I've recently started adding ten laps of the swimming pool to my regular 25-30 mins cardio workout?

Question

instead of doing weights does anyone know if the swimming aspect will act just aswell on my upperbody strength and help me get fitter. i just usually did 3 sets of ten with some dumbells but i enjoy the pool better, i do my treadmill/cross trainer/rowing then hit the pool.

Answer 1

It really depends on how much effort you put into your swimming. I swim competitively, and my workout involves all aspects of our body. We run for half an hour, swim for two hours, and lift weights and do abb work for half an hour. This is kind of extreme for the noncompetative swimmer, so i suggest you play around with different workouts. I suggest you try to incorporate weight lifting and runnning with ur workout. It doesnt even have to be very long. Just run for ten, lift for ten, and swim for 40, and that is a really decent workout for just an hour. It's your body, you know what is best for it, so just play around with different workouts. Try all swimming one day, half swim, half lift other, just experiment.

Answer 2

Swimming helps with over-all muscle toning.  You will develop more upper body strength and leg muscle strength, and it is a cardio workout!  Swimming is the full package, but you have to swim fast and strongly.