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OT but I never understood why treading water in calm comfortable temperature (20C plus) pool is supposed to be difficult (or even slightly tiring). For me it is

OT but I never understood why treading water in calm comfortable temperature (20C plus) pool is supposed to be difficult (or even slightly tiring). For me it is definitely less effort than e.g. standing up.

andbberger 7y ago
How could treading water possible be less effort (which I read as less energy) than passively standing?? Also gets a lot more difficult when you can only eggbeater with your legs and have to hold a chair above your head!!
- nazgulnarsil 7y ago
  people are different densities ;)
- frant-hartm 7y ago
  Haha I had to lookup what eggbeater means and based on some YouTube videos it's crazy how much some people have to move to stay afloat. The body densities must vary a lot more than I thought.
  - phamilton 7y ago
    Eggbeater in water polo is usually used to rise out of the water. Taking shots on goal is much more effective with your upper body out of the water. Most people can float on their back without much effort.
chrisseaton 7y ago
Some people have a high enough body fat proportion to be naturally buoyant, so they can float on their backs without doing anything. Most men don’t have enough body fat and have to actively move in order to stay afloat. Treading water for just a few minutes is part of many military fitness tests - for many fit people it’s quite a lot of work.
- nwallin 7y ago
  You take a deep breath and hold it. Breath out very quickly then immediately back in, all the way. Hold it. Repeat. You don't even need to lie back, you just allow yourself to settle a little deeper. When I graduated basic training I was fairly lean. I was 5'10" and weighed 148lbs and got fairly good fitness scores relative to the rest of my flight, so I had to have been reasonable well muscled. (Not anymore though. Oh no.) I could still "tread water" just by holding my breath. It's more of a skill (that they don't teach you, for some reason) than a test of physical fitness. I imagine this doesn't work for water polo players who are actively doing stuff in the water. I imagine you need to keep breathing fairly heavily just to keep up with the activity. But then again I've never played water polo so I wouldn't know.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]

andbberger 7y ago

How could treading water possible be less effort (which I read as less energy) than passively standing?? Also gets a lot more difficult when you can only eggbeater with your legs and have to hold a chair above your head!!

nazgulnarsil 7y ago
people are different densities ;)
frant-hartm 7y ago
Haha I had to lookup what eggbeater means and based on some YouTube videos it's crazy how much some people have to move to stay afloat. The body densities must vary a lot more than I thought.
- phamilton 7y ago
  Eggbeater in water polo is usually used to rise out of the water. Taking shots on goal is much more effective with your upper body out of the water. Most people can float on their back without much effort.

chrisseaton 7y ago

Some people have a high enough body fat proportion to be naturally buoyant, so they can float on their backs without doing anything. Most men don’t have enough body fat and have to actively move in order to stay afloat. Treading water for just a few minutes is part of many military fitness tests - for many fit people it’s quite a lot of work.

nwallin 7y ago
You take a deep breath and hold it. Breath out very quickly then immediately back in, all the way. Hold it. Repeat. You don't even need to lie back, you just allow yourself to settle a little deeper. When I graduated basic training I was fairly lean. I was 5'10" and weighed 148lbs and got fairly good fitness scores relative to the rest of my flight, so I had to have been reasonable well muscled. (Not anymore though. Oh no.) I could still "tread water" just by holding my breath. It's more of a skill (that they don't teach you, for some reason) than a test of physical fitness. I imagine this doesn't work for water polo players who are actively doing stuff in the water. I imagine you need to keep breathing fairly heavily just to keep up with the activity. But then again I've never played water polo so I wouldn't know.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]