Why is it when I jog for 3-4 weeks up to
25 minutes twice per week I loose
more body fat/fitness (cardio) wise
better than when I swim for 30 minutes
or do any type of pool workouts, ie, drills, sprints.
Also if you look at elite swimmers
they don’t look as lean as you
would think they should.
Why is that?
So is Running better than swimming?
For conditioning.
While I cannot tell about the pool workouts You mention not having any extensive experience with them,I would make sure first that for a given (though low) intensity level the time frames of exercise spent running or swimming can actually be matched metabolically and mechanically. I wouldn’t think 25 minutes running can generally compare to 30 minutes swimming time.
The two time frames could be comparable though if the swimming workout were a little more structured to allow for more tensions actually to be produced in the water (intervals,resisted pulling with buoy and paddles, kicking with board and fins,vertical kicking and sculling sets in deep water for example).
The less proficient a swimmer You are,the more You would possibly benefit from added resistances in the water and intervals conditioning wise.
If otherwise You’re willing to-and Your time allows- You might always increase the pool workout time somewhat . 45 to 50 minutes of continuous exercise in the water should more reasonably compare to 25 minutes on land.
Kenny, the difference is the boyancy effect. Given the same intensity of effort for a given activity in water or on land, the heart rate in water is usually lower. The reason being in lap swimming is that you are in a lying position which requires less of an effort for your circulatory system to pump blood back to your heart. That itself takes less energy expenditure. But also it’s due to the lying position while being active. Keeping in mind…being extra lean as a swimmer is not an advantage, fat is more boyant 
not so fast…
Being lean is important in swimming, and the great paul bergan places a lot of effort in his program to do training outside the pool…Inge debrujin is very lean and nobody is close to the WR in the 50m. Diets of swimmers suck and I was very worried about Phelps and what long term effect his massive eating protocol will do to his pancreas…I respect Bob Bowman greatly so I feel picking on him would be foolish…He is the ASCA coach of the year and I have a handfull of all-americans.
I think the intermediate speed programs kill the metabolism of swimming…and you can see what happens long term.
I agree that there is more to being lean for any athlete than just the actual training protocol. Diet is key, and yes, from what I heard of Phelps, his digestive system must be under major stress. Most people don’t realize that digestion itself takes energy away from training ability. As far as being lean, I didn’t mean to make it sound like a chubster is going to break the WR in the 50m freestyle…lol. I just don’t believe personally, that having two athletes of similar skill, one with say 4% bodyfat, and the other with 6-8% bodyfat, that the higher percentage would be a limiting factor. It also depends on the setpoint for the individuals level of bodyfat. If they are doing things correctly, the body will adjust to the best dimensions, IMO that is…
Please share your insights into Phelps’ trainin & diet. Fascinating talent…
Kenny their is another effect that water has been shown to have on body fat. The body uses fat to insulate as well as for energy storage. When you swim in a pool the body tends to keep fat just beneth the skin. Bodyfat can still be lost swimming but the effect is the athlete looks smooth because the fat stays under the skin in order to insulate the body. The lost fat can only be track with under water weighing.
true, so much can come into play…now that I am brainstorming…indoor lighting could even have an effect. Flourescent lighting seems to create less shadows than an overhead direct lighting, possibly making the athlete look less ripped visually.
My wife saved an article about his eating habits. They would send anyone who is not fit to the hospital with a heart attack. He eats like a typical american kid NOT like a world champion. He has very bad eating habits. At the end of the article it states that his coach is not happy with eating habits.
Id be really interested to see if there is any evidence to support that… If you have it please post it… I have my doubts though…
The reason that Ive heard thrown around which is kinda along those lines is that due to the generally lower temperatures of swimming there is a loss of heat which causes the body to compensate by eating… Ie given unstructured eating plans the swimmers will eat MORE than the joggers…
Another theory that Ive heard is that the micro-trauma associated with running is higher, this micro trauma requires energy/nutrients for repair…
Just two thoughts…
tlopo1, im not entirely saying that I flat out do not believe your theory… its just that Kenny stated that he notices this is 3-4 weeks. Im pretty sure that if the phenomena which you speak of dose exist it would take much much longer than 3-4 weeks to notice…
There were discussions about this on the Supertraining list… Ill have a look what was said there…
Kenny, one thing in your post that I dont understand is this:
You ask about cardio and conditioning, but gave examples of bodyfat and appearance…
The two are far less closely correlated then some might assume…
Cardiovascular improvements will be high in both, but the performance will be specific to the task…
As far as swimmers not being lean, did you see the 50 metre freestyle final? There was an Australian in that, Brett Hawke, he came in 7th or something, but was one of the leanest people at the olympics… His bodyfat percentages had to rival the sprinters, he just had a lot less muscle mass…
EDIT:
One thing to note is that Swimming or pool sessions seem to be great for recovery. I dont know exactly what sports you are involved in, and I dont know of the exact use for a sprinter… But a recovery session be a nice enevergy burning form of active recovery… how you structure this would obviously depend on your needs/goals etc…
I think the intermediate speed programs kill the metabolism of swimming…and you can see what happens long term.
Clemson, can you go into a little more detail what you mean by this?
On the tonight show phelps gave an example breakfast which has as many calories and carbs as most people should eat in a day. Lots of fat in there as well.
Very interesting though!
The very first point You made gives an idea of how important nutritional plans are actually for competitive swimmers,an area too many times took into not enough consideration by us swim coaches,always ready to complain and seldomly ready to investigate true reasons for success or´failure…
The second point being an important issue to consider for training construction,and somohow related to some points I made myself earlier in this thead.
Kruger the research was an journal article I read in college so I will try to dig that up. You would be asuolutly right this effect would take place only after a four week or longer training session that would cause the body to compensate. This would only help to explain why swimmers look so smooth.