Hydrotherapy and aquacise opens up opportunities for fitness and fun to all, including those with limited mobility or who suffer from chronic pain. And in an Fastlane Pools® swim spa, you have a machine that can bring the health and happiness of water-based exercise to your own backyard – but what exactly does this exercise look like?
By generating their own current, swim spas offer a wealth of exercise opportunities. The swim-in-place experience is no doubt the headline act, but a number of other workouts, from aqua aerobics to resistance training, are also able to be enjoyed.
Offering a huge selection of optional fitness extras, an Fastlane Pools swim spa grants you access to an even greater variety of exercises: walking, jogging, running, biking and rowing, to name a few. Other accessories, like the underwater mirror and pace display, are designed to improve swimming fitness and form by offering instant and insightful feedback.
But before we go too far down the rabbit hole, why should you choose to exercise in a swim spa in the first place?
Are swim spas good for exercise?
Hydrotherapy and aquacise offer an incredible combination of low impact and high effectiveness. With the buoyancy of the water counteracting the pull of gravity, weight is taken off muscles and joints allowing for freer movement, while the intensity of the cardiovascular workout remains much the same as it is outside of the water.
Swim spas add another layer of effectiveness on top. The warmth of the water causes the heart to pump more blood and blood vessels to expand, which further increases movement by delivering more oxygen and nutrients to soft tissues.
Finally you have the swimming experience itself. There’s something addictive about swimming against a self-generating current. Close your eyes and you could be swimming in open water; open them and you feel the strange sensation of swimming hard but going nowhere. It’s a truly unique experience, made even better by the fact that you can set your preferred speed, and you never have to turn around.
Can you lose weight with a swim spa?
The science is clear: aquatic exercise results in positive metabolic responses. Perhaps surprisingly, the simple act of sitting in warm water has itself been shown to burn calories – even if it’s a negligible amount – so swimming in the warm waters of a swim spa can form a one-two punch against unwanted kilos.
Aquatic fitness is much the same as traditional fitness – your workout can be as gentle or as intense as you’d like, and the more energy you expend and calories you burn, the greater your potential for weight loss. Remember that diet is also key – you only ever get out what you put in – so swim spas will form but one part of your weight loss approach.
Can you walk, jog and run in a swim spa?
Constant, thudding impacts driving through your ankles, knees and hips – while running is an ultra-efficient activity, increasing cardiovascular fitness at a fantastic rate, its harshness on joints and muscles can put it out of reach of the elderly, the less mobile, or anyone who struggles with chronic pain… unless they have an Fastlane Pools swim spa fitted with an underwater treadmill.
Placed directly in front of the propulsion system, Fastlane Pools’ underwater treadmill allows you to run while chest deep in water, offering a whole-body workout. Set the treadmill from a gentle 0.16kph to a brisk 9kph, set the current for added resistance, and get jogging! With an underwater treadmill you can enjoy all the fun and fitness of a run, minus the discomfort.
What exercises can you do in a swim spa?
In an Fastlane Pools swim spa you have a machine that measures just a few metres long, but that offers a truly endless, tumble-turn free swim… and a whole lot more. The following exercises are a few of the most common enjoyed in an Fastlane Pools swim spa, but in reality the workouts are limited only by your imagination:
- Swimming: Enjoy a deep, wide and turbulence-free current that can be set to your preferred speed, from slow and gentle to an almost Olympic 1:14/100m. Add the Swim
- Tether for increased resistance, the underwater mirror to check your swimming form, and the pace display to keep an eye on your performance.
- Aqua aerobics: With the warm water granting freer movement of muscles and joints, and the gentle current offering light resistance, aqua aerobics is an accessible form of exercise perfect for those who are looking to restore movement, maintain fitness or manage pain.
- Walking, running and jogging: The Underwater Treadmill allows you to walk, jog and run in comfort, and enjoy all the fitness benefits this exercise can bring.
- Cycling: In the Fastlane Pools Aquabike you have an entirely unique form of aquatic fitness. The water offers gentle and universal resistance, which can be dialled up by increasing the rate of the current!
- Rowing: Swimming isn’t the only way to enjoy an upper-body workout in an Fastlane Pools swim spa. The Water Rower attaches to either side of the pool, and offers exercise that can be made as intense or gentle as you’d like.
- Resistance training: Fastlane Pools’ range of resistance bands offer freestyle training, allowing you to work whichever group of muscles you’d like.
All in all, an Fastlane Pools swim spa offers the ultimate in low impact, highly effective fitness. It grants you access to a seemingly endless array of exercises, and allows you to adjust the intensity to suit. Whether you’re looking to manage pain, rehabilitate from injury, lose weight or increase your fitness level, an Fastlane Pools swim spa is a perfect – and perfectly fun – way to do it.
Chat to our team or book a test swim today!
