Harry Pointon loves swimming but it makes him eat like a horse, do you include swimming in your personal fitness regime and does it seem to increase your hunger?
Swimming is an excellent form of exercise when you are trying to reduce body fat, I sometimes advise my personal training clients in Manchester to do 10 minutes of swimming intervals after my sessions. However the benefits to be had can very easily be outweighed by the negatives of overeating.
Have you noticed how you feel really hungry afterwards? I know I do, I usually can’t stop eating for the next day if not two. I have been told this so many times by my personal training clients as well.
Why is this?
Swimming causes changes in the hormones involved in suppressing and triggering, the hunger and appetite signals.
After swimming we have lower levels of leptin and higher levels of ghrelin. Leptin is an appetite supressing hormone and ghrelin is an appetite enhancing hormone. This imbalance causes a feeling of increased hunger.
This is most likely due to the decrease in body temperature. So I have been experimenting on how you can swim without getting this increased feeling of hunger in order to speed up my personal training results in Manchester.
This is what I have found to work best for me.
1. Swim on a day that you are fasting (18+ hours of not eating)
2. Have a sauna and hot shower after swimming
3. Dry yourself completely, with a hot hairdryer if possible
4. Drink more water than usual
Follow these simple tips and you will be able to get the benefits of swimming without the usual annoying enhanced appetite.
Contact Harry for advise on nutrition, fitness and exercise programming in Manchester