes. It was a reminder to me that swimming is an activity that can be done until the very end of life sometimes.

I like the water when I’m in it but I do so hate getting out of the pool wet! This is the most inconvenient activity that I’ve ever done. I’ve had to have a stern conversation with myself every time about going. I’m always glad I went afterward.

Cheers!
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Old 10-05-22, 03:43 AM  
Negin
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Susanna, you're doing great! Keep it up. I guess our bodies go through changes as we get older and we need to adjust. You've done a wonderful job with that. I used to run for years. Then when I could no longer do so because of knee problems, I then had to look to other forms of exercise.

I hear you on the getting wet problem. If only there was a solution to that! Another one for women especially, is the hair problem.

I swam regularly when I lived in Portland, NYC, and later San Diego. Now that I live on a small island in the Caribbean, I seem to swim less, not because I don't like it, but too many choices and too little time these days. This thread is motivating me to include it more.
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