From: GC.AVW@forsythe.stanford.edu (RAGIN CAJUN)
Subject: Re: Wow! I can't believe the inspiration here! : )
Organization: Stanford University, California, USA
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1992 09:10:03 GMT

In article <1992Sep8.165511.1468@speedy.aero.org>,
nadel@attatash.aero.org (Miriam Nadel) writes:
>In article <1992Sep8.090553.22742@morrow.stanford.edu> GC.AVW@forsythe.stanford.edu (RAGIN CAJUN) writes:
>>In article <5502@blue.cis.pitt.edu.UUCP>,
>>jsl+@pitt.edu (John S Lundberg) writes:
>>>In article <22214@galaxy.ucr.edu> samari@watserv.ucr.edu writes:
>>>>The reason why swimming is not goo for losing fat, is that the body
>>>>is constantly losing heat in the water, and it needs the added
>>>>insulation to keep it warm.
>>>
>>>I have to wonder about this...it seems to me that if your body
>>>is losing heat in the water that that heat must come from somewhere.
>>>Also, swimming places little strain on the joints in contrast to
>>>activities such as running which may be a plus for someone who is
>>>carrying extra weight.
>>>
>>This is a fact.  There was a recent study, last year, done at
>>Stanford, that said that swimmers in CA, especially women, had an
>>extra layer of fat cause the weather is cool and most of the pools
>>are not heated.
>>
>
>I don't know where you swim but every public or university pool I've swum in,
>including several in California, has been heated to about 90 degrees
>Fahrenheit.  Swimming coaches have told me that it is best to swim in water
>close to body temperature.
>
>Now, people swimming in their backyard pools probably don't keep them near
>warm enough.  And most backyard pools are too short to get a good workout
>in - you end up resting a lot on turns.
>
>In addition, one thing I've read is that swimming is good for losing fat if
>you swim well, but that most people just aren't proficient enough at swimming.
>This seems to be consistent with my experience - I've always lost weight
>easily when I was doing a lot of swimming without particularly paying any
>attention to what I was eating and this was particularly true when I was
>backstroking and less true when I was breastroking (which I'm not as good at).
>There's no question that there's considerable cardiovascular benefit from
>swimming (as with any aerobic exercise), but that you also need to do some
>weight-bearing exercise (e.g. walking) to promote bone density, which is
>important to women to prevent osteoporosis.  To me, there is nothing quite
>so mentally refreshing as swimming, though.  Somewhere after the first couple
>of hundred yards, I hit a rhythm where everything just fits together
>effortlessly and my mind is free to really focus on the other stuff in my
>life.  My major inspiration for my Ph.D. thesis and several of my best stories
>have come about in that state.  (Unfortunately, I no longer live close enough
>to a public pool with convenient hours to swim as regularly as I'd like to.
>But when I lived in a building with a pool, it was really easy to motivate
>myself to exercise and I couldn't wait to get home to my daily 1/2 mile.)
>
>
>Miriam Nadel

I was quoting from a paper done at Stanford by researchers that
used the Stanford swim team, professionals that have a great deal of
control over the way they swim and the amount of time they spend
swimming.

Alma
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