A week or so ago I received a copy of the Oz version of SHAPE magazine. I knew of it, of course, but had assumed it to be a bit too ‘hard core’ for me – more designed for the fit and healthy… the fitness elite, if you like.

That myth was certainly debunked when my copy arrived and I sat (okay, lay!) down to read it. I was surprised at the array of topics covered… far broader than fitness and physical health.

I earmarked a heap of articles: The 7 spiritual tenets of happiness certainly hit home and is very timely given the extent of my recent ‘living versus existing’ navel-gazing. I made a note to buy a ‘good’ resistance band/tube (one with handles) in some vague attempt to Sizzle this summer (the exercises in the series very doable – even by me!) and the idea of a 15 minute Quick Cardio workout is very appealing. Less so, I must confess, was the Triathlon Training Plan… as the words ‘not in this lifetime’ came to mind.

What I loved about the magazine were the snippets throughout, offering toning exercises to yoga moves.

And this particular article caught my eye!

 

I’ve just moved into a complex with a pool. “I can do that!” I thought!

And I did!

Well, sort of. Ideally one goes to a proper swimming pool to swim laps, but not this not-so-little (now mostly faux) blonde duck. Never one to let instructions get in the way of a good time, my ‘laps’ became ‘loops’ of our fortune cookie-shaped pool. Oh and the lack of a kickboard didn’t stop me either.

The workout plan was simple: a few laps; the vertical kick booty bonus exercise; a few more laps; more booty bonus-ing and so forth.

The instructions (ahem) ‘suggested’ freestyle in addition to the kickboarding…. and so now I’m thinking about it I really followed the ‘principle’ of the workout plan rather than the actual plan per se. As swimming freestyle would have caused me to constantly bump into corners, I switched the freestyle and kickboarding with breaststroke and dog-paddling. I figured the whole thing was mostly about keeping my legs moving and toning my butt (working the big muscle groups with some harder cardio vertical kicks thrown in for good interval-training measure)!

I’m pretty sure I was a sigh to behold! Thankfully no one else came near the pool during my 30 minute ‘workout’ as I hadn’t had a chance to do any (ahem) body maintenance. Quite frankly it’s a couple of years since I donned a pair of bathers, so I was surprised that I still owned  a pair!

Given my current lack of fitness (and core strength) the vertical kick drill (the booty bonus) was WAY harder than I expected. I was less able to hold my arms vertically, than in a curved Y shape… like a ballet dancer in fifth position (if my SIL is reading this – I had to google that!).

In retrospect I probably could have worked harder. I wasn’t puffing and panting at the end of it, although… I can feel my glute muscles today so they got a nice little workout.

The booty bonus exercise reminded me of ‘deep-water running’ which I did at a health retreat (at the Gold Coast) years ago. Basically we wore flotation vests and had to follow a series of moves. Everything was SO much harder than it looked and the classes were exhausting. I remember at the time (back in 2001 or so), I thought that deep-water running was going to become a big thing – offering a no-impact cardio workout. Alas… I haven’t heard of it since.

I do note however that quite a few water-based exercise classes are available here in my new hometown, including Aqua Zumba. Hmmm…..

Either way, now that I’ve re-popped my pool-going cherry I may well saunter down to my own pool from time to time (when no one else is there!) and do a few laps loops.

Are you a swimmer? 
Have you tried aqua aerobics or Zumba or water-related fad?