Biking and Swimming...

I have been biking an hour (10 miles or so) a day, and swimming laps for 30 minutes a day. I know my legs are getting a killer workout, and my arms are getting a workout as well when I swim. My worry is that I will have toned arms and legs and the same fat stomach : \

So, I pose the question: Do biking and swimming contribute to an overall loss of inches, or am I going to be horribly disproportioned if I keep this up?

 

any advice would be nice :)

There is no such thing as spot reduction.  You can't control where you lose fat. Biking and swimming contribute to an overall loss of inches.

Biking and swimming are both awesome, low-impact activities.  Swimming is fantastic for the core, when I did it a lot I had amazing obliques.  ^It's true that you can't spot-reduce fat, all you can do is create a caloric deficit that causes you to burn fat reserves all over your body.  But different activities work different muscle groups, which is what helps you look lean and fit.  IMHO, you've got a great combo there.

Thanks a bunch, that is exactly what I wanted to hear :) Maybe when I feel a little less lazy, I will throw in some ab exercises, but for now I am just looking to burn a bunch of calories and melt some pounds.

I appreciate it!

I can't wait to get a get a bike and join the swim team in fall.

Bicycling has always helped me lose overall weight in the past, plus it's great for getting more shapely calves. Just be sure to push yourself! For an hour of riding you should be able to do at least 13-15 miles, and make sure you add in some hills if you can.

As already mentioned above, biking and swimming in combination are excellent activities for generating overall weight loss.  I would suggest mixing it up a little bit though and not get into the same routine of casually biking for an hour and then swimming for 30 min... Cardio workouts on a bike for an hour get you close to 20-22 miles and burn around 500 calories or so.  The elliptical machines can nearly match the bike in half the time.  When swimming, try to throw in a few sprint laps to get your heart rate up and then a few normal laps until you are back to resting again.  The worst thing you can do while swimming is catch your breath on the wall.  Train your body to be able to recover while still doing light exercise is key for swimming.  

If you are doing these exercises 4-5 times a week, you can even up your calorie intake (as long as they are from clean carbs and lean proteins) and you will still be losing weight from fat (just remember you are also gaining lean muscle which weighs more - so don't be discouraged)  The only way you will ever see defined abs is to do heavy weight loss along with weight training focused on the area.  I wouldn't worry too much right now about doing crunches until you get closer to your total weight loss goal though as even a million crunches a day will not show through extra layers on your tummy.  Better to keep with your program and worry about the crunches later.

I am a competative swimmer and at practice we do alot of crunches.  I know a team we compete against actualy ahs their swimmers do 500 crunches each day before they get in the water.  they help alot!  also,  while your in the water: butterfly is awesome for your abs,  so are the flipturns.  good luck!