Swimming to get muscular physique?
Some time ago, I have written a controversial
article about how an Australian research team published in the American
Journal of Sports Medicine concluded that you may gain weight with swimming as
an exercise. Amongst the many reasons stated in the report, one of the main
culprits is that swimming makes you hungry and you may over eat.
Since then, I have received numerous emails, some
courteous and some not so, telling me that there must be something wrong with
that research. This is especially when the swimmers competing in the Beijing
Olympics 2008 with their magnificently ripped body shape with awesome six pack
abs and especially that of Michael Phelps were beamed world wide.
Therefore in this article, I will publish
one of the typical emails I have received about this subject and my reply to
it. Here goes.
Dear Chris,
In swimming, you might build a bit of muscle but
very little like you would in weight training. I would assume that most
people who are reading this or partake in information from your website want
to pack on the muscle. But swimming?
Furthermore, are you taking into consideration
that once someone is done with lifting weights and then doing some sort of
cardio activity, i.e., swimming .......that is when they need to eat to
replace glyogen levels? So, it makes sense to eat afterwards anyway. If they
were a housewife and didnt burn that much then sure they would gain weight but
and athletic person who eats the proper fuel.....
This
article doesn't sound correct.
Regards
Gregory
PS....Michael
Phelphs eats constantly when training....about 12,000 calories a day and
he is ripped however, with that said.....he is more on the skinny (ripped)
side even though he has some muscle. You are not going to be a bodybuilder
swimming.
My reply:-
Hi Greg,
Thankyou for your feedback. That article was just
a report I have found while doing some research and thought that my
subscribers may find it interesting. Here are a few comments on your feedback.
Personally, I don't encourage cardio after weight
lifting because:-
a) If your weight lifting session is intensive
enough as it ought to be when you are building
muscles, you will be too tired to do any effective cardio exercises.
b) After each intensive weight training, I
encourage my clients to eat immediately (like you said, to replace glycogen
and also to feed the muscles with protein). So by embarking on cardio right
after weight training, the window for maximum feeding potential closes as time
expands.
c) Again after a bout of intensive weight
training, my clients are encouraged to rest or even sleep for muscle recovery.
Furthermore, the article was written for the
ordinary folks who swim for leisure or even with the intention to lose weight
and not for competitive swimmers. For them, the energy expanded from leisurely
swims would not deplete the glycogen store so much so that replenishment is
needed.
Conversely, they may eat more than the energy
expanded and thus gain weight.
Besides, if they want
to lose weight, then it may be a good idea to deplete the glycogen store
so that the body will start to burn fat instead of glycogen as its first
source of energy.
As for Mike Phelps eating 12,000 calories, there
is only one Mike in the world. Unless one trains like him, then you need a lot
of energy and thus 12,000 calories. Can you imagine if you ask anyone else
besides international competitive swimmers to eat just only half of what Mike
Phelps eats (6,000 calories)? They will be a walking heart attack waiting to
happen, right?
Furthermore, competitive swimmers also do weight
training. Read this article How
To Get A Swimmer's Physique.
Click
here to get a Swimmer's Body Fast And Easily!
Best Wishes
