my wife and my father-in-law started swimming in the mornings to get some exercise in. one of his knees kinda bothers him, and he's fair amount overweight, so swimming is really nice for him.

anyway, I usually get on the treadmill and get my cardio / fat burn in on that. this morning I decided to join them for their swim. wow.

I remember that I used to be able to cruise down the pool when I was a kid. this morning? holy crap. I think I got 4 laps in before calling it. wow.

needless to say, I'm addicted again and the thought of getting in more and more laps each time makes me want to go back. has anyone else used swimming as their source of morning cardio? how have the results been?

I have done swimming as cardio. I've gotten great results with rapid drops in blood pressure, resting heart rate, and weight. I also saw quick improvement in my swimming endurance and speed. The only reason I stopped is because it works your upper body muscles pretty hard and I wanted to make sure I rested them enough in between my weight training so that they would grow.
I think Chicanerous is an avid swimmer... maybe he knows more about integrating it with weight lifting.

If you want to improve your aerobic condition, lose fat, and build your swimming endurance, I can hook you up with some actual swimming workouts. Doing so, I am not advocating body-builder muscle growth, but an over-all strengthening, conditioning, and improvement of your body.

Without going into detail and incorporating weight training:

I'd recommend swimming Monday through Saturday for one and a half to two hours, doing dryland work Monday through Friday in an hour before swimming, leaving fifteen minutes between then and swimming to rehydrate and stretch. Optionally I'd recommend doing your swimming in the late afternoon to evening, and up to three times a week, swimming early in the morning, right after you wake up, for an hour.

Dryland Schedule:

- Monday: Biceps, back
- Tuesday: Abs, rotator cuff exercises
- Wednesday: Shoulders, chest
- Thursday: Abs, rotator cuff exercises
- Friday: Triceps, legs

Swimming can put a lot of stress on your shoulders; consequently, guard your rotator-cuff's with your life.

I am, of course, putting more emphasis on swimming than as just a cardio tool.

This quote summarises the goal of dryland training nicely:Dryland training should have two goals: to enhance the general level of fitness of the swimmer and to build strength in the muscles that are used in the swimming strokes. For the former, almost any kind of athletic activity that demands strength and endurance is good. For the latter, weights and nautilus are both OK, but keep the weight down and the reps and speed up. Also focus on exercises that mimic movements used in the swimming strokes. For example, squats are wonderful for many sports, but of minimal benefit for swimmers. Light weight coupled with many fast reps trains the muscle fibers used in swimming more effectively than heavy weights and slow movements. Heavy weights also tend to build bulk, which is counterproductive for swimming. Finally, don't forget flexibility -- it's the most overlooked aspect of swimming training, but is extremely important in maintaining form in the face of fatigue, and in preventing injury.