water ex
When we first moved to Portland, I was addicted to water exercise. I was working from home, had gained a lot of weight, and needed to get out into the world. I don't know how I settled on water exercise - maybe the group class setting with body underwater.
Anyway, I did it two or three times a week, seeking out the harder teachers and the deep water class (with leg floaty things rather than the floatation belts). I don't think it helped much with weight management, but it did seem to keep my cardio fitness at an acceptable level. I think I stopped when I quit that work-at-home job (1999) and started bike-commuting downtown.
My recently no-longer-pregnant hairdresser strongly recommended that I take a prenatal yoga class - both for the relaxation and stretchy-bendyness, but also for the connection with other pregnant women. (And I have been feeling a little alone in this pregnancy business.) I've got a yoga class lined up (Saturday mornings, starting next week), but she also got me thinking about water exercise.
So, I decided to start it up again. I looked up the schedule at my old community pool and found two classes (M, W at 5:30pm). It means I have to drive to work on those days (oh, the shame!), because I'm not supposed to be cycling and it takes several bus transfers (translate: hours) to get there from here. But it's only for another couple of months.
I went to the first class on Wednesday and had a great time. I've been so BORED with the Elliptical, the stationary bike, even The Wave. (I've been skipping around, 15 minutes here, 10 minutes there for a total of 30 minutes/workout.) Those machines are just no fun unless you're going all-out, drenched with sweat and breathing hard. I can't really do all that and keep my HR under 140.
But the water exercise class was fun, even if the teacher wasn't all that inspired. I was able to get my HR up (not sure how far, I didn't wear my HRM and we never stopped to take our pulse), but I was breathing hard. Just being in the water, using the resistance to work my muscles, felt great. I imagine, as I get bigger and bigger, the support of the water will be a welcome relief from gravity.
Anyway, I did it two or three times a week, seeking out the harder teachers and the deep water class (with leg floaty things rather than the floatation belts). I don't think it helped much with weight management, but it did seem to keep my cardio fitness at an acceptable level. I think I stopped when I quit that work-at-home job (1999) and started bike-commuting downtown.
My recently no-longer-pregnant hairdresser strongly recommended that I take a prenatal yoga class - both for the relaxation and stretchy-bendyness, but also for the connection with other pregnant women. (And I have been feeling a little alone in this pregnancy business.) I've got a yoga class lined up (Saturday mornings, starting next week), but she also got me thinking about water exercise.
So, I decided to start it up again. I looked up the schedule at my old community pool and found two classes (M, W at 5:30pm). It means I have to drive to work on those days (oh, the shame!), because I'm not supposed to be cycling and it takes several bus transfers (translate: hours) to get there from here. But it's only for another couple of months.
I went to the first class on Wednesday and had a great time. I've been so BORED with the Elliptical, the stationary bike, even The Wave. (I've been skipping around, 15 minutes here, 10 minutes there for a total of 30 minutes/workout.) Those machines are just no fun unless you're going all-out, drenched with sweat and breathing hard. I can't really do all that and keep my HR under 140.
But the water exercise class was fun, even if the teacher wasn't all that inspired. I was able to get my HR up (not sure how far, I didn't wear my HRM and we never stopped to take our pulse), but I was breathing hard. Just being in the water, using the resistance to work my muscles, felt great. I imagine, as I get bigger and bigger, the support of the water will be a welcome relief from gravity.
posted by velo girl at 3:33 PM
1 Comments:
The water exercise sounds great. The one time I went to a class, I was rather shocked how hard it was. Of course, it's one of those things that requires coordination, which I don't have in spades. But it was fun. Good for you!
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