I am getting myself in shape to prepare myself for a lifeguard certification test. My current gym does not have a pool. What type of cardio is good to help build endurance that relates to swimming.

My current workout week looks like this

Day 1: AM Chest/Tri's
PM 20 Min Eliptical

Day 2: AM Legs
PM 20 Min Eliptical

Day 3: AM Back/Bi's/Shoulders
PM 20 Min Bike and 2-3 games raquetball

Day 4: AM Forearms/Abs
PM 20 Min Eliptical

Day 5 Repeat Day 1

Day 6 and 7 Rest

Day 8 Start over with repeating day 2 and so on.


I started 4 weeks ago At 225lbs, 26.5% body fat and way out of shape.
I have noticed some changes already, but I want to pass this test as the college that I will be attending in the fall gives free tuition if you are lifeguard certified. Thanks in advance for any and all help.

Get rid of that bad split routine. and start a Full Body workout. Full body workouts are much more affective for someone who's trying to loose weight.

you're also going to need to find a pool.

Definitely start a full body routine 2-3 times a week. If you're only doing 20 min of cardio per session, try interval training - HIIT is more effective, but plain old interval is good as well.

Swimming.

seriously if you want to get good at swimming you will have to actually start swimming, try and get some lessons as well as even if you can swim, lessons will help your technique and thus make swimming easier. So your current gym doesn't have a pool so go find one that does

I agree with what everyone else has said, go swimming. For one thing breathing while swimming is COMPLETELY different! Other than that, I would simply do multiple different types of cardio work, spin classes, running, Intervals are a must, and begin to visualize what it will be like to be swimming.
I would make sure you do plenty of armwork, which it seems you may already be doing, as you will have to be able to pull people around, even though it will be easier because obviously they will be in water, you don't want to pull a muscle just because you move wrong. Definately do a full body work-out though, splitting it up is taking away from cardio, because I am going to assume the reason you only do 20 minutes is a time constraint. Commit to weights OR cardio each workout, you cannot fully do both in one hour.

If possible get to the beach (may sound rediculous right now).

Find a gym that does one day passes so that you can swim here and there, even if you do not want to be there all the time.

Good luck.

Hi,
well said in replies above about full body training..

let me share my personal , i do cardio (45 mins) +full body training (45 mins) 3 times per week, i had 23% of bf, now (after 3 month) my bf is 17%.

so youd better train your whole body , dont forget about cardio and pay attention to what you eat. goodluck.