Feeling rubbish after swimming

[Princesspeach1980]

Does anyone else feel really rough after swimming? I don't go that often but I'm quite a decent swimmer, can knock out 40 lengths in about 40 minutes on a general daytime swim by myself. I find afterwards though that I'm completely fatigued, fuzzy head and really struggle to keep going. I went swimming this morning and ended up having a little Nana nap this afternoon because I felt so grotty.

I do other exercise pretty regularly which feels more intensive, running, gym etc, and they never have the same effect. I also feel the same way when I go swimming with the kids, and I don't do lengths when I have them with me. It's really annoying as I love a swim

Does anyone know what it might be, and if there's a way to beat it?

That's odd. I feel dizzy right afterwards, but that's like 20 seconds worth, not rest of the day. How is your blood sugar generally? I wonder if it's a reaction to the chloroform.

Me! I've stopped swimming as it made me feel so shocking. It was fine if I went in the evening and coukd go home to bed but any other time I felt like you describe.
Im a decent swimmer so found it strange that I wiped me out so much, it was considerably worse if I used the sauna/steam room too.
No idea why it happens though-not particularly helpful!

How hot is the pool? Could it be dehydration? When doing hydrotherapy I want allowed to leave until after I had had a drink as the temperature of the water had an affect on sweating (can't remember what) but it meant you could easily dehydrate .

Pool was quite a nice temperature today, not hot, not cold. Hadn't thought about drinking, I drink loads with other exercise so that could be a factor. Maybe I should try taking a water bottle to leave on the side of the pool. I do wonder whether it's something to do with the chemicals in the water, but it's the same with every pool
I've been to, and I don't imagine they all use the exact same stuff.

Good to know it's not just me Chester

Forgot to say blood sugar is normally fine as far as I know, I keep it well topped up

Me too! I'm dubious as to whether it is actually any good for losing weight. I'm always knackered and starving afterwards, more so than any other high energy workout. I don't ever lose weight when only swimming either.

Could be dehydration. I've always swum a lot (as well as other sports) and it's easy to forget that you can become dehydrated by swimming. I put a water bottle at the end of my lane.

My problem is that the chlorine makes me sneezy and snotty.

I never go swimming for this reason. I don't even have to do length after length, just going to the local waterpark and going on the slides and in the jacuzzi leaves me feeling fatigued and grumpy and wanting to sleep. Its an odd reaction and always thought I was the only one

Roseberry me too! I drove home from the pool via Greggs Kind of defeats the object but I was famished!

I am also starting after swimming - it makes me put on weight.

I have also found swimming to be more knackering and hunger inducing than other forms of exercise (relative to the perceived exertion)...with a correspondingly high post exercise euphoria effect
I dont know why...perhaps water immersion somehow switches on some mechanism in the body which makes you feel extra fatigued?

Give me an hour swimming over 45 minutes running intervals, any day!!

I think it depends on your body type.

I just gave up long slow runs for this reason. Just make me feel shite. I can do sprint stuff no worries.

Do you eat high protein food before and after? Also enough carbs? I know carbs are out of favour but they are essential if training

Cardio increases appetite. If you want to get fit that's fine but if you want to loss body fat don't bank on it!

Also dehydration is a huge problem with swimmers, you forget that 40 mins of swimming lengths is a proper sweat fest!

*lose not loss!

Why would you be sweating when the water cools your body and eliminates the need to sweat?

Anecdotal I know but I am much thirstier after running than after swimming

I agree that cardio may not be the simple route to fat loss
If you have excess body fat then presumably your appetite is already out of sync with your physiological needs
Strenuous exercise may exacerbate the discrepancy!

If you already find it hard to control your food intake then feeling even hungrier may lead you to eat even more excessively

I have to say that this has only recently occurred to me, I used to be bemused by those who insisted that exercise doesn't help with fat loss

Could it be the change in temperature? This is why having a bath helps people sleep - the bit where you get out and you get a bit chilly, that drop in temp causes all the sleepy hormonal things to happen. If you get cold when you get out of the pool, then this is likely to make you sleepy afterwards.

Let me find some coherent references...

I'm sure that was A Thing, but I can't find a (reputable) source now.

Exactly, Suzanne.
An issue with being overweight is that the hunger signals are all out of whack. Excessive cardio unfortunately messes with this too, it also raises cortisol which is a stress hormone which impacts many areas of life.

I would always recommend HIIT and weight training for fat loss, cardio for general fitness and reducing processed/highly addictive foods.

I swim frequently and agree that dehydration can be a real problem. I now keep a bottle of water at the end of the lane and feel much better. I also eat a banana after swimming as I am always hungry and tired.