Swimming & Weight Training?

Hi there!

You are planning to do both cardio and strength training, which is the right method.

The initial problem is that your cardio will interfere with your gains from strength training. You are likely to become overtrained very quickly. That would mean that you are likely become weaker and less healthy.

Your enthusiasm is excellent, but I suggest that you could focus it to work better for you. Let's start with strength training and then briefly discuss cardio.

Unless you are on anabolic steroids (which would be very unwise), it is impossible to train intensely on weights for an hour every day. You will never build any real strength or muscle size that way.

Here's how to get started well.

Do a whole body routine. Focus on the basic exercises, namely, squats, deadlifts, presses, rows, dips, and chins. Learn proper exercise technique and do each rep of each set perfectly with as much weight as you can handle.

As soon as you begin training intensely, you are going to experience DOMS (delayed onset muscular soreness) a day or two after training. In order to ensure systemic recovery, wait 24 or 48 hours before training again. In practice, this means doing about a 45-minute workout and waiting about 4 or 5 days before training again.

It is important to remember that you do not grow in the gym. You stimulate growth in the gym, and you grow during the rest and recovery phase. In other words, rest is as important as exercise. Think of exercise as like medicine; you do not want too little or too much. Too little will not bring any benefits and too much will make things worse.

Drink plenty of water (at least 3 quarts daily) and get plenty of sleep (never use an alarm clock).

Try to avoid processed (refined) carbohydrates. You can have natural carbohydrates such as (preferably organic) vegetables and low carb fruits as long as you don't exceed about 75 grams of carbohydrates daily. In addition, it's critical to eat a meal about every 3 waking hours and to get sufficient protein (preferably from natural sources) in each meal. This should be at least 15 grams of protein per feeding for a female and at least 20 grams per feeding for a male. Never skip a meal.

If you do that, you will add muscle, which is your metabolic furnace that will burn additional calories 24 hours a day.

In terms of cardio, the best exercise is brisk walking. It should not interfere with the benefits from strength training. During and immediately after your walks, you'll burn additional calories. "Brisk" in "brisk walking" means walking at a 4 mph pace. To maintain your present percentage of body fat, walk 2 miles daily. To lose fat, walk from 3 to 6 miles daily. The best time to walk is in the morning before your first meal of the day. It's best not to walk every day, but 6 days out of 7 is fine.

By itself, swimming is terrific exercise. However, it does not complement strength training because some muscle groups (e.g., shoulders) will be overtrained. Furthermore, it's not good for fat loss because it's not a weight-bearing exercise. Therefore, you might want to skip the swimming.

If you want to get even fitter, you could add to your walking routine and strength training routine two brief sessions of intense cardio each week. Since they are intense, they must be brief--about 5 minutes. You may use GXP or interval training.

(Before significantly changing your exercise habits you may wish to get the blessing of your physician).

For more details on the main topics mentioned here, I've added some page links for free programs and plans.

I hope this helps you. Train in good health!

All my best wishes.

1

Well, you may not notice it, but you do eat sugar. Each and every food contains it.

You don't feast on snacks, that's what you mean, and it is good.

By the way, if you are planning on weight training, you better do it the right way after consulting with a professional.

Training is important but not only that, you must sleep well at night and eat good - basically you demolish your current muscles and rebuild them newer and stronger.

Overdoing it harms your body, that is why it is for the best to consult with a professional, but you have the willpower so you are on the right track.

You will see the result for yourself, and pretty quick even. In two weeks you can puff up real nicely, just keep on training.

You should do weight first then stretching and swim... if you do weight before swim, make sure your program for the swim is lesser than usual... The reason for weight before swim is: 1. Dry lane first so you don't have to be all wet from swimming then do weight... 2. Water is a kind of physical therapy that help massage your muscle slowly...

go 20 mph on your bike for 6 1 2 minutes

try to have a little lean protein with each meal as protein tends to be more satisfying than carbs or fats

go nuts

drink 3 cups of green tea in 24 hours researchers say it can increase energy expenditure by 106 calories

replace your scale with a tape measure aim for 32 1 2 inches or less for women and 35 inches or less for men

use the freezer to add some extra oomph to summer foods freeze grapes for some bite sized delights or get a popsicle mold and freeze some greek yogurt with berries