Cycling hasn’t been kind to my ankle for the last few months so I have been doing virtually no exercise. The local David Lloyd has a 12 day for £25 offer on at the moment so I decided to try it, just for the swimming.

I am not sure what I can expect to achieve in 12 days but I have been swimming a mile (60 lengths) a day for the last 3 days and plan to continue this for the rest of the duration.

Other than peeling quite hungry, am I likly to notice any benefits in terms of fitness or weightloss in such a short period?

You’ll notice you’ve got better at swimming 🙂

I would expect the marriage proposals around day 5-6, the untold fortune and riches no later than 10, Nobel peace prize by day 12.

If you drown on day 5, you’ll probably notice that you are a bit more dead in future?

you should get better at swimming a mile, or you may get worse

You will develop webbed hands and feet and become much more amphibian in appearance.
Watch out for Herons and Kingfishers whilst walking around. They will eat you.

Sore shoulders and a smell of chlorine

By day 12, women will want you, men will want to be you, and you might have a verruca.

Depends on how fast you swim…

😉

30 lengths in 20 minutes, ten minutes rest. Repeat. All breaststroke (titter) as my shoulders are too knackered for crawl

The stuff about being amazinglyh attractive to women has already occurred, I used to swim a bit when I was younger which must have caused it.

Sore shoulders and smell of Chlorine is already here but no verruca thanksfully.

I was actually wondering if 12 days of regular exercise was a long enough period to actually make any difference to weigh and fitness but caryy on with the piss takes, this is STW after all

Are you able to get an Exercise on Prescription thing down your way? Been a real help to my missus after her heart op at the beginning of the year, gives discounted gym membership and weekly personal training for rehab.

Best of luck, rehabilitation can be tricky. Just be mindful that swimming can be less than ideal for ankles. I’ve had trouble with mine recently, it’s the plantar flexing on the kick that caused posterior ankle impingement.

You may begin to feel sudden urges for Shouting, Petting, Smoking, and Swimming in the Diving Area…..

By day 6 you will be wearing speedos and by day 7 be banned from wearing them 😆
By day 9 you will be covering yourself in duck fat and heading for the Channel.. 😆
By day 13 you will be hearing strange noises in your inner ear..

Good effort though, excellent form of low impact knackeringyourselfoutabit.

Top Bombing!

Don’t forget weeing, LsD

Tony the tiger says that you’re doing Grrrrrreat!

One mile is actually 64 lengths of a standard 25m pool, so you’re sacking off the final 100m?!

May I ask how you actually manage to swim 60 lengths without losing the will to live? I like swimming, but I find it gets very, very boring.

I was actually wondering if 12 days of regular exercise was a long enough period to actually make any difference to weigh and fitness but carry on with the piss takes, this is STW after all

Only one way to find out. I assume you have weighed yourself on the day you started? Let us know if it makes any difference!

I’ve generally found exercise in combination with a diet to match enables weight loss (for me). If you are just eating more to compensate for the lost calories, you might weigh more, maybe even gain some muscle.

1500m not quite a mile. I guess the one length warm up and 1 length relax down after each set give me the full count though.

Onza – the ankle is pretty close to solid, I am fining the swimming helping the muscle ache I have been getting in my calf

1500m not quite a mile

I wish you had said that to start with.. It would have been much easier to find an image of a 1500m badge.. 👿

I started swimming regularly 2 years ago and found I damaged my shoulders quite quickly! I was ,nt swimming as far as you either. Waiting for results from an MRI I had this week, I have had injections in both shoulders to help with pain and have a severe tear in one of my rotator cuff tendons which they found with ultrasound. The other side has an impingement which hurts like hell now and I can only get by each day with prescribed painkillers. Hope you have more luck.

I stick with breast stroke and don’t try to swim too fast. I dislocated both shoulders by mistake a couple of years back and although I can fully rotate them I don’t fancy doing it for long periods while swimming. To be honest there aren’t many activities where I am not likely to hurt myself.

I reckon you’ll be stronger quicker and have more chest and shoulder muscles, or you’ll have popped another bit of your body 😉

something that has stuck with me from childhood is watching a tele program which said that it takes 3 months of ‘regular exercise’ (2/3 times a week) to alter your fitness in a permanent and meaningful way.
not sure how true it is, but as a general guide it seems reasonable. I think 12 days isn’t enough, you might lose weight but that’s about it.

But do you kick off the sides on every length? That’s cheating that is. Minus 5 lengths per 30 if you do. And how many of your 60 lengths are spent walking in and out of the steam room?

You should see an improvement in body conditioning and some improvement in fitness (based on the fact you were not doing anything before). As for weight loss that depends upon the intensity of the exercise.

You should look at some kind of moisturiser for your skin and I assume you are wearing a cap, every day in the chlorinated pool will affect your skin and hair (if not covered). My kids used to swim competitively and with all the training it was scary how quickly the swimming costumes fall apart, imagine what it’s doing to the body.

No kicking off from the ends, I know cheating when I do it.

Never thought about moisturising. I am not the most ‘reconstructed’ of males. What do you use? Wife’s stuff costs loads, can’t I use something cheap and easy?

Breaststroke may feel kinder on your shoulders, but watch for knee pain- breaststroke kick tends to stretch the medial (inside) collateral ligament, and going straight into 60 lengths off nothing may make you more prone to it. Worth alternating/varying stroke?

if you plod along, you will always be a plodder

depends how much effort you are putting in surely

Good idea WCA and enjoy your swimming.

Routine wil make you feel good and dedicated.

60 lengths of breastroke will do you no harm and will have some fitness benefit. However, this wil not be that great u less you are pushing it.

Can you do FC? For fitness I would be alternating your longer swims with 10-15 x 100 sets on a set time period eg start every 2 minutes – you start with a decent rest but this may get shorter as the sets go on.

Without being rude, you would need to push yourself quite a bit harder to see a major fitness benefit IMO but it will do you no harm in the meantime. Better than nothing!!!

What is FC?

I will push it a bit more on the swimming. Just didn’t want to kill my self given I only have 12 day

FC = Front Crawl.

After my collar bone op, front crawl was a struggle, but I’m convinced it made the shoulder stronger, and helped mobility in the long run. You may well find the same.

Don’t forget weeing, LsD

Only if it is from a diving board 1metre or higher. Micturating in the swimming pond is, unfortunately, an unenforceable crime.

@WCA – build up slowly especially if your shoulder hurts when you do front crawl. Moisturiser – anything cheap will be better than nothing, just get a body one (face/hand stuff more expensive in smaller bottles) doesn’t need to be a brand particularly. Depends how your skin reacts to the chlorine. You can try a moisturising shower wash like Dove also. Keep a check on your eyes, swimming everyday for 10 days if you are not used to it your eyes may suffer.

that nice looking shower next to the sauna…it’s a trick. Damn thing nearly made me pass out. Ice cold with the power of a fireman’s hose. Suppose it’s fine after a sauna though….hhmmm

Presently of the bike due to a grade 2 AC joint separation(caused by coming off the bike), was hoping swimming may be the route to recovery?

Day 12

I know what you mean about that shower – pretty little daisy head looks harmless, pull the lever and drwon in water straight from the Artic ice floes!

Yep, I was fresh out the sauna when I discovered this.