Swimming to prevent muscle mass being lost during cardio??

[Beez]

Hi all

this might be a noob question but what is everyones opinion on swimming as a form of cardio to keep the heart healthy without losing muscle mass from the cardio side of things.

Cheers

[god-of-bodybuilding]

depends how much swimming you plan on doing. swimming will burn muscle faster than anything. doing a lot of swimming and bodybuilding don't mix 

thats why long distance swimmers usually keep a bit of  extra fat on them because they will need to use all of it as fuel

[Beez]

Only planning on doing 30min swims at a time. I was doing 60min runs for cardio but found that way to long and boring hence the question about swimming

[Pseudonym]

It's not the type of cardio you do that causes muscle loss - it's the calorie deficit that it causes.

So if you burn 500cal doing swimming, it's going to have exactly the same effect as burning 500cal from running. And as long as the calorie deficit isn't too huge, you shouldn't have any problems with muscle loss anyway.

But if you're doing cardio for heart health, and not trying to get ripped, you could increase your diet slightly to replace those calories, just to be on the safe side!

[Beez]

Cheers for that pseu. I was finding the running beyond boring. Im wanting the swimming for cardio and for my rest days from lifting. I find swimming relaxing and its cardio at the same time.

always find im incredibly hungry after a swim though

[AZIDE]

because you lose energy heating up the water. thats why youre hungier than youd expect for the excercise youve done

[WheyNZ]

Overall, cardio is cardio. There will be a miniscule difference in muscle loss if you run the same amount as you swim. It's all about energy in and energy out, so being in the water isn't really a factor that will change much.

But don't stop swimming because swimming is great. And if it relaxes you WHILE getting a cardio workout, by all means swim til' your phalanges shrivel.