So I took the “deep water running” class this evening…
June 23, 2011, 10:16 PM
So I took the “deep water running” class at Olney Swim Center this evening. That was a new experience. This is also called “aqua jogging“, and involves strapping on a flotation belt and jogging in the deep end of the pool. The idea is that you’re doing all of this while staying vertical. If you’re on your back, your front, or otherwise not vertical, you’re not doing it right.
The class lasted an hour, which is the same amount of time that I normally would spend doing lap swimming. In the class, we first did a few laps around the pool just running. Then we did it like cross-country skiing, with arms and legs straight and going back and forth. We also did cross-country legs with breaststroke arms. We really mixed it up, working things one direction, the other direction, and side to side. We even did jumping jacks in the water on a few occasions. Then in the second half of the class, we worked with foam dumbbells to give extra resistance. I was actually disappointed when the class was over, because I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
The idea of deep water running definitely has potential for me. However, I didn’t get that great post-workout buzz that I normally get after doing laps. That’s not to say I didn’t get a workout. I certainly worked certain muscle groups, and I can feel some after effects of the workout, but it’s not quite enough to satisfy me.
I’m probably going to give the class another spin, though I’m thinking at this point that I’m probably going to do my own work on it on my own, doing the exercises that really work things on me for longer periods, and really work on getting my heart rate up. That’s what I’m going for – getting that heart rate up and then maintaining it, first and foremost. The goal is 150 beats per minute, which I’m not up to yet, but will get to eventually.
Meanwhile, I need to get my own jogging belt. If I’m going to do my own thing with this, I want to make sure that I have my own equipment. This way, I can also take this other places. For instance, I would love to go to Sandy Point State Park and jog around in the Chesapeake Bay. I’ve swum out to the buoys before, and it’s really deep out there, to the point where I can’t touch bottom (and that’s while trying within reason to touch). Strap on a jogging belt, and I really could have some fun out there. The only caveat there is that if you wander too far beyond the buoys, you enter a shipping channel, and as much as I love ships, I don’t want to meet a ship as a swimmer, because I guarantee you that I wouldn’t look too good getting sucked through the propellers.
Otherwise, though, I went to the pool five times this week! I did a somewhat abbreviated workout on Sunday, having had lunch with the parents, and then almost immediately after saying goodbye to them, changed into my suit and headed up to Olney to swim, where I did a 40-minute workout (vs. 60), dropping the entire ten minutes of kickboard work and five each of breaststroke and front crawl. Then I did a normal hourlong workout on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and then this evening I did the jogging class.
Both surprisingly and unsurprisingly, I didn’t do any walking this week. First of all, it’s been a little too hot to walk this week. The problem with how I do my walking is that any walking equipment gets carried all day in my work bag, and a fully loaded stainless steel water bottle incurs a significant weight penalty and potentially would bump out space for my lunch. As it is, I carry my toe shoes and a heart rate monitor in my bag for walking, and a water bottle is too much. Plus add to that the fact that I start from a suburban Metro station, and thus don’t get to go to the bathroom right before I start walking. Plus they’re doing infrastructure improvements along Georgia Avenue on both sides of the road in the area where I walk, and thus my path is blocked in multiple places in any case, so I probably ought to find an alternate route. If I could come back out to Georgia right around Verona Drive or hit the Matthew Henson trail to get back to Georgia, I’ll be doing pretty well. On cooler days, yes – I’ll walk. But on the hot days, I’ll take the bus home and then go swimming.
So if anyone knows any good heart-centric deep water running/aqua jogging workouts, let me know…
Web site: "Aqua Jogging Exercises" from Livestrong.com
Song: The people experience was quite interesting as well. First off, everyone was really nice. The class was mostly women over 40, and so I was one of the younger participants there, and one of only two men in the class. The other people in the class were very helpful in telling me how to fit the belt (as tight as possible) and showing me what they use for equipment.
Quote: So with four and five trips to the pool in a week, I think a membership will definitely be worth the investment come September when the new membership season begins.