Finding the aquacise class at the Best Western Hotel is pretty easy, just follow the driving beat of workout music.
The pool water churns and occasionally splashes onto the deck as the class follows the instructions of Aquatic Fitness Leader Annette Gillon.
She stays relatively dry leading from the pool deck.
“It’s all about functioning well in life,” said Gillon of her class.
For those unfamiliar with aquacise, the classes are a cardiovascular focused workout done in the pool.
In her opinion, aerobic classes like aquacise offer a healthy balance to other land based workouts, especially if people alternate between aquacise and another workout routine.
“Right now the trend is just do muscle conditioning and that’s it.
“Aerobic training it improves the ability of the heart and lungs to perform the task of taking in oxygen and delivering it to your working muscles,” she said.
“It improves the function of your heart and lungs,” said Gillon.
In Aquacise, participants tend to be standing or walking, not actively swimming.
In the classes that she runs, Gillon focuses on cardiovascular fitness and endurance with a secondary focus on muscle strength and endurance, balance and flexibility.
Working out in the pool can offer some unique advantages.
“With the nature of water, there’s a lot of resistance in water,” which helps with muscle endurance she said.
This added resistance also works on stabilizer muscles as a bonus to the cardiovascular workout.
“When you’re working with weights…you target a certain muscle,” said Gillon, “the stabilizers are muscles that support the working muscle.”
While most people spend the majority of their life out of the water, working on balance in the pool will still improve balance on land.
“You have muscle memory,” said Gillon, “you’re strengthening your core muscles.”
It also tends to be safer in the pool too since people will float if they fall instead of hitting the ground.
“It takes the risks away,” she said.
The water also leads to a workout that is easier on people with injured joints.
“This kind of exercise is really joint friendly,” said Gillon.
In her experience there is often less muscle soreness after aquacise than traditional workouts.
It also provides an option for people who have difficulty with regular workout routines.
“A lot of people that take aquatic exercise often have some kind of challenge.
“They have bad knees or they have bad balance or they’re just older and they want a different kind of workout,” she said.
Aquacise is also a lot of fun said Gillon.
“It is a group environment, you get to know people,” she said, “often people that come to my class come with their friends.”
One of Gillon’s classes go for coffee together after the workout.
One of the current students, Jennifer Leshchyshyn strongly endorses the workout saying it is good for people of all abilities.
“It’s a lot of fun and good for all fitness levels,” said Leshchyshyn.
Gillon said that these functional training classes can help the participants lead a healthier, stronger more functional life.
“That’s the main objective I think,” she said.
The aquacise classes are run by the CRCA in partnership with the Best Western Hotel to provide a local option to residents.
“I think everybody is very grateful that the Best Western was so great in partnering with the rec centre,” said Gillon.
“It’s a win-win for everyone,” she said.
Leshchyshyn said that if the program wasn’t local she probably wouldn’t make the trip into Calgary.
“Things are going great,” said Gillon of the classes, “everybody’s very respectful of each other and things are working out quite well.”
Classes first started in the fall of 2016 and are eight weeks long.
They can have up to 10 participants.
“It’s not a big pool and you want to have room to extend your arms and stuff like that,” said Gillon.
For more information or to register go to http://www.chestermerecrca.com and click on the recreation programs link.
