swimming vs running - i dont get it.

[ss_11000]

theres something i dont get.

i can run ten km in around 45 minutes...not to bad of a time and i can still do things after that. i think i could even run a half marathon.

but once i get in the water, i get tired really easily. in other words, 50m of freestyle and i'm stuffed.

i dont get it, i can run for ages but i can only swim for a couple of minutes.

i think its weird

anyone know why?

[Groggy]

Different muscles, plus you have trained mainly on land (hockey, right?) and are most likely not used to resistance training.

I'd also hazard a guess you are not carrying much fat so have a tendency to sink.

[dazzler]

Try swimming with flippers on. Unless you have enormously out of proportion feet you are probably using your arms to drag your body through the water.

Flippers make better use of those huge thigh muscles.

[Eli]

Swimming is WAY harder. I think water is something like 800 times more dense than air for starters. You use every single major muscle group when swimming, as opposed to mostly legs when running. The cardio is much more intense when swimming because you can't breathe all the time, and if you swim with your head above water, you're working even harder to keep it there!

I swam with the high school team when I was year seven, and switched to wrestling years 8-12. I remember the difference vividly. When you work out swimming, everything that moves in your body is sore, as opposed to whatever muscle groups you train when running or lifting. That's why lazy young me gave it up and went for something 'easy', like wrestling. Water polo is IMO the hardest sport on the face of the planet.

[ss_11000]

Different muscles, plus you have trained mainly on land (hockey, right?) and are most likely not used to resistance training.

I'd also hazard a guess you are not carrying much fat so have a tendency to sink.

no, no a lot of fat - bmi is around 20.5 ish.

Try swimming with flippers on. Unless you have enormously out of proportion feet you are probably using your arms to drag your body through the water.

Flippers make better use of those huge thigh muscles.

i never realised flippers make such a big difference. i do tend to have sore arms after swiming ( but not after softball or anything like that ) so i probably am using my arms to dragy me thru.

Swimming is WAY harder. I think water is something like 800 times more dense than air for starters. You use every single major muscle group when swimming, as opposed to mostly legs when running. The cardio is much more intense when swimming because you can't breathe all the time, and if you swim with your head above water, you're working even harder to keep it there!

Water polo is IMO the hardest sport on the face of the planet.

Agreed. treading water, concentrating on a ball and tackling people sounds like a lot of work. also the explosion they go thru when leaping around.

lol. i tend to keep my head above the water, i hate water getting up my nose. i got to get me one of them nose thingoes.
thanx for the info eli.

[Ivan in Oz]

no, no a lot of fat - bmi is around 20.5 ish.

Make the most of it

By the time you reach the age of many of us,
your BMI will most likely be a Tad more than 20.5.....OMG Wow!!!

AND you will still not be able to swim

Oh!
To get your head in the water,
try exhausting continuously, only a little, through your nose;
up until you breath out completely.....through your Mouth

[rrich]

I had a friend that tried to do both as a workout routine. He said that his biggest problem was the different breathing aspects of the two sports. He gave up running so that he could swim.

[bitingmidge]

My brother was almost fifty and couldn't swim far at all.

He used to run marathons and ride the cycle leg in triathlons, so fitness wasn't a problem.

One day two or three years ago, the person who was going to swim the leg in the Byron tri, had to pull out with seven weeks to go.

He tried to convince a mate of his who used to be able to swim a bit (a former world record holder and olympic gold medal swimmer) to do the swim leg.

This bloke got all excited and decided they'd do the whole thing... one problem of course, actually two. My brother couldn't swim and he couldn't ride a bike.

So that night, my brother and he went to the pool. Bro swam 75 metres, his best ever, and was stuffed.

The other bloke immediately told him a few things about his breathing and kick and stroke, and at the end of that week, five days later, Bro swam 750 metres.

In seven weeks, he did the Byron tri, 1.5k at sea. All this was after some really silly minor changes, but it seems he was using all his energy doing nothing.

The lesson?

Take a lesson from a coach who really knows what they are doing. My brother is just another old guy who likes to stay fit, not specially talented, so if you really want to swim, get a good coach!

Cheers,

P

[Big Shed]

Stirlo, maybe you should take up triathlon? That will get all those muscles working!

[Geoff Dean]

I have played Water Polo for the last 27 years, much rather go for a swim than a run, though with 2 pretty crook knees, running is no longer an option.

I used to play footy in the winter to keep fit for Polo, however we used to have a few footballers (some ex AFL) who played polo to keep fit for footy. It was funny to see them struggle with our training regime, and every footy player we had reckoned is was the hardest sport they had played. (pussies)

[Harry72]

You will also find because while running your upper body is only balancing its not much to the powering your movement speed, where as swimming your upper body does most of the work.

As a human body is mainly developed for upright walking(its why we have such elongated thigh muscles)that most of our movement strength is in the legs and hip area... tie a boxers legs up and see how hard he can punch! Same again with a golfer its the swing that comes from the legs and hips that gains you a good shot.

Our legs are our most efficient muscle group... you can walk all day without much fuss, dont know anyone who say benchpress a light weight all day... its impossible unless your a tree dwelling monkey! In my case at the gym I can only benchpress around 60~80kg with 4 sets of 10~12reps, jump on the leg press and I'll do 400~420kg at 4 sets 10~12 reps... the next day my chest will be sore... legs feel like I havent done anything.

In Midges bro's case being a pushbike rider after a little technique training he was actually quite good... being a pushbike rider he would have a fair amount of upper body strength, especially in a abdominal area. When I use to race(sprint and track) a big part of our training was swimming purely because it uses your whole upper body more than any other type of training.

[ss_11000]

this is interesting. thanx for the info fella's.

big shed - i would love to do the whole triathlon thing...but the swim stops me from doing them.

[BobL]

Try walking around all day on your hands for a year and I'll bet that by the end of that year you'll be able to swim a lot further and not be able to walk quite as far? Sounds like the sort of expt the CIA would have some of their people doing!

[AlexS]

When I use to race(sprint and track) a big part of our training was swimming purely because it uses your whole upper body more than any other type of training.

Yep. When I raced, I couldn't get over the upper body strength of the sprinters. Was more of a roadie m'self, plenty of stamina but no sprint, no upper body strength despite gym work & swimming. It wasn't uncommon for top sprinters to bend frames in a race.

[Harry72]

Or snap chains and handle bars... boy it hurts too