Many people who enjoy both swimming and running often face a tough choice. On any given day, they can go for a peaceful run, or they can cool off and still stay in shape in a pool. Especially at Penn State, where facilities for running and swimming are within walking distance, we have to be informed on which activity is best for what we are looking to accomplish. Choosing which activity you participate in should be based on whether your goal is to lose weight, loosen up your muscles, avoid joint pain, or even avoid some daunting chemicals.

To start, if your goal is to lose weight, the pool may not be the best option. Andrew Cate, a physiologist, noted in an article that there are several reasons why this may be the case. One of the issues is the fact that water makes individuals buoyant. Since water supports a person’s weight, it is easier to move. This means less energy is used to move which results in less calories burned. Also, in the water, it is easier to maintain your body temperature. Since you are not working as hard to keep yourself cool than you would on land, you are using less energy and again burning fewer calories. Finally, if you are not an experienced swimmer, it is nearly impossible to keep the cardiovascular intensity of the exercise as high as you could while running. This is because your muscles would fatigue much faster in the water than they would on land, keeping you from pushing your cardiovascular limits, which is key to weight loss.

If your goal is to exercise in order to combat arthritis, swimming is by far the better option. Swimming puts almost zero stress on your joints compared to running. This is because the water’s buoyancy supports the body’s weight. Without swimming, the cure for arthritis is a bit contradicting. Arthritis is treated by exercising regularly, which can increase strength, combat fatigue, and also reduce joint pain. It is hard to say an exercise such as walking or running reduces joint pain due to all of the added stress on one’s joints. This is where swimming is ideal. Swimming reaps the benefits of exercise without providing additional stress on the aching joints of someone who has arthritis.

While swimming can benefit those suffering from arthritis, it can also be detrimental to one’s health in other aspects. A study was recently conducted at The University of Cordoba in Spain with 49 participants (children and adults) looking at the presence of certain toxins in urine after one had swam or been around a pool with chlorine. They found that copious amounts of Haloacetic Acids (HAA) were present in the participants’ urine less than a half hour after they left the pool. HAAs are toxins known to be associated with cancer and even birth defects. Due to our skins ability to absorb water so quickly, and the chance of swallowing this water while swimming, humans are at a very high risk of putting this harmful toxin into their bodies. So if putting HAAs into your body does not scare you, especially when entering a pool that has been over chlorinated by mistake, then swim until your heart’s content.

To conclude, if your goal is to lose weight, run. If your goal is to treat sore joints, muscles, or arthritis, swim. And if your goal is to simply exercise under the most natural conditions, definitely run. This will ensure you are not exposed to any chemicals such as HAAs, which could possibly cause cancer down the line. The biggest thing to remember is that both running and swimming have their advantages and disadvantages. The best way to ensure you do not fall victim to any of the major disadvantages of either exercise is to have a variety of both in your normal routine. Maybe swim three days a week and run the other three days if at all possible. This will give you the best of both worlds.