Advertisement And then there are all those issues like sweat and setting weights on machines and stuff like that. Does that sound like fun?
Ah, get yourself into a pool, watch your blood pressure come down, feel your joints relax and enjoy life again.
New York-based Dr. Jane Katz, 65, can tell you how to do it in her new book, “Your Water Workout’’ (Broadway Books, 2008). She was a 1964 Olympic swim team member; is a physical education professor at John Jay College of the University of New York; she teaches fire and police officers to swim; and she works with senior centers to promote water exercise.
“I’ve seen people walk in with a cane and not need that cane anymore after several classes,’’ she said.
Katz was one of the first to promote water therapy. She pioneered it on herself after a 1975 automobile accident left her with broken bones.
She continues to compete at international events and promote water therapy through her site, www.globalacquatics.com.
Q. Why do seniors resist water therapy?
A. Lots of reasons. They think they’ll get their hair wet, for example. I tell them they will not have their heads in the water. This is all about buoyancy.
Q. Why do mostly women do water exercise anyway?
A. Good question. I also talk about using water therapy for sports conditioning in my book. Improving your tennis swing, for example. Maybe that will help.
Q. Should water workout be part of any exercise program?
A. A combination of water, Pilates, yoga and tai chi is ideal. Turf to surf. And the social aspect is so important. Having a “date’’ to meet a friend at the pool makes you a rat fink if you don’t show up.
And water is soothing. My husband recently died, leading me to write a piece on “swimming with a heavy heart.’’ Very comforting activity.
Q. I agree water therapy is fantastic. But I also know therapy programs and even public water aerobics classes are not always easy to locate.
A. Unfortunately, you are right. First, people should look into park recreation programs, then the local YMCA. Many sports clubs also offer classes.
Q. We’ve been talking about water therapy as a senior activity. But that’s only part of the story, right?
A. Of course. It is important therapy for people with all types of conditions — such as MS. And it’s important for children to get into the water. I work with a program called CARE — for kids in aquatic rehab. And we do programs for children at risk, those detained in juvenile halls, to help them learn to swim and also learn life lessons.
Q. But you are a gerontologist. So, seniors are a specialty?
A. Oh yes. The message: it’s never too late to get started. I’ve worked with 90-year-olds. Bottom line is you will feel so much better after pool therapy.
Just imagine getting arthritic joints to move again!
Jane Glenn Haas writes for The Orange County (Calif.) Register.
