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The woes of a former competitive swimmer...
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 2009-07-20 12:53 PM |
Champion  6656     |  Subject: The woes of a former competitive swimmer...Hey There! I have a question to pose to all those people now doing tri who came from a competitive sport background. I swam competitively for over 10 years and stopped about 3 years ago now. As you all can imagine I have gained quite a sufficient amount of weight over the past few years. (Apparently going from training 20-25hrs a week to nil will do that to you, who would have thought?). I was probably around 145lbs in my "prime" of racing, and due to the fact that I refuse to weigh myself right now, all I can tell you all is that I have had to upgrade my clothing sizes about three times. Since starting to train for tri I have made it more or less down in between the first and second clothing upgrade and lost 10 inches since the middle of May. What I would like to throw out there is what people think about getting back down to my "prime" weight with tri (ie. reasonable goal)? (I probably train 6-10 hrs a week right now and am working on getting a nutrition plan sorted out that I feel I can stick with). Anyone have tips of the trade or experiences? Thanks in advance to everyone!! |
| 2009-07-20 6:08 PM in reply to: #2296365 |
Elite 4344 | Subject: RE: The woes of a former competitive swimmer... Congratulations on the great progress so far. The post-competitive weight gain is a very common problem for former swimmers. The simple answer is that there is no reason why you could not get back to your former weight. The increase in weight is all in fat which you can lose by proper balance of nutrition and exercise. You do not have to go back to 20-25 hours a week of exercise to achieve the weight loss. You do have to eat less than you burn off. The good news is that, since it has only been a few years since you stopped swimming, you probably still have most of that high metabolism muscle to burn the fat more quickly. I am just guessing but probably most of your work needs to be on the diet side. |
| 2009-07-20 9:43 PM in reply to: #2296365 |
Champion 6656 | Subject: RE: The woes of a former competitive swimmer... Thanks for your input! PS...I am also happy knowing that training 20-25 hrs a week isn't truly necessary...maybe someday I will be crazy enough to do it again...right now...not so much.. |
| 2009-07-21 3:44 PM in reply to: #2296365 |
Champion 10471 Dallas, TX | Subject: RE: The woes of a former competitive swimmer... mndymond - 2009-07-20 12:53 PM Hey There! I have a question to pose to all those people now doing tri who came from a competitive sport background. I swam competitively for over 10 years and stopped about 3 years ago now. As you all can imagine I have gained quite a sufficient amount of weight over the past few years. (Apparently going from training 20-25hrs a week to nil will do that to you, who would have thought?). I was probably around 145lbs in my "prime" of racing, and due to the fact that I refuse to weigh myself right now, all I can tell you all is that I have had to upgrade my clothing sizes about three times. Since starting to train for tri I have made it more or less down in between the first and second clothing upgrade and lost 10 inches since the middle of May. What I would like to throw out there is what people think about getting back down to my "prime" weight with tri (ie. reasonable goal)? (I probably train 6-10 hrs a week right now and am working on getting a nutrition plan sorted out that I feel I can stick with). Anyone have tips of the trade or experiences? Thanks in advance to everyone!! I swam competitively, but only for 4 years in HS. Once I went to college... for fear of the Freshman 15... I exercised and didn't eat when I felt I was gaining weight. I am proud to say that at 35 years of age, I weigh the same that I did in HS. The exact same weight. Yes, some of it has shifted lower... but the same weight.  Here's what I learned with tri training... even though you are working out all the time, you still have to watch what you eat. You still have to monitor your calories in/out. You can get back to 145 pounds if you want. You just need to start logging your food, and finding a caloric balance that allows you to lose weight and not starve. For me (5'4" female - 120 pounds) if I want to drop weight quick, I can have a base of 1400 calories + half of what I burn exercising. If I want to lose weight less quickly, I can have a base of 1600 + half of what I burn exercising. If I want to maintain, my base is 1800 + half of what I burn exercising. You can do it, if you are disciplined. Good luck! |
| 2009-07-22 10:58 AM in reply to: #2296365 |
Regular 80 Colorado Springs, Colorado | Subject: RE: The woes of a former competitive swimmer... I hear you! I put on about 25-35 lbs (probably from a size 8 to a size 14) in five years after I stopped swimming competitively. I was still running and doing some weight training, but without the training volume of swim workouts, eating whatever I felt like eating whenever I felt like eating it caused me to gain weight. Even when I started to train for my first triathlon, I was about 20 lbs heavier than I'd been when I was swimming so much. For me, losing the weight was all about keeping track of what I was eating. I like the weight watchers points system because it's easier for me than strictly counting calories, and it helps me remember to increase my intake of fruits, veggies, and fiber in general. There are lots of websites that allow to to track your calories and nutrition info. Keeping track of what I eat helps me to break my bad habit of eating out of boredom/habit/to stay awake, and helped me to get out of the mindset that when I'm training, I can eat as much junk food as I want. Anyway, I just wanted to say that you can absolutely get back to a healthy weight by training at a smaller volume than when you were swimming competitively, by training for triathlons and moderating your food. Have fun! |
| 2009-07-23 9:28 PM in reply to: #2296365 |
| 74 | Subject: RE: The woes of a former competitive swimmer... Congrats on getting back to swimming! I too came back after 10 years off and in that time had put on about 10 lbs. Getting back into the pool has helped so much in getting back into shape but I also hit the weights hard. Two keys for me to drop about 1 lb a week are: 1. doing plyometrics 2 x week with a trainer- for the first time in my life I have muscle definition in my legs! 2. logging my food religiously on daily plate. I have it set to 1600 cals a day. I'm 5'8" and 140lbs. Along with that, I probably get in 10 hours of S/B/R. Stick with it and you'll see results in no time! |
| 2009-08-12 12:36 PM in reply to: #2296365 |
Master 1790 Tyler, TX | Subject: RE: The woes of a former competitive swimmer... I went to my college swim coach's retirement party a few years ago (20+ years after graduation). I was about 25 lbs over my college swimming weight but definitely looked skinny compared to a lot of the other guys! On the other hand, a couple guys never stopped swimming and went from average DIII swimmers to nationally ranked masters swimmers. That was part of my motivation to get back in shape again. I got back to my college weight again after a year or two triathlon training and eating well. If you haven't already joined a local masters team, definitely do so. I assume you were a serious age group swimmer and/or former DI swimmer, so even with 3 years out of the pool you'll still smoke most everyone in your group. As you know, it's a lot easier push yourself when swimming in a group. Good luck! Brian
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