AIBU to swap my walking commute for a daily swim?

[Telephonelightflashing]

I'm thinking of swapping my morning walking commute for a morning swim instead
If you swim daily, is it good exercise?

Assuming you can’t swim to work so how does that make sense?

Do you work on a lighthouse?

Do what you like, obviously, but swimming is a lot more faff than walking to work! Unless you can swim to work...

Weird post. You can’t swim to work presumably and everyone knows it is good exercise.

The main downside is the faff of getting changed twice. And verrucas.

I wonder whether you’ll get better responses if you ask for this thread to be moved to Exercise. I have had a lot of kindness from the people in Exercise.

I suspect under AIBU you’ll get quite a few people asking how on earth you can think it is unreasonable to swim rather than walk.

Swimming is great exercise so why not.

Like everything else, it depends. If you speed walk, getting your heart rate up but swim really slowly, stopping after every length, the walk is probably better. But if you stroll on your walk but can swim at speed, the swim is better. As others have said though, the logistics around swimming are more time consuming. I used to swim at lunchtime and between getting to the pool, changing, showering and getting back to work, a 30 minute swim took approximately 1.5 hours.

I’m not a swimmer, but I do work at a leisure centre. We get a good amount of people who come in regularly for the 7 or 8am swims, they all love it. There’s definitely loads of research about the benefits of swimming - it’s great exercise, and I know my husband enjoys the headspace it frees up when he swims (he’s not thinking about work, or stress, only the stroke).

Definitely worth giving it a try and seeing how you go. Pick a good, well maintained pool, that has a good hairdryer in the changing rooms.

I'd assume that they would swim in the morning and then drive or get a bus to work.

I swim 2-3 times a week. I usually swim for 30-40 minutes in the medium lane. I love it.

Yes , meaning I would now drive to work via the gym in the morning.
I don't mind the morning faff and I have enough time. I was more asking from people who swim a lot and often if they have found it to be good exercise and they've seen improvements etc

Not a weird post at all
Some confusion with people who took it literally. I was after experience of regular swimmers and if they've seen a good benefit from the daily swim

Yes hairdryer is a good point and night before organisation of stuff would be very necessary!

Highly recommended! (and ignore the daft responses (unless you actually can swim to work in which case I'm interested and rather jealous! 🤣)
I swim most mornings, we have a 6:30 session, and it's a massive bonus, both for gentle, low impact fitness, and a nice way of switching your brain off - I have some of my best ideas whilst trawling up and down the pool! Maybe switch it up and do two swims/three walk commutes for variety?
Work out your timing though, think about how long it might take you to get showered, dressed, to work etc. I've got it down to a fine art now but it took a few weeks to fine tune.

And a silly, simple and slightly obvious thing that really helps, get all your stuff ready the night before, double check you've got your wash stuff, undies, etc all ready so you're not left panicking at the pool (this from someone who has arrived with two bras and no knickers, and once with no towel.... 😂)

Also, I forgot to add, a decent swim with some effort can burn 300 calories in half an hour 😁 Also great for toning arms and for your core strength 💪

Brilliant thank you. I love the feeling of moving every bit of my body . Agree that my evening before packing an prep is key

OP I swim a lot (4 times a week) and it's brilliant exercise. I also walk and run Why not do alternate days? Just to mix it up a bit.

There was a period of my life for a few months when I swam 6x a week for 1.5 hours. Built it up from 500 m a session to min 2k. I was larger than I am now but looked so much better. Wish I could do it again but I just don't have the time. Go for it, swimming is amazing.

I don't know, if you're in a position to walk to work, I think it makes sense ecologically to keep doing that rather than to drive and contribute to greenhouse gases/traffic. If you feel it's not challenging enough, (and your joints allow) could you walk more briskly or jog? Swim at the weekend, maybe.

I only manage to get in a swim every other week but love it. With front crawl in particular, I can’t think of anything but the stroke and breathing or I end up with lungs full of water. It’s absolute bliss to think of nothing but propelling forward and breathing for 45 minutes. I’m trying to get myself organised enough to get to a pool near work for a pre-work swim but haven’t quite sorted the logistics of it yet.

It's selfish but I'm prioritising my exercise and health over eco at the moment

I swim a couple of times a week before work. It opens at 6, I’m in by 6:15 and have to be out at 7.
swim bag/ work bag/ lunch etc need to be packed and ready to go. No thinking is happening before I leave the house. I really like it, feel better for it. I would do alternate days though, muscle recovery helps you get stronger.

Walking is good for you bones, weight bearing exercise, so I'd probably do a mix of swimming and walking. I love swimming, it's so meditative.

I remember seeing people in Switzerland who swim to work. They have special bags for their stuff.

I once had a workplace located with a public pool en-route and was able to fit in a 30min early swim on the way. I loved it, and it really set me up for the day.

I'd alternate the walking and swimming to mix the benefits up.