Swimming For Exercise

[A.Goldberg]

I remember the issues you were having and glad you got beyond them!

My ways to exercise are cycling and swimming, but prefer swimming. It's a great workout with no traffic or street crossings to worry about! My local community college pool has been closed due to the pandemic until recently, and now only open 1 1/2 hours at noon. Thinking about returning and be content with that.

According to the CDC, community swimming doesn't generally pose an increased infection risk, which is welcome news.

Yeah, the pandemic placed a whole bunch of rules and restrictions in place at my pool- like 1 person per lane (even if you live with another person also using the pool), 1hr scheduled sessions (including locked room time), maximum 3 sessions per week, etc… so time in the pool was rather limited. Then there was this weird policy that pool supplied kickboard and pull bouys had to be disinfected after use, despite being used in literally a pool of chlorine.

It was not surprisingly figured out pretty early on pools were not a high risk environment (again, everyone is bathing in a pool of chlorine), yet for the purposes of “security theater” such restrictions were not reconsider until relatively recently. I’m fine with erring on caution, but things were a bit silly for a while once the data was in. But I digress.

Trying to get back to the pool. Our current situation is such that I need to be at home during lunchtime, which was when I used to go swimming. I’m not sure it will revert back any time soon, so I’ll have to develop a new time / routine. As far as goggles, I like the speedo vanquisher as well, and I had several pairs. Unfortunately my son took 1 pair, and I left another at the gym. So I need to build the collection back up.

I’m also waiting for the weather to warm up so I can do some open water swimming. The lake was 55° last week, which is too cold even with a wetsuit.

Yeah, it’s rather amazing how many pairs of Speedo Vanquisher goggles I’ve accumulated over the years. It’s like you have your pair from last year, then you might as well buy a new pair because the old ones might break, then your buy another pair because you forgot your other pairs, then you lose your nicest pair and so buy new ones, then find the lost pair. I have 3 pairs in my swim bag alone. The real travesty is having perfectly fit goggles, only to lend them out to someone, they naturally adjust them to fit their face, and you can never find that perfect fit ever again on that pair.

I’ve always wanted to get into open water swimming more seriously. I once swam the swimming leg of a triathalon in college (other people ran/biked the other events). I bought an open water suit for that and used it basically that one time (plus several practices)… probably not good anymore after 9-10 years. Jeeze, has it been that long? I imagine the rubber and neoprene decomposes as in any other wetsuit. They are rather ridiculous when it comes to pricing.

In high school I would swim along the coast of the ocean while vacationing at my parents beach house. But I didn’t do a ton of that. OWS, particularly in the ocean, is very different than swimming in a pool.

Speaking of which, anyone try to buy a bathing suit lately from Speedo or TYR? Everything is “temporarily unavailable” or “out of stock”- even some of the ugliest swim suits ever.

 

[jdechko]

Speaking of which, anyone try to buy a bathing suit lately from Speedo or TYR? Everything is “temporarily unavailable” or “out of stock”- even some of the ugliest swim suits ever.

Everything is out of stock right now, it seems, when it comes to sports equipment.

 

[A.Goldberg]

Everything is out of stock right now, it seems, when it comes to sports equipment.

Yeah, it’s not just that. I ordered some toxicology supplies March 20th for my company. Long story short it’s it’s a 30-35 day delay due to supply chain issues. I was talking to another medical supplier about some other unrelated supplies. They too are back ordered but thankfully sourced substitutes. This is weirdly reminiscent of the early days of the pandemic all of a sudden.

——
It’s amazing, even the ugliest suits appear to have limited supply. Most of few suits that are available are something more conducive to a pride parade than swimming- either in design or colors. Buying factory direct has always been more expensive, but many of the prices are pretty outrageous these days.

Thankfully most of my suits are Speedo Endurance or TYR Durafast (100% polyester / 0% Lycra) so they last much, much longer, granted at the cost of some comfort- and speed, but I’m not really racing these days. Lycra suits after a few moths start *decomposing* due to the chlorine- even when cycling with 2-3 other suits… aka colors fade, black turns brown, and the material becomes see-through and stringy.

The limiting factor with poly suits tends to be the stitching and drawstring lifespan. Depending on the rotation and brand, I can get generally 12+ months from a poly/pbt suit. Generally lifespan of all suits has diminished over the years.

My preference of brands generally goes Speedo > TYR > Arena. I like the Speedo fit the best and think they have the best quality, TYR isn’t far behind but I definitely sense slightly less quality (this may be reflected in the generally cheaper price)- but overall still a very good suit. Arena is very durable but the least comfortable and I don’t love the fit- higher cut/less coverage.

The worst suit I ever owned was from Nike for a swim team I was on. Despite being 1 size smaller than my typical waist size (as is common with swimsuit sizing) and fitting fine dry, once wet the suit would stretch out and have too much material, the bottom would ride up like a thong, and the waistband would roll over. It was like the material was not made to get wet and you could feel the drag it created (and reflected in lap times). This was such a prevalent and embarrassing problem that several meets into the season we bought new team suits. This was back in high school, circa 2006/2007, so presumably their design has improved but I have been forever turned off by Nike suits.

Another brand I’ve come to like is Funky Trunks from Australia, fairly popular among devoted swimmers. Shipping them from Australia kinda sucks though. They offer a few fits of “trunk” suits which are kinda like square legs but without legs or a more conservative brief. They also have briefs and jammers. The problem I hear often with normal square leg suits is the legs riding up or being too big/small. I have a pair of the classic trunks- great quality, great fit, interesting prints, etc. Note website prices in default in AUD.

 

[Huntn]

Yeah, the pandemic placed a whole bunch of rules and restrictions in place at my pool- like 1 person per lane (even if you live with another person also using the pool), 1hr scheduled sessions (including locked room time), maximum 3 sessions per week, etc… so time in the pool was rather limited. Then there was this weird policy that pool supplied kickboard and pull bouys had to be disinfected after use, despite being used in literally a pool of chlorine.

It was not surprisingly figured out pretty early on pools were not a high risk environment (again, everyone is bathing in a pool of chlorine), yet for the purposes of “security theater” such restrictions were not reconsider until relatively recently. I’m fine with erring on caution, but things were a bit silly for a while once the data was in. But I digress.


Yeah, it’s rather amazing how many pairs of Speedo Vanquisher goggles I’ve accumulated over the years. It’s like you have your pair from last year, then you might as well buy a new pair because the old ones might break, then your buy another pair because you forgot your other pairs, then you lose your nicest pair and so buy new ones, then find the lost pair. I have 3 pairs in my swim bag alone. The real travesty is having perfectly fit goggles, only to lend them out to someone, they naturally adjust them to fit their face, and you can never find that perfect fit ever again on that pair.

I’ve always wanted to get into open water swimming more seriously. I once swam the swimming leg of a triathalon in college (other people ran/biked the other events). I bought an open water suit for that and used it basically that one time (plus several practices)… probably not good anymore after 9-10 years. Jeeze, has it been that long? I imagine the rubber and neoprene decomposes as in any other wetsuit. They are rather ridiculous when it comes to pricing.

In high school I would swim along the coast of the ocean while vacationing at my parents beach house. But I didn’t do a ton of that. OWS, particularly in the ocean, is very different than swimming in a pool.

Speaking of which, anyone try to buy a bathing suit lately from Speedo or TYR? Everything is “temporarily unavailable” or “out of stock”- even some of the ugliest swim suits ever.

I was using TYR

Yeah, the pandemic placed a whole bunch of rules and restrictions in place at my pool- like 1 person per lane (even if you live with another person also using the pool), 1hr scheduled sessions (including locked room time), maximum 3 sessions per week, etc… so time in the pool was rather limited. Then there was this weird policy that pool supplied kickboard and pull bouys had to be disinfected after use, despite being used in literally a pool of chlorine.

It was not surprisingly figured out pretty early on pools were not a high risk environment (again, everyone is bathing in a pool of chlorine), yet for the purposes of “security theater” such restrictions were not reconsider until relatively recently. I’m fine with erring on caution, but things were a bit silly for a while once the data was in. But I digress.


Yeah, it’s rather amazing how many pairs of Speedo Vanquisher goggles I’ve accumulated over the years. It’s like you have your pair from last year, then you might as well buy a new pair because the old ones might break, then your buy another pair because you forgot your other pairs, then you lose your nicest pair and so buy new ones, then find the lost pair. I have 3 pairs in my swim bag alone. The real travesty is having perfectly fit goggles, only to lend them out to someone, they naturally adjust them to fit their face, and you can never find that perfect fit ever again on that pair.

I’ve always wanted to get into open water swimming more seriously. I once swam the swimming leg of a triathalon in college (other people ran/biked the other events). I bought an open water suit for that and used it basically that one time (plus several practices)… probably not good anymore after 9-10 years. Jeeze, has it been that long? I imagine the rubber and neoprene decomposes as in any other wetsuit. They are rather ridiculous when it comes to pricing.

In high school I would swim along the coast of the ocean while vacationing at my parents beach house. But I didn’t do a ton of that. OWS, particularly in the ocean, is very different than swimming in a pool.

Speaking of which, anyone try to buy a bathing suit lately from Speedo or TYR? Everything is “temporarily unavailable” or “out of stock”- even some of the ugliest swim suits ever.

Last time I purchased a TYR square leg was in Dec and they were available, but I thought I’d try some new at almost half the price, Baleaf Swim Jammers Quick Dry Compression Square Leg, that I had to wait a month for, and surprisingly these are just as good as the TYRs and so far they are holding up nicely. That’s me modeling them btw.

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[A.Goldberg]

I was using TYR

Last time I purchased a TYR square leg was in Dec and they were available, but I thought I’d try some new at almost half the price, Baleaf Swim Jammers Quick Dry Compression Square Leg, that I had to wait a month for, and surprisingly these are just as good as the TYRs and so far they are holding up nicely. That’s me modeling them btw.

View attachment 1990965​

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I figured that was you.

Interesting, the length to me looks more like a Jammer than a square leg, though not quite long enough to be a Jammer. I usually wear a size 30 suit, especially if it has spandex/Lycra content, but they only go as small as 32. The sizing chart is a bit strange.

There are a lot of complaints on Amazon about the color fading, which is more likely with Lycra suits. The key is to rinse any material of suit with (fresh) water after every use. Also those motorized suit dryers are well known for prematurely wearing out suits. I’ve also been told to rotate Lycra suits by at least 24hrs so the fibers can revert back to their natural shape.

I was recently informed Sierra Trading Post online sells Speedo and TYR suits for very cheap ($10-15). Some of them are pretty ugly and the sizes are limited, but I saw some that weren’t bad. I just checked back and there’s far less options now, but maybe worth keeping an eye on.

I have probably 5-6 suits in rotation at any given time so they don’t wear out as quickly and to mix things up. But I’m also averse to paying full price for most things so if I see a good deal I’ll buy it. I have a couple suits that probably will need replacing soon.

 

[ian87w]

Love swimming for fun and exercise. But I have a slight degree of germaphobia that a certain level of weirdness of the water would turn me off... ?

 

[Richard8655]

Love swimming for fun and exercise. But I have a slight degree of germaphobia that a certain level of weirdness of the water would turn me off... ?

That's understandable, especially in this age of pandemic. But the chlorine mostly (if not entirely) takes care of the germ issue. Covid so far has not been shown to easily transmit via swimming pools, as I've read per CDC (US) guidance.

 

[Huntn]

I figured that was you.

Interesting, the length to me looks more like a Jammer than a square leg, though not quite long enough to be a Jammer. I usually wear a size 30 suit, especially if it has spandex/Lycra content, but they only go as small as 32. The sizing chart is a bit strange.

There are a lot of complaints on Amazon about the color fading, which is more likely with Lycra suits. The key is to rinse any material of suit with (fresh) water after every use. Also those motorized suit dryers are well known for prematurely wearing out suits. I’ve also been told to rotate Lycra suits by at least 24hrs so the fibers can revert back to their natural shape.

I was recently informed Sierra Trading Post online sells Speedo and TYR suits for very cheap ($10-15). Some of them are pretty ugly and the sizes are limited, but I saw some that weren’t bad. I just checked back and there’s far less options now, but maybe worth keeping an eye on.

I have probably 5-6 suits in rotation at any given time so they don’t wear out as quickly and to mix things up. But I’m also averse to paying full price for most things so if I see a good deal I’ll buy it. I have a couple suits that probably will need replacing soon.

The TYR square legs last time I purchased were $40 a pair on Amazon, the Baleafs were half that. i have 3 suits in rotation, 2 TYR so I’ll see how it goes with the new comer.

 

[Huntn]

Lately I’ve noticed persistent soreness in my shoulders swimming 2500 yards. Sequentially, stopped using paddles, stopped doing push-ups (outside of swimming ), and I’ve cut back to 2000 yard. If this persists thinking about a visit to an orthopedic doc.

These seem to be a bargain, holding up nicely:
BALEAF Men's Athletic Quick Dry Compression Square Leg Jammers Swim Brief Swimsuit Black Orange

 

[yaxomoxay]

Lately I’ve noticed persistent soreness in my shoulders swimming 2500 yards. Sequentially, stopped using paddles, stopped doing push-ups (outside of swimming ), and I’ve cut back to 2000 yard. If this persists thinking about a visit to an orthopedic doc.

These seem to be a bargain, holding up nicely:
BALEAF Men's Athletic Quick Dry Compression Square Leg Jammers Swim Brief Swimsuit Black Orange

Possible solution:

 

[Huntn]

The TYR square legs last time I purchased were $40 a pair on Amazon, the Baleafs were half that. i have 3 suits in rotation, 2 TYR so I’ll see how it goes with the new comer.

Lap Swimming- 2 years later, I prefer the TYR they hold in up the long run better than Baleafs, but… the latter is still half the price.

I’v cut back from 50 laps (2500 yards) to 42 laps, 2100 yards, but I’m swimming much stronger now. Been listening to my body. Helping is that I’ve dropped 30lb+ (Weight 196lb vs 228lb in early March 2025)
not with exercise, but dieting, no with intermittent fasting. It’s amazing and highly effective, practically a miracle, after 40 years of gradually gaining weight and no diet (for me) could reverse the trend, till now.

This thread for more “fasting” talk starting about here:
Post in thread 'Health, Good Practises, and Exercise'
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/health-good-practises-and-exercise.1871030/post-33819584

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

Excited as the neighborhoods middle school pool just opened for summer public free swim use.

My folks had a pool but I had to clean it LOL, so am glad to have access to a big, close (like 1 minute away haha) lap pool that I don’t have to fill, clean, or maintain lol

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

Love swimming for fun and exercise. But I have a slight degree of germaphobia that a certain level of weirdness of the water would turn me off... ?

I used to be this way (my dad was a germ/virus/let’s see what will kill you scientist LOL!) until I had kids. After being pooped on, Peed on, projectile barfed on, sneezed on, and boogered on endlessly (3 boys) for years, taking a dip in a public pool that is chlorinated and irradiated by the sun daily seems like a very good deal to me lol

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

I was using TYR

Last time I purchased a TYR square leg was in Dec and they were available, but I thought I’d try some new at almost half the price, Baleaf Swim Jammers Quick Dry Compression Square Leg, that I had to wait a month for, and surprisingly these are just as good as the TYRs and so far they are holding up nicely. That’s me modeling them btw.

View attachment 1990965​

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TRUTH. Whenever my wife takes me to the store to buy clothes, I always take time to remind her of the outrageous fraud that has been committed upon my person - specifically all the underwear companies that have CLEARLY stolen my well earned body pics and who have not paid me a DIME from this blatant theft.

 

[Richard8655]

Lap Swimming- 2 years later, I prefer the TYR they hold in up the long run better than Baleafs, but… the latter is still half the price.

I’v cut back from 50 laps (2500 yards) to 42 laps, 2100 yards, but I’m swimming much stronger now. Been listening to my body. Helping is that I’ve dropped 30lb+ (Weight 196lb vs 228lb in early March 2025)
not with exercise, but dieting, no with intermittent fasting. It’s amazing and highly effective, practically a miracle, after 40 years of gradually gaining weight and no diet (for me) could reverse the trend, till now.

This thread for more “fasting” talk starting about here:
Post in thread 'Health, Good Practises, and Exercise'
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/health-good-practises-and-exercise.1871030/post-33819584

Also square leg for lap swimming, but Speedo always for me. Never tried Tyr (had them only as briefs), but I'm sure just as good. Still doing 2500 yards 5 days a week here. Over the last few years found this is key in reducing and keeping desired weight. Mostly low calorie veggie diet also has helped. But sweet tooth hard to control.

 

[Huntn]

Also square leg for lap swimming, but Speedo always for me. Never tried Tyr (had them only as briefs), but I'm sure just as good. Still doing 2500 yards 5 days a week here. Over the last few years found this is key in reducing and keeping desired weight. Mostly low calorie veggie diet also has helped. But sweet tooth hard to control.

If youngish you have more leeway. If beyond 60 my impression:
1. Calorie Intake under heavy duty regulation.
2. Good Diet.
3. Supplamented with exercise.

 

[Richard8655]

If youngish you have more leeway. If beyond 60 my impression:
1. Calorie Intake under heavy duty regulation.
2. Good Diet.
3. Supplamented with exercise.

Yeah, I believe this is correct. I think this is pretty much what you and I are doing. With swimming especially. I probably would rate exercise higher, but otherwise agree.

 

[Huntn]

Yeah, I believe this is correct. I think this is pretty much what you and I are doing. With swimming especially. I probably would rate exercise higher, but otherwise agree.

Actually I think these should all be about equal, but Calories have to remain the main factor of weight control. I know cause I’ve been exercising in the same routine for 10 years and my weight was up to the highest level of my life, …until March 2025 and started the fasting regiment, my weight is down 13% (@199 lb)

 

[Richard8655]

Actually I think these should all be about equal, but Calories have to remain the main factor of weight control. I know cause I’ve been exercising in the same routine for 10 years and my weight was up to the highest level of my life, …until March 2025 and started the fasting regiment, my weight is down 13% (@199 lb)

Just to add. I understand a big reason for weight gain as we get older is metabolism slows down. So if we don't adjust by eating less and/or exercising more, it'll creep up. I think that's why people are often surprised with weight gain over the years but never changed lifestyle to accommodate.

 

[Huntn]

Just to add. I understand a big reason for weight gain as we get older is metabolism slows down. So if we don't adjust by eating less and/or exercising more, it'll creep up. I think that's why people are often surprised with weight gain over the years but never changed lifestyle to accommodate.

As far as discussions, the element of just how difficult eating less can be on a 24/7 diet is a good one to have. I thought when I started skipping breakfast plus my exercise, it would make a difference. Nope… the other element in my case is a life long sweet tooth. When younger, not a factor cause I started running in high school, and that took care of it for 10 years or so, but is now the elephant in the room, which surprisingly was nipped or at least controlled with an intermittent fasting regimen, which I did not anticipate, but I’m thrilled about.

Currently half way through my second 60hr fast (2nd since I started fasting). Next meal tomorrow breakfast. I’m feeling good, zero hunger.