Making a Big Splash

When it's too hot to get outside to exercise or injuries have you sidelined, there's a sport that always works: water aerobics. People in their eighties do water aerobics on advice of their doctors to speed recovery after quadruple bypass operations, pregnant women are drawn to the pool for safe and rigorous conditioning, and young people go for water exercise because it's fun, snappy and a great workout.

Remember Jack LaLane in his sleek exercise suits on black and white TV when you were a kid? He was the first to practice water exercises. It wasn't until the late eighties when Dr. Ken Cooper coined the term aerobics and everyone from Jane Fonda to Richard Simmons was teaching or attending aerobics classes. Those injured in regular classes and older folk were early adherents to water aerobics due to the low impact approach.

Water aerobics are usually done in chest deep water giving support, balance and the ideal buoyancy to take pressure off joints and bones while leaving enough weight to work up a sweat-even in water.  Dance steps and rhythmic movements are usually performed to music and led by an experienced instructor. Classes include a warm up and cool down period and about 45 minutes of strength, endurance, and flexibility training.

The good news about water aerobics is that it's great for non swimmers as well as swimmers and people of ages and fitness levels. Equipment requirements are swimsuit and towel, and of course, a pool, but those are available at the local Y or neighborhood rec center. If you have your own pool and want to do water aerobics classes on your own or with a friend, there are lots of exercise videos available and web sites with step by step instruction. A person of 150 pounds will use between 450 to 700 calories in an hour because although the pace is slow, the water resistance kicks up the calorie burn. So drop that towel and jump in the pool, the payoff is big.