Is your pool too hot !

From the replys posted here, the water aerobics classes at your pools must be different from the ones at my pool. Yes there are the over weight MEN and WOMEN, who need to start exercise in the water because exercising on land would be too strenuous for them. AND yes there is a social component to the aerobics classes (couldn't the same be said for Masters' swimming--say a kick set with boards?) But there are also the slim older folks who put forth good effort and must get their heart rates up because they are breathing harder at the end of some of the exercises. As for the instructor, she is in the pool doing the exercises with the group. Noodles, used correctly, just like pull bouys, paddles, fins and boards help these folks isolate and work on a partictular muscle group andmost of the time are not meant to be used in the aerobic part of the workout. As I've said before in other posts, on the days that the water aerobic class takes place, I time my workout so that I finish just before the class begins and use it as a nice stretch. I wouldn't be so quick to judge these folks as you don't know the circumstances of their lives. Music? our classes have every thing from classical tapes to 40's big band, to 50's & 60's rock... enough different tapes that it takes a little over a month to work through them and start repeating.

you are right if the person is sitting on the noodle, talking and not doing the exercise then they aren't exercising, but I did say our classes are different... there is no talking during the aerobic part. I believe it was somewhere on this site that a coach said he/she put in kick sets because the swimmers enjoyed the 'social' aspect of them. Oh? Noodles don't help to isolate? try puting a small noodle under each ankle and then do crunches. BTW--thank you!

I apologize in advance for the things I'm about to say. I don't mean them to be as rude as they'll likely sound. Originally posted by laineybug Yes there are the over weight MEN and WOMEN, who need to start exercise in the water because exercising on land would be too strenuous for them. You're going to have a hard time convincing most of us that this is really exercise for anyone but those with verified medical handicaps. Exercise is supposed to be strenuous. That's why you do it. If you don't exert yourself, you don't reap any rewards. Most of these people (the ones without a medical handicap) would be better served using that 45 minutes of water aerobics to walk around their neighborhoods. I know there is a small percentage of them who can't walk that well, but the overwhelming majority I see are not in that category. Besides, for those with physical disabilities, water aerobics would be more a form of physical therapy than exercise and should be taking place under medical supervision in a dedicated physical therapy pool with the temperature regulated for that purpose. That's not what we're really talking about here. Besides their tendency to get in the way of other pool users and to complain about the temperature, it also bothers me that these people are really getting ripped off. It's a form of fraud. The instructors know that these exercises are not going to help these people lose weight or make significant gains in their physical fitness, yet they still sell it as a full aerobic workout minus the joint stress that can result from real aerobics on land. Sure, the instructors seem to be fit, so their followers think they can get fit under their tutelage; but the scam is that the instructors are doing more than just water aerobics to stay in shape. The followers buy right into it, because they think they've found the magic way to get exercise without strenuous exertion or any physical discomfort. Is it better than sitting on the couch? Sure. But so is standing up. This is "exercise" for people who don't really want to exercise. These classes are competing for the same customers as those electro-shock ab machines you see on late night infomercials. I refer to them occasionally as "elderly ladies." That's actually something of a mischaracterization. In the classes at my pool, men and women of all adult age groups show up. But they are all shaped and move like old fat women. These are mostly people who could handle more strenuous activity, but lack the will power to withstand the discomfort that comes with real exercise. If they're going to do old ladies' exercises, I can't help but think of them as old ladies. Before anyone accuses me of not understanding the people in these classes, let me tell you about a personal experience. A certain relative of mine had a weight problem from eating and sitting in front of the television all the time. Because of her weight, it hurt her to move around; but her doctor told her she needed exercise if she wanted to live past 50. So she joined a water aerobics group. It helped bring down her blood pressure a little, but the weight stayed on. After a year of it with no results, she finally decided to endure the discomfort and start walking. She started small and worked her way up. She also started dropping pounds. As the pounds dropped off, walking became easier, and she went further. She realized that she had been in a catch 22, where she couldn't get the weight off until she exercised, but the weight itself made exercise uncomfortable. She also realized that the water aerobics didn't help her escape that vicious circle. I have the overwhelming impression that many of the people in these classes are in the same situation. I'll leave off with this: In your own description of the classes at your pool, you qualify your own attendance with a sort of "but I do more strenuous exercise first and only use it to cool down and stretch." If this is really an exercise with any significant benefit, why do you find it necessary to engage in the more strenuous activity beforehand? Dang, did I just write all that? Sorry for following the tangent, but since these water aerobes seem to be responsible for the majority of the temperature problems in our pools, I guess it's relevant.

Aquageek, Hmmmmm no talking when you are working out. Isn't the talk test a way to see if you are running too hard, if you can carry on a conversation while running then you are doing aerobic work (ie with air) if you are unable to talk then that would be anaerobic. Since most of these people are just looking for health and fitness then most of their work would be aerobic so being able to talk wouldn't be too far from the norm. I think its pretty sad how it constantly comes up to a 'bash' fest with water aerobics. Once again I understand - I have seen my share of classes where people look out of shape, overweight or whatever. We have all seen the facts about obesity, at least these people are getting out an moving rather than sitting at home parked on the sofa eating bon bons (or whatever) watching tv. Even social interaction has a health benefit, so whats wrong with socializing while working out. As to why they are floating around or sitting during the workout- could be a million reasons among those arthritis, cardio vascular issues, surgery, back and neck injuries and on. First hand accounts on using aqua exercise, rehab my knee ( an ACL reconstruct and meniscus tear) and my wife for her first pregnancy (she is not a swimmer, but the water exercise was a good workout without impact and actually helped in dealing with swelling in the last tri-mester). The fact is there are good instructors and bad instructors (just as in any profession). We have dry land instructors (teach spinning, body pump, step aerobics and kick box) that come in and teach our aqua exercise classes too - I have one instructor who teaches only aqua exercise, and the comments are her workouts are harder than the dry land instructors who come in and teach (BTW all our aqua exercise instructors are AEA certified). Unfortunately the pool issues are up to the facility management, you can voice your opinion, just keep in mind that it is pretty obvious that a pool can't be all things to everyone, you would need about 10 different pools in the same facility to accomplish this.

Exercising in extreme heat, in general is dangerous. Although running is obviously a differernt sport than swimming, the same fundamental applies. There is information on runnersworld.com about the dangers of heat training--how reduced milage should be applied, and if possible all avoidance of training in the heat period. Perhaps taking information from running (and another highly aerobic/anerobic sports) would also help your case. I'll look on runnersworld.com right now and forward on the viable links. By taking a holistic approach, it could also be convincing that hot water for water aerobics really isn't such a good idea after all--especially since it is aerobics, where people are supposed to be moving and working hard. One could argue that participants are overheating themselves at a higher temp. At my health club, water aerobics is in the 81 degree pool--even if there are older or handicapped persons participating in the class. They begin moving, and the temperature if fine for them. Also, on page 18 of Fitness Swimming, by Emmett Hines, he has a section noted as Water Temperature. Here he plainly states that swimming in water overe 82 degrees is dangerous/with the risk of overheating. He is no doctor--but is a well known author and coach.

at lunch I googled "pool temperature" + "swimming"... I think thats the search I did that turned up an USA Swimming rule that said water temp should be between 78 and 80 degrees for competition... but it says nothing about temperature for practices... however, if swimming in water hotter than 80 is dangerous during competition (and thats my assumption about the need to control temps during competition... I didn't read the whole thing) then it follows that practicing in water hotter than 80 would also be dangerous as parts of some workouts are at competition levels. Maybe it would help to show them that rule. I'll see if I can find the citation again. Lainey Jerrycat, we all say things we wish we hadn't when confronted with frustrating situations.

There's got to be hundreds of collective years of swimming by the people that participate in these forums. How many instances of heat related illness, stroke, etc can we cite? I can't think of a single one. I've either been a swimmer or a coach for 35+ years and I've swum in some very warm water in North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Texas. I'm not talking about being uncomfortable. You can be just as uncomfortable in cold water. I'm talking about where the water was hot enough to cause someone participating in strenuous exercise real trauma. Maybe I've been lucky.

We had a swimmer at our pool collapse a few days ago after attempting a hard workout. Even if collapse doesn't happen performance is inhibited, extended anaerobic work is difficult and sub-maximal and maximal speed work is risky. It is a very real problem. Core body temp is raised by the work we do in the water, the harder we work the higher it goes. If the water is " cool " then we can sweat into the water to keep the equilibrium. If the water is too " hot " then core body temp will keep rising with possible heat exhaustion. Some people are better adapted to dealing with high temp than others, my years growing up in rainy, cool, Britain make me one who has real problems and my performance suffers. I would like to compare the Meet Results of swimmers who trained in " hot pools " against those who train in 80 to 82 ' F pools. I am sure that there would be a difference as you just cannot train as hard in a hot pool.

It's OK to admit you are a noodler. There's no shame. Free yourself of pity and self loathing and just admit it. Then, my carping won't bother you so. Now, I am outta here.

Fritz: You make a great point! But, I wonder how many of the folks over the years that have keeled over dead at meets or after practices...were either directly or indirectly caused by hot water. Some perhaps days or weeks after swimming in that type stress...