Question:
I am going to be starting swimming next week

what exercises are good to do in a pool? Besides regular swimming,what else is good to burn those calories and tone myself up?    — Beverly S. (posted on August 24, 2003)

August 24, 2003
Find a water aerobics class! These are supposed to help you tone and fine tone your muscle structure. Combine this with walking and later some jogging and riding a bike (recumbent bike at the gym if you like those better). A little light weight training at home..buy some 5lb weights (I used to use Gatorade bottles filled with water...even if they leaked it was nice cool and refreshing) and start with simple arm and go from there. You can find some awesome tips and tricks in most womens magazines. Richard Simmons!! He has some easy going and fun/funny videos. I just love how energetic he is and all the encouraging words he uses..and the "real" people he has in his videos. Winter is a comin' and SAD (seasonal affective disorder can bring you down...so if you live in a place where you have many seasons....get some better bulbs for your lights in your house. Talk to the people in Home Depot or any other hardware store...they will know what you are talking about. Good Luck...blesses
   — Carol S.

August 24, 2003
I agree with the aerobics class, but if you don't have access, these are some of the things I do. Walk and run in the water both forward and backwards, jumping jacks, frog jumps, hops, movements like a rocking horse, cross country skiier, russian dancing, marching, kickboxing. Almost anything done on land can be done in the water with more bouyancy and more resistance. For arms I do things like jabbing underwater, uppercuts, hooks and more. I also take the water dumbells (you could use empty milk jugs) and use those to tone. Try checking out your local library and seeing if they have any videos to check out that will give you instructions.
   — Heather M.

August 24, 2003
Treading water, walking, arm and leg circles. Anything that moves the body and works muscles!
   — zoedogcbr

August 25, 2003
Hi. I once lost a lot of weight using swimming as my primary form of exercise. Of course, I gained it all back, but that's another story. One thing that I really liked was to use a kickboard every 3rd lap or so. It really broke up the monotony and allowed my legs to work harder than my arms. Working the larger muscle groups has a greater effect, anyway. My routine was pretty simple. 12 lengths = 1 mile at the Y where I swam. I started at 1/2 mile & worked up to 3. If I got too tired, I just hung out at the end of the pool for about 30 seconds and plowed on. The only drawback is time. It took me about 2-1/2 hours to swim/kick 3 miles.
   — Annie H.