At age twelve, should I be swimming 8 hours a week?

Question

I am twelve & I swim alot well during the summer i swim 6 hours a DAY. And if i am not swimming I am running.Is that unhealthy. I am skinny.

Answer 1

It's not nessiceraly unhealthy.  If you are swimmer, swimming 8 hours a week is how you stay in shape, and train, and get faster.  I swim on club team with kids that are 12 and younger, that swim a two hour workout almost everyday of the week.  When you say you swim six hours a day, that is different because you probably aren't training all those six hours, if you are just lounging around in the pool than that's no big deal.

Running is also a great sport that will keep you in shape, and the only way to stay in a strong running shape is to run pretty frequently.

Both running and swimming are sports that take a lot of energy from you, so make sure you eat foods that will give that energy back to and a lot of fluids.  Also, be sure to sleep enough.  You can do activites like this as long as you continue to treat your body right.  Have fun and good luck.

Answer 2

The first part of your question says "8 hours a week" then you say "6 hours a DAY." Which do you mean? (8 hours or 42 hours per week?)  Just for reference, I swam 22 hours a week during the summer when I was 12, and I thrived. But what's healthy for one person can destroy another.

You need to ask yourself why are you asking strangers this question. Are you concerned about your weight? Are you training hard and concerned about the pressure? Talk to your parents about your concerns. They can help you in ways that strangers on the internet cannot.

Answer 3

it is a little bit i say swim for about 1 hour.

Answer 4

yes, thats too much

Answer 5

As long as you're getting enough food in you, that's perfectly healthy! I swim a lot during the summer, too. Maybe 3-4 hours a day, though. But I don't have a pool at my house or anything. But a lot of people are that active, it's totally normal.