Poll: Should I swim or take a weights class?

SWIM

You should do both, actually. Alternate between the two.

The swimming is an excellent cardio workout, which means calorie burn. When you use weights you build muscle, and that's good for this reason: more muscle means you burn more calories just walking around daily. It also means that you would burn more calories during your swimming days. The added benefit of the weight class would be strengthening your core muscles, which means less chance of injury, and improvement in your posture.

Go for both!

Since it's during your lunch break do the class and not the swimming. I suggest you do the swimming after work or on the weekends. If you really want to burn calories the swimming will do that more than weight-lifting and swimming is good aerobic exercise if you swim laps.

You should do a combination of BOTH cardio and strength training as well as watching what and how frequently (4-6 meals/day) you eat to burn the optimum amount of calories. The strength training will give you the musculature (the building blocks) to help your body burn off the calories while swimming/jogging/power walking will burn your calories. All three things (cardio, strength training, eating right) will give your body the best ability to burn calories effectively.

the class would likely burn more calories. Swimming is more for toning. But it depends on which one you like more. If you like swimming you might stick with it longer, then burn more calories that way. If you don't like the class then you may drop out and then you won't be burning any calories at all. So go with what you like to do more.

How long is lunch break? A good weight program takes 45 minutes. If your calorie burn is to loose weight then swimming is the fastest way. But if you want to reshape your body then weights can burn calories slower but reshape the way you look. So it depends more on what you need.

You should swim your will be more toned. I walso took life guarding courses or aquaquest it a more thing to to know in case of an emergency. Swimming burns calories like crazy and you will better after each session

Swimming will burn more calories than weight lifting. That would build muscle but have very little if any cardio benefits. But do you have time to blowdry your hair if you swim?

I would do swimming b/c it tones arms, legs, back, abs, etc. and burns a lot of calories at the same time. Plus it's low impact.

both are necessary for optimal caloric burn. so just alternate them and go swimming one day and take the class the next. this will provide you with the perfect calorie burning routine.

Cardio vs. Weight Training

By Greg Shealey, M.S.

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It's hard to believe that exercise, which seems to be a relatively simple topic, can cause so much debate. However, when assessing the efficacy of weight training vs. cardiovascular exercise, there are plenty of conflicting opinions on which is better — and this debate may never get resolved. Therefore, the staff at BioFit and Wellness decided to compare the benefits and risks of the two forms of exercise so you can make an educated choice as to how to approach either type of workout. (Note: For the sake of simplification, we will use the term aerobic and cardiovascular interchangeably.)

Cardiovascular Exercise

The No. 1 benefit of following an aerobic exercise plan is the change in your cardiovascular fitness that results from this kind of training regimen. Regular aerobic exercise causes your lungs to process more oxygen with less effort; your heart to pump more blood with fewer beats; and the blood supply directed to your muscles to increase. As a result, by performing cardiovascular exercises, you are increasing your body's endurance and efficiency.

Additional Benefits

In addition to the cardiovascular benefits, other benefits of aerobic exercise include:

* Weight loss.

Combined with a healthy diet and appropriate strength training, aerobic exercise will help you lose weight.

* Improved mental health.

Regular aerobic exercise releases endorphins, your body's natural painkillers. Endorphins also reduce stress, depression and anxiety.

* Improved immune system.

People who exercise regularly are less susceptible to minor viral illnesses such as colds and flu. It is possible that aerobic exercise helps activate your immune system and prepares it to fight off infection.

* Increased stamina.

Exercise may make you tired in the short term, i.e., during and right after the activity, but over the long term it will increase your stamina and reduce fatigue.

* Disease reduction.

Extra weight is a contributing factor to conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes and some forms of cancer. As you lose weight, your risk of developing these diseases decreases. In addition, weight-bearing aerobic exercise, such as walking, can reduce your risk of osteoporosis and its complications. Low-impact aerobic exercises, such as swimming, cycling and pool exercises, can help keep you fit if you have arthritis, without putting excessive stress on your joints.

* Increased life span.

The Harvard Alumni Health Study (1986), published in the New England Journal of Medicine, scientifically linked exercise with increased life spans for the first time. Since then, additional research has supported this finding.

* Improved muscle health.

Aerobic exercise stimulates the growth of tiny blood vessels (capillaries) in your muscles. This helps your body more efficiently deliver oxygen to your muscles and remove from them irritating metabolic waste products such as lactic acid. This can lessen your discomfort if you have chronic muscle pain or chronic low-back pain.