Swimming pools were once a haven for two types of person: the goggle-clad who thrashed out monotonous lengths and the flowery-capped seniors who performed gentle, aerobic-type jumps and twists in a cordoned-off area of the water. Now, though, the fitness-savvy have decided the pool can be cool, provided the activities on offer are as appealing and varied as those available at the gym. "There has definitely been a change in the pool's image," says Rob Beale, swimming manager at the UK-based Virgin Active gyms. "Now a lot of the younger crowd are keen to try land-based workouts that have been transferred to the water."
There are unquestionable benefits to working out in the pool. Water is 1,000 times denser than air and provides up to 12 times the resistance you would get from working out on land. "A workout in the pool therefore requires you to work harder and expend more energy than you would normally," says Beale.
For people with joint and back problems, aqua-workouts are ideal — a body submerged at rib cage depth weighs about 75 percent less than it would on land, and approximately 90 percent less when submerged to the neck, meaning that water acts as a giant cushion for the joints, protecting them from the kind of stress and impact they experience when exercising out of the water.
PHOTOS: AP
Many workout fads emanate from America and there aqua-fitness is all the rage with aqua-abs, splash kickboxing and aqua-cross training all appearing on gym timetables. So what's on offer?
Aqua-jogging
What it is: Wearing a specially-designed "aqua-jogger" buoyancy vest over your swimwear, the idea is to simulate a running action in deep water so there is none of the stress to your joints.
Benefits: This activity was originally devised by physiotherapists in the 1980s to help rehabilitate injured athletes. "In general, water is cooler than body temperature which means that people have to work harder to stay warm," says personal trainer Cornel Chin. "The best thing is it doesn't require any particular skill. Even people who can't swim can do it." Run on land and you can expect to burn around eight calories a minute; in water, that figure rises to 11.5 calories for the same time.
Find out more: The Web site aquajogger.com provides plenty of information on how to get started
Aqua-chi
What it is: A combination of the principles of water fitness and the graceful flowing movements of taichi, performed upright in chest-depth water. Do not expect lots of thrashing around and treading water — as with the traditional, land-based version of this ancient art form, the movements are performed s-l-o-w-l-y and with precision. Emphasis is on good balance and coordination with a definite bias towards strengthening mind as well as body.
Benefits: taichi has been shown in studies to have beneficial effects on everything from stress and increased blood pressure to high cholesterol levels. An Australian study published this month in the medical journal Arthritis & Rheumatism revealed that a combination of hydrotherapy (or water treatment) and taichi can help older people with severe arthritis to move and feel better and experience significantly less pain in their hips and knees.
Find out more: Many gym chains hold their own versions of this class (also called Water Chi and Pool Chi).
Aqua-gym
What it is: A unique, British-designed system that is lowered into a pool and attached to walls by giant suction pads. For the gym-coy, the beauty of the equipment — including a semi-sub-aqua rowing machine, step-climber, chest press and exercise bike — is undoubtedly the fact that only your head remains visible as you exercise.
Benefits: Unlike conventional gyms, this one has no weights, only plastic floats to pull through the water. However, since water itself provides natural resistance, it provides a great form of low-impact strength training. It is widely used in hospitals as rehabilitation equipment for patients who have suffered heart disease or strokes. "An aqua-gym circuit can be very tough as it is recommended to jog from each piece of equipment to the next to maintain your body temperature," says Dean Hodgkin, fitness director of Ragdale Hall in Leicestershire, UK. "It is a great alternative to conventional weight training for people who have problem joints or who just feel self- conscious using a weights room at the gym."
Poolates
What it is: A current hit in New York's gyms, this is a fusion of Pilates and water fitness that aims principally to strengthen your core abdominal muscles. However, the buoyancy and resistance of the water means that other muscles are worked harder than usual too.
Benefits: Beyond fitness, Pilates has many preventative benefits for a range of common ailments. Back pain, for instance, is often triggered when your body is pulled out of alignment: Pilates helps to pull it back by strengthening the core muscles around your lower back and stomach. Studies at Queensland University in Australia have shown that Pilates exercises can develop the muscles that support the back. It is much more effective for preventing back pain than yoga. Since the water provides extra cushioning, the pool-based class is said to be at least as beneficial, although many teachers of the traditional method pooh-pooh Poolates as a gym fad.
Swim4fitness
What it is: As its name suggests, this is a program to help those who like swimming to get the most out of their lengths in the pool. It includes drills such as using a kickboard in your hands at arm's length to work your legs or, to work your arms, holding the kickboard between your feet.
Benefits: Swimming is generally regarded as the best all-round fitness activity as it works all the body's major muscle groups and has an aerobic effect. Different strokes work different muscle groups. Even a slow front crawl will burn 300 calories in half an hour.
Find out more: swim4fitness.com
Aqua-dance
What it is: Fast-moving dance classes with themes to suit your mood or fitness level. At some of the Virgin Active clubs in the UK, for instance, people can try Jazz Aquadance or Island Jam Aqua. "They are a more up-to-date and fun version of aqua-aerobics," says Beale. "They really get you moving in every direction so that all muscles are worked. But the music helps you to forget how tough it is."
Benefits: "When you dance," says Sammy Margo of the UK's Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, "your body is forced to engage the core muscles in the center of the body around the trunk and lower back." At the same time, a dancer engages the inter-scapular muscles between the shoulder blades so that the middle back opens up and posture is improved, she says. Studies have shown that regular dance can improve mood and researchers reporting in the New England Journal of Medicine recently found that regular dance reduced the risk of dementia in older people.
Last week Joseph Nye, the well-known China scholar, wrote on the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s website about how war over Taiwan might be averted. He noted that years ago he was on a team that met with then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), “whose previous ‘unofficial’ visit to the US had caused a crisis in which China fired missiles into the sea and the US deployed carriers off the coast of Taiwan.” Yes, that’s right, mighty Chen caused that crisis all by himself. Neither the US nor the People’s Republic of China (PRC) exercised any agency. Nye then nostalgically invoked the comical specter
Relations between Taiwan and the Czech Republic have flourished in recent years. However, not everyone is pleased about the growing friendship between the two countries. Last month, an incident involving a Chinese diplomat tailing the car of vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) in Prague, drew public attention to the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) operations to undermine Taiwan overseas. The trip was not Hsiao’s first visit to the Central European country. It was meant to be low-key, a chance to meet with local academics and politicians, until her police escort noticed a car was tailing her through the Czech capital. The
April 15 to April 21 Yang Kui (楊逵) was horrified as he drove past trucks, oxcarts and trolleys loaded with coffins on his way to Tuntzechiao (屯子腳), which he heard had been completely destroyed. The friend he came to check on was safe, but most residents were suffering in the town hit the hardest by the 7.1-magnitude Hsinchu-Taichung Earthquake on April 21, 1935. It remains the deadliest in Taiwan’s recorded history, claiming around 3,300 lives and injuring nearly 12,000. The disaster completely flattened roughly 18,000 houses and damaged countless more. The social activist and
Over the course of former President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) 11-day trip to China that included a meeting with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping (習近平) a surprising number of people commented that the former president was now “irrelevant.” Upon reflection, it became apparent that these comments were coming from pro-Taiwan, pan-green supporters and they were expressing what they hoped was the case, rather than the reality. Ma’s ideology is so pro-China (read: deep blue) and controversial that many in his own Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) hope he retires quickly, or at least refrains from speaking on some subjects. Regardless