Out of Control Fatroll

Growing up, I had a bit of a love/hate relationship with the idea of swimming. As a young child (we’re talking about two or three — so one of my first memories) I remember my mom taking me to the local fitness facility in my hometown and having a swimming lesson. I vaguely remember having to grab rings at the bottom of the pool and it seemed like it was 20 ft. deep. Obviously, I was two. From a ratio perspective, I don’t think my mind is exaggerating the experience too much.

Swimming took a bit of a backseat after that point because my sister would always come down with an ear infection EVERY TIME we went to the pool. And to prevent her from feeling left out, I didn’t get to go swimming too much. So no season pass for me to Wet n’ Wild. DANG IT.

Then in second grade, I almost drowned. It’s a horrible memory, and I faintly remember trying to scream but my mouth filling up with water. I’ll never forget that moment and since then I’ve been scared of the water.

Justin’s parents had a pool while we were in college and I loved walking it. Sort of ridiculous, but I never thought I was a great swimmer but wanted to get some benefit out of the pool. And Justin honestly feared for my safety in a pool because I sucked so bad at swimming. Haha. True story.

Then earlier this year Kristine and I decided to start training for a triathlon (which neither of us ended up doing. though I’ll definitely try again next year!). Obviously, a triathlon involves swimming — and in this case, involves a half-mile swim or 800 meters.

I had just wrapped up an excellent half-marathon training program with Rogue Running in Austin and read on their site that they had a Swimming 101 program. Essentially, people who could swim but needed to learn proper form. So Justin, Kristine and I signed up (Justin was a doll for doing it with me) and took four classes… in January… outside… but in a heated pool. Definitely an experience.

And shockingly, due to the stellar training of the instructor, Amy Marsh (a pro-triathlete), I lost my fear of swimming and I’m actually pretty decent at it now!

So now that I’ve gone through my entire life story as it relates to swimming, the question you’re probably asking (or should be) is, “Is it helping with your weight loss?” Short answer — I have no idea. Medium answer — it didn’t help in January, but I use it for my cardio training so it can’t hurt. Long answer — studies have mixed results when it comes to swimming and weight loss and my doctor said it is a nice to have, but not great for fat burning.

Confused? Yeah, me too. I wear my trusty heart-rate monitor when swimming and it is clear I have an elevated heart rate during my workouts (depending on the particular drill, it averages at about 150). But literally, the second I stop working out or pause, my heart rate drops to 100 in nothing flat.

According to “experts” (I use that term loosely because heck, I could be considered an expert in some circles though I’m definitely as clueless as the rest of us), the reason behind the dropped heart rate is the cooling effects of the water. Unlike running, where you are having to work harder because it is usually warm outside (especially in Austin), my body does not have to work as hard as it does on land to cool down after a workout. Fitness Magazine had an expert try and explain this effect, but truth is, no one knows for sure.

That said, the About.com article said that swimming makes you eat more following a workout, which I could argue that running (or any workout) does the same to me. Using this incorrect logic, my weight gain from August to February could be attributed to the fact I was logging in 20+ miles a week training for a half-marathon instead of the fact that I simply had no self-control when it came to eating after my workouts (though the Don Juan definitely made 12-mile runs feel a lot better!). 

Pre-Fatroll, that logic would have worked on me and I would have given up. Post-Fatroll I’ve learned that any exercise is helpful to losing AND maintaining a proper weight, as long as you watch what you put in your mouth. So in my case, I know that I’m still burning calories for an hour when I swim, I try hard not to overeat afterwards and I mix up my workouts to make sure my body has no idea what the heck I have planned for it the next day! The Fitness article recommends taking a 15-minute walk after a swim (I do 15 minutes in the sauna) to get the body warmed up so you aren’t as hungry.

So my opinion — try out swimming. And if you have a wedding or event coming up that requires you to rock a strapless, this is the workout for you! You will see a noticeable difference in a month if you swim two times a week. My shoulders and back OWN. I also just found this great swimming drill sequence on Fitness Magazine researching this post, so I’ll let you know how it goes.