Just keep swimming, just keep swimming....

I am a water person.  I have always loved being in the water.  My parents tell stories of having to jump in after me cause id run right into the pool.  Although i loved water i never saw it as a vehicle for exercise until recently.  One day I decided to just go into the pool and mess around and relax, I liked it so much i strive to be in the water everyday.  I do laps even though I'm not the best at it, I tread water, and yesterday I took my first water fitness class (water aerobics).
When I first got my membership to the YMCA I would look into the window to the pool and see these classes going on.  They never really sparked any interest due to the fact that almost everyone of the participants had to be over 65.  I just didn't look challenging enough for me.  Then one day I get into the pool and the instructor snags me and tells me she thinks i look fit enough to do her class and I she sees me in the water a lot anyways.  I ultimately promised that I would take her Tuesday class and try it out.  everything I previously thought about these classes are now erased.  I loved it!  It was a great workout and definitely a challenge.  So here is my advice , if you have a water aerobics class available to you, take it.  It will be totally worth your time.
For those of you that have limited mobility such as MS, knee problems, arthritis, etc. I suggest that if you are serious about getting exercise but feel limited to what you can do go find a pool to go to.  Swimming is such a low impact sport and the calorie burn can be phenomenal.
I read an article in a special Health and Fitness issue of All You Magazine but was unable to pull it up on their website to share with you (disappointed).  But I'm going to give you a few hints that I read in the article.

According to this article:

• Swimming at a constant moderate pace can burn more than 400 calories and hour.
• Eat a light carby snack 60-90 minutes before hitting the pool.
• Even though you may not feel the need you still need to drink plenty of water.
• After your swim hydrate with a body oil after your shower, chlorine and chemicals dry out your skin.  Apply your regular lotion afterwards.
• When doing a "freestyle kick" or "flutter kick" with or without the kick board you want to splash as little as possible.
• Make sure you do a cool down after swimming just like you would do for land sports.

Here are a few links to read up on:

How to swim for fitness

How to swim to stay fit

5 Basic Swimming styles


I hope that you can find some calorie burning fun with swimming this summer!  Enjoy!