Would Swimming make me lose muscle mass?

Bile12345

New member
If I were to swim 5 days a week after lifting as cardio would it affect my muscle mass? I would swim for like 30 minutes immediately after lifting and swim about 1000 meters.
 
No, if you were to cut out lifting completely and only swim yes. Swimming will definitely help you cut down on your bf percent but as long as your lifting and eating enough to feed your muscles I would not worry.
 
just increase your cals so your still gaining
 
Nope, good thing about swimming is it is a resistance and cardio workout.

Don't stop lifting and you can swim your heart out. (Which for me is about 4 laps) :D
 
DAdams91982 said:
Nope, good thing about swimming is it is a resistance and cardio workout.

Don't stop lifting and you can swim your heart out. (Which for me is about 4 laps) :D
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4 laps sounds about right lol..

I agree with this!

I also agree that if you're bulking while swimming, take in the extra calories to make up for that activity..
 
No Im still lifting heavy and Im bulking up on cals. I swam the other day and it really smoked me hard and I got to thinking that this would be great to do as cardio after lifting but I wonder if I would lose mass doing it. I get bored easy on the bike or treadmill. Appreciate all the info I will swim 5 days a week now immediately after I lift.
 
the only problem with swimming is your strength will nose dive or at least it always has for me. Moreso than running or biking outdoors has for me.
 
2k1s said:
the only problem with swimming is your strength will nose dive or at least it always has for me. Moreso than running or biking outdoors has for me.
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Your strength hasnt actually lowered, rather your muscles have a fatigue in them that makes it harder to lift.

You must swim AFTER lifting, not before.

Also, over time your muscles will acclimate to the swimming and the fatigue and lactic acid buildup with reduce overtime and the normal working levels will return.

It is more of a stamina thing than a strength thing with regards to swimming.
 
Yeah I understand that. But for some reason no matter when, before or after but not during :crazy:, I just can't move weight. I really like swimming too :(

I'm probably just weird.
 
Well, swimming is a predominantly upperbody based movement. So, it could be that you're pecs and lats are fatigued and not recovering correctly and that resulted in the strength loss. You may want to cut down on upper body training frequency or swim frequency.

I personally find I recover better following a good swim workout. I think there is a greater venous return from the lower body while boyount (just an assumption).

Br
 
Any physical activity requires energy. If you are not consuming the amount of energy needed for physical activity and metabolic processes, you will lose muscle mass. Depending on the type of exercise (if exercise for general population) can strongly correlate to the degree of muscle loss.
 
The essence of swimming is muscular endurance. Muscular endurance means how many times you can lift a given weight(or perform a certain stroke) in a row without stopping. Oddly, this type of training soes tend to undermine strength as well as mass, but not by a large amount. A good way to preserve your strength would be to swim after lifting, and only swim every other day, as 40-60 hours is the point of supercompensation for endurance training
 
Meyer Bros said:
The essence of swimming is muscular endurance. Muscular endurance means how many times you can lift a given weight(or perform a certain stroke) in a row without stopping. Oddly, this type of training soes tend to undermine strength as well as mass, but not by a large amount. A good way to preserve your strength would be to swim after lifting, and only swim every other day, as 40-60 hours is the point of supercompensation for endurance training
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Can you elaborate on that statement. Is it 40-60 hours per week, such as runners usually top out their progress when they go over about 40-60 miles per week?

My knowledge of swimming and endurance training for swimming is still developing.

Thanks

Br
 
I've swam for years (including competitively). I find my recovery from swimming to be amazingly fast. If you need any swimming workouts/routines, let me know.

Be sure to vary your strokes (butterfly, back, breast, free) and sometimes use only kick or minimal breathing, etc.
 
ZiR RED said:
Can you elaborate on that statement. Is it 40-60 hours per week, such as runners usually top out their progress when they go over about 40-60 miles per week?

My knowledge of swimming and endurance training for swimming is still developing.

Thanks

Br
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I believe he is talking about recovery. Only swimming every other day would give you 48 hours to recover before your next swim session. If I'm wrong feel free to slap me :spank:
 
Like others said you should be swimming after you lift. As long as you continue to lift and keep your calories up there's no reason for you to lose mass.

Michael Phelps and other swimmers are pretty friggin ripped. I say you should train the way you want to look. If you want to look like a swimmer, then swim. Obviously you are concerned about muscle mass so I wouldn't recommend marathon running as marathon runners are notoriously skinny.
 
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