Any swimmers out there?

How has low carb eating affected your lap swimming?

I'm swimming some to train for a triathlon, and I'm doing the Zone. I finally started up the swimming just the other week, and I did 33 laps (approx. 1/2 a mile) before I felt the slightest tiredness. I did another 1/4 mile and started feeling a bit tired, then got a toe cramp, so I called it a day. Still, I think it was an auspicious start - I felt great! I always feel so great after swimming.

I've been swimming a mile (64 lengths of a 25 meter pool) several times a week. I've swum laps regularly for about 25 years and I haven't noticed any difference with low carbing. I still have plenty of stamina. If anything, I have more stamina since losing some weight.

I've noticed a much bigger difference with land-based exercise. A year ago I could barely walk because of my weight -- my back and knees always hurt. Now, I can easily walk four or five miles at a pace of about 20 minutes a mile.

I think if you do a lot of aerobic exercise you can eat slightly more carbs and still lose. On the days I walk or swim (about five days a week), I eat about 10 grams more of carbs a day than on days I don't do any aerobic exercise.

Would any of you know, if treading water for long periods of time (ie an hour) tone your body? I know it raises my heart rate and I'm tired after.

Yes, treading water in the deep end for an hour is very healthy. It uses muscles that otherwise would not be used.

IMO, swimming is one of the best sports for general health for the following anecdotal reasons:

• If you look at all the old ladies who swim a minimum of one-mile a day, you will notice that they have baby-soft skin. The old ladies who use the indoor treadmills can’t say the same. Walking outdoors exposes the skin to the sun, so that may be a reason why some people have leather-like skin.
  .
• Swimming provides no jarring impact to the joints.
  .
• The water provides a uniform pressure around the entire body, which aids in circulation and which promotes good health. The exposure to this water pressure has untold health benefits which are yet to be discovered.
  .
• Lap swimming is cardiovascular and is good for the heart.
  .
• Lap swimming provides resistance to the muscles, which tones them.
  .
• Swimming is a great way to recover from injuries. The buoyancy and weightlessness of the water provides a great place for injured people to exercise.
  .
• Swimming is a sport that can be enjoyed by the old. It is not just for the young. While older people may have to give-up a lot of activities, swimming is a non-injurious sport that even the elderly can enjoy.
  .
• The morbidly obese are too fat to exercise. However, swimming is a wonderful way for them to exercise because they only weigh 10% of their original weight while they are in the water.
  .
• Exercise is not merely about losing weight. It is much more, to include cardiovascular fitness, muscle tone and obtaining a general sense of well being from performing the exercise.

Truly, swimming is a wonderful sport.

I love swimming!!!

But only in a pool. I'm afraid of the ocean.

me again,
i think its funny that you are scared of the ocean. i too am deathly afraid. i will not go in past my ankles. the ironic part is that you and i both live in a state surrounded by water. i wonder how that happens. being born and raised here in tampa, i think i am the only one i know who will not go in the beach water. i just hang out up on the sand.
i am scared something will bite my little toes.
dawn

i love swimming also.
i,m with you about the sea.when i was younger i used to swim in the sea every chance i got but now i think about what i am standing on.
i only swim in the pool-it,s cleaner!

I was swimming laps very regularly until just recently. I have been low carbing for a year, and was swimming up to an hour at a stretch, sometimes more. The only low carb problem I noticed was cramps in my feet after 40 minutes or more. Usually I could shake them off and keep going. I tried taking mineral supplements, which seemed to help, but not 100%. The cramping may not actually have been due to low carbing, but I never had this problem before, and I have been a swimmer on and off since I was a kid. Of course, maybe it's just old age, or too much exercise - I also run and use the stairmaster.

But alas, due to my allergies to chlorine and the lack of conveniently located quality pools where I live, I am giving up the pool for now. If I can ever afford one of those private swim in place pools, or if I somehow end up living near a pool that doesnt use chlorine, I'll happily jump back in!