Swimming should help my cycling, right?
 

I found that swimming really build upper body bulk and makes you stronger. I don't know much about how affects cycling, but it should make you more fit and build endurance, right?

If you are out of shape swimming will make you better at almost any sport. If you are already in very good shape swimming won't improve your cycling at all.

Out of shape? That's me! :D

I am trying to lose weight and get into better overall shape. I have started swimming at my local gym a couple times a week for 45 minutes to 1 hour at a time. I think it is going to help me quite a bit with general conditioning. Swimming for 45 minutes at a time is alot harder than I imagined it would be.


-lee-

You should definitely keep swimming. I can't think of anyway it would directly help your cycling. In other words professional cyclists do not, as a rule, use swimming a part of their cycling training. Some of the climbers don't want to build upper body bulk. However, for over all fitness to equalize the effects of what cycling does for your legs and hips swimming would do for your upper body. Swimming is great for cardio and increases lung compacity.

Swimming is a good exercise, but I would not consider it a good "cross exercise" (as in cross training) because it suffers from the same limitations as cycling. They both don't do the gravity thing for maintaining bone density. I prefer brisk walking and weight training to go along with the cycling.

Al

well, there are triathlons....those people seem to be in pretty good shape.

Nothing beats running and cycling for over all fitness, though I personally would have to do some weight traing unless it impeded my competitiveness if I raced.

Al

Well, yeah...but no triathlete that I know of just jumps in the pool and is a great bike rider or runner. Triathletes...like all athletes...must train the disciplines.

That said, swimming is great for overall fitness, but to be a better rider, you must ride.

Your cycling will benefit from ANY activity that increases your overall level of fitness. Unless you want to be a paid team specialist in hill climbing/stages, neglecting your upper body for the sake of cycling and an additional few pounds of muscle is foolish. The body works as a whole unit -- in cycling and sports in general. Go for overall fitness and development throughOUT the body. That emaciated look with cycling and running went out a long time ago.

Amen to Old Crank. As a triathlete, I began a weight training program,designed by a physical therapist, focused on core strength. Forget about Hammer Strentgh machines etc..., he had me doing wood chops, standing one arm dumbell raises and leg raises with weight (sort of a step up lunge). Lots of stuff on stability balls too. The biggest improvement was to my cycling. Every fast cyclist I know does some running and/or swimming. IMHO do all three plus a well designed weight routine. I have seen nothing but improvement since I began mine. Since it's winter, I combine a spin session with 45 minutes on wieghts. Seems to work well as long as you don't do legs on the same day you ride. Likewise upperbody and swim combo days don't work too well either. Again MHO only.

winter is the time to try this stuff. being a good swimmer is not only good exercise, but it's also a good skill to have. i say go for it.

on a slightly related note to running - i recently started doing an alternative: the weightless squat. basically i just do squats with my own body weight for about 3 mintues (around 50 squats), rest 2 mintues and repeat. it works the muslces and cardio system quite well, is easy on the joints, and takes very little time.

Cycling is great exercise but is one that is not balanced for your body. You use your lower body almost exclusively. You use your quads much more than your hamstrings. You build the outside of your quads more than your inside. Over time, the lack of balance could cause problems. Swimming can help the balance by giving you a good upper body and core workout. You should also do upper and lower body weight training. There are a lot of training books that describe weight training for cyclists. Yoga is good. Cyclists are notoriously inflexible. There is a good chapter on this stuff in the book "bike for life" - which, btw, is a very good book. It really does a great job of covering some stuff in pretty good depth that other training books I have read do not.

I need to reread the books I already have.

I like swimming and think that it is great for cardio and upper body, but it really depends on the type of stokes that you are doing as to what effect they have on your body. Also according to American Journal of Sports Medicine, there are better ways to loose weight than to swim.

http://www.thefactsaboutfitness.com/...h/swimming.htm

Swimming is a good workout. Unfortunately, its not very good for wieght loss, particularly compared to running and cycling. Do it to get generally fitter, and to have fun. But it's not the first pick if your goals are 1) to loose weight, and 2) to be a faster cyclist.

If you want to get in shape for cycling, use some flippers.

That was a great article!!!! Thanks. I am famished after I swim. I have told friends that I don't think swimming helps at all with weight loss because you are soooo hungry after swimming. I am glad to read thta others agree.

I hate the chlorine.

What about using flippers and a kickboard, just working on leg exercises whilst swimming. That would have to improve leg strength in someway?