water?

Apr 29, 2014

My dear friend Jessica is a lap swimmer. She loves swimming lap after lap with her long arms and legs propelling her through the water for miles at a time. I kid you not, it is a work of beauty. Jenn and I watched her lithe body glide gracefully back and forth, back and forth, and were awestruck by how well her body works in the pool. She has been searching for a pool to do her workouts in and we thought water might be really good for me, so I have been tagging along on her pool experiments to see what I think.

And the verdict? I think I love it. I can’t swim with actual swim strokes because my joints are so loose they will get sprained, subluxed, or dislocated by the lever action of strokes and kicks, but I can walk around the pool, do squats, balancing exercises, marching, and slow water jogging. It is awfully boring to walk around the pool by myself and I don’t know if I will be able to keep that level of boredom up long term. I think I need a friend to do it with me so we can talk the whole time. I LOVE the way my body feels afterwards. It feels worked. All the muscles feel soft and heavy and exercised. I haven’t felt that wonderful head to toe sensation of being strengthened for a long time – I’m sure it is better than drugs.

So, now I need to decide if I want to spend the pennies to buy a pool membership, buy the gas to drive in 3-5 times a week, and spend the time away from my family.

The pros: It feels amazing. The warm water relaxes my muscles and simultaneously gives them a workout. My body is much safer in water than on land – the buoyancy helps protect me from injury because it is harder for my joints to go to far.

Cons: Cost. Time.

I have quite a bit of exercise equipment here…Elliptigo, treadmill, balance pad, ball, bands, etc. So, now that I can exercise again, I could just use what I have and see how that goes. Hmmm. I don’t know what to do!

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8 Comments

  1. A work of beauty? I just choked on my little midnight snack. Ha ha! You are nice.

    I am really thinking a waterproof mp3 is going to be lovely! I think you would like listening to audiobooks, no?

    • tracy

      Yes, a thing of beauty. Jenn and I were both awestruck by how beautiful your body is at it glides through the water. So graceful. Not forced or struggling in any way.

      • Well you’re both nice. I’m all elbows and knees and bonking into stuff on dry land so it’s a pretty awesome feeling to feel coordinated in the water. Maybe that’s why I love it so much. It’s such a great feeling to concentrate on moving in a certain way and actually have it work like it’s supposed to.

        Cheers and credit to Coach Swim. He deserves a medal or a trophy or both for being so patient with me when I started. It was the farthest thing from beauty back then. :o)

  2. I think it would be so fun for you to do that with your friends. But, yah, also thinking [since you DID ask for opinions] that spending time with your family, your children trumps it by a ways. Course, getting healthy and working your body is right up there, too. Hmmmm.

    • tracy

      Yes, the time away from them and quite frankly, the time at all, is my main quandary. I don’t know how to fit another thing in my life. I am thinking I could go at 9:30 at night after scriptures, prayer, and read-aloud time and be home by 11:30, but boy, howdy that makes for lots of late nights.

      • What about once a week!!!

        • tracy

          It is way too expensive to go once a week. I have to pay for a month at a time.

          • I like the early morning or late at night plan for a good family balance. And if it helps their mom be stronger and heal faster (building muscle like you so badly need) I think the kids would appreciate a stronger / healthier mama.

            Though, I know your schedule is kind of nuts. What about a trade off? Is there something else you can let go of in exchange for work out time?