Is this a decent workout?

[TigerOnTour]

I'm trying to get fitter and have carved myself out 3 weekly sessions to swim. In each session I swim 20x25m lengths. It takes me roughly 15-20 minutes to do this. Should I be doing more exercise than this?

How fit are you now and how fit do you want to get? What do you mean by getting fitter?

A 20 minute session is better than nothing, but you should also do some land based exercise that build muscle.

You can join Swim England for free and get fitness training plans from their website. https://www.swimming.org/members/just-swim-membership-sign-up/

Any improvement to exercise and fitness is brilliant. And if you're enjoying it, that's utterly key.

I think it's a fantastic start and you can build from there. You will likely want to start mixing it up a bit and your body will appreciate being surprised by some change.

Is swimming your preferred exercise?

I'm not really a land based creature. I don't like being hot and sweaty 😂

I'm relatively fit, just a bit podgy and I want to reduce the podge. Obviously there's a diet side to that as well. I walk between 7 and 10,000 steps a day. I work at the top of 3 flights of stairs so probably climb them 10-15 times a week without getting out of breath.

I don’t like getting sweaty or out of breath either. This past year, I’ve swum 750m 2 or 3 times a week and done 1 or 2 yoga/ Pilates classes. I thought that wouldn’t make much of a difference but I’m noticeably fitter and stronger than a year ago (still wobbly though!)

Sounds great. Over time you could try to get faster and do more lengths in the same time or try to increase the amount of time you swim for. Swimming is great for you and 20 mins is a great start.

If you have gone from zero to 3 x 20 mins that’s a huge improvement and the key to me is that you enjoy it.

Sounds great. You may find you don't lose much weight but you will tone up.

If you want to look for improvements measure it in inches rather than pounds.
I think you need to diet to shift weight.
(Plus, I find swimming makes me hungry which kind of counteracts the weight loss benefits of swimming).
You should find you will be able to swim further and longer in a relatively short amount of time.

Do weights.

There's nothing wrong with swimming and some people don't want to do weights.

I used to do pretty much the same frequency and duration/distance in the pool. Over about 6 months I dropped a dress size but only lost about half a stone. I was pretty toned and could start to see definition in my arm muscles. I should have started out measuring myself and monitoring changes rather than in the scales. I would always swim front crawl, head in the water. Over time I could swim more lengths front crawl (I started off swimming a lot of breaststroke) faster and needed to stop less for a rest.
If you're enjoying it and you're managing to consistently go 3 as a week I'd keep on going.

I think it depends on how much effort you put into the 500 metres.

I could do it in 10 minutes with minimal effort or 6 minutes at full pace getting my heartbeat about 180.

Add in some Pilates if you can, it will build strength and flexibility. It complements swimming well.

Given that the world record for 400m is about 4 minutes and 100m about 1 minute you must be a pretty good swimmer.

@Fizzypineapple yeah I was thinking that! I'm not a slow swimmer and it takes me about a minute to do a length!

It's not bad, and obviously it's better than nothing, but I wouldn't swim for 20 minutes. It takes longer than that to get changed/dressed at the start/end, so it wouldn't feel worth it to me.

I am a slow swimmer, but I do 50 lengths (sometimes a bit more) at least 3 times a week. I would like to do more than that, but my speed and free time limits me.

Just try to build it up. I have waterproof headphones too so I can listen to music, which helps me lose track of the time sometimes.

I think it's just about trying to make your life more active. So you already do a decent number of steps, but what can you do to increase that? Jump off the bus a stop early, park further away from work, stop taking lifts and just use stairs?

I don't want to put you down as obviously you're finding time to exercise which is amazing. I just think it'd benefit you more if you upped it a bit :). But you are doing really well to be doing what you're doing.

It is a good start, ideally you want to do something for flexibility, something for strength and something for cardio, so I would look to add other exercise.

NHS guidelines are at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity a week or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity a week.

Just to add like @ManchesterLu I think it is great you have made a start, just keep adding to it.

The best exercise regime is a varied one. You should change things up to challenge your body and get stronger too. Weights are excellent for women as they help with bone density and with countering osteoporosis. Correct form is key to doing weights. You don't have to look like a body builder to reap the benefits.

I agree but the OP has only just started exercising so any exercise that she enjoys at this stage is great. There's time to mix things up when she feels ready. She's far less likely to get injured is she builds up muscle slowly and is less likely to get injured with swimming when she's not yet at a great fitness level. She's doing great and doesn't need to be told to do a sport she hasn't even mentioned.

It doesn't mean she has to get to this from zero exercise within a few days. She's got time and doing 3 x 20 minutes is great when previously doing nothing.

The OP has asked should she be doing anything else. Swimming is good because it supports your body and joints whilst you're doing it. A lot of people just do the same things for session after session, with any exercise, and get bored, never mind they aren't getting the benefits they could be. Once it becomes easy you should change things. I do strength training predominantly with weights and with some body weight exercises and I try to walk every day. I've got a knackered knee at the moment - not caused by any exercise I was doing!

I would say it's good and enough. Once you get fitter you'll just feel more up for going longer/faster if you want but swimming is really good because you're using all your body

I used to be able to 400 metres in 4.20 ish and 100 metres in 54 seconds.

Great. You must be a great swimmer.
Some of the semi finalists and finalists at the Olympics this year did similar times to your 100m.