Which is better for fitness the gym or swimming?

Answer 1

It depends on what you want to do? Fitness includes a wide range of detail, so does the gym.

Cardio machines vs. swimming - whichever you enjoy. Swimming is low-key on the joints and works the entire body more than running on the treadmil. However, if you prefer to run (or bike or whatever) more than swimming - I would suggest sticking with what you truly enjoy to help you stick with exercising longer (month wise - not session)

Weights vs. swimming - weights will increase muscle or you can use them to simply tone up. However, swimming is cardio exercise that will help tone the muscles and also burn more calories (depending on how hard you lift for how long - but unless your a body builder, I'd say swimming burns more). Swimming will help burn more fat than weight lifting.

Answer 2

I'm no professional this is just an informed opinion. Swimming is widely regarded as an excellent way to get fit. It tones many muscles at once and is also good for overweight people as there is no stress on joints. However the gym is also good and I would recommend both for a fitness program. For improving cardiovascular fitness, swimming and using treadmill, bikes etc at the gym is a good idea. Before taking part in either activity get advice from a trainer, so for the gym you are using equipment correctly and for swimming, the better your technique the more you will get out of it.

Answer 3

It depends what you do at the gym and what you mean by fitness.
If by fitness you mean your aerobic fitness then swimming can be really good for you. However, many people are not good enough swimmers to experience the full benefit of swimming. To improve your fitness you need to be able to do at least half an hour of continuous, fairly hard exercise. You may be better of using the treadmill, bikes, rowing machines etc. in the gym where you can sustain a hard effort for a prolonged period of time.

Answer 4

I'm assuming by "the gym", you mean exercise machines such as treadmills, crosstrainers, exercise bikes etc, rather than weights and weight machines (which improve muscle mass, not cardio-vascular fitness).

Objectively, swimming is definitely better. But because of the difficulty, people are likely to swim for less time than they would jog, for example. The key to fitness is raising for heart rate and keeping it at an elevated level. Two laps of the pool might burn you out, while even the most unfit person can do a few kilometres on a treadmill, as long as they don't push themselves too hard.

Depending on your fitness level, I'd stick to dry exercise until you are able to swim constantly for at least 30 mins.

If weight loss is an issue, then the above still applies, but more so, because your body doesn't begin burning fat until you've exercised constantly for 20 mins.

Answer 5

Note that different exercises work different muscle groups but the most important exercises are those of the abdominal muscles. They work on the core of the body for good posture and to keep the back strong and healthy. The gym will help you work on all parts of the body. Swimming works strongly on arms and less on legs. So from the point of view of variety in the gym, I see it as a better option than swimming.

Answer 6

Swimming is the best form of exercise because it exercises all the muscles in the body without putting strain on the joints. Personally, I hate getting my hair wet so vouch for the gym, which is a shame, since I have dodgy joints and would benefit from swimming, I just find the whole getting all wet and that a bit of a bore!!

Answer 7

It depends what you want out of your training. For weightloss the gym is going to be the better option. Swimming is great as well though is it uses all the muscles in your body but if you want to sculpt your body you need weight training as well as cardio and resistance training.

The best way to improve your fitness level is to do a mixture of different excerxises and the gym tends to give you more options.

Answer 8

Swimming for an all over body fitness, the gym is more efficient when you know exactly what you are doing and you would usually only exercise different groups of muscles each session

Answer 9

Depends on what you want and how you do it.

The most important thing is to do what you enjoy. The more you enjoy it, the likely you are going to stick to doing it, which is where the benefit comes from.

Also a combination of both could be an excellent fitness program. Swimming for the cardio exercise and gym for the toning exercises.

It is more a matter of what you want and you doing it.

Do what you enjoy!

Answer 10

Join a gym with a swimming pool and get the best of both worlds.