Water Aerobics

Fitness tops the list of New Year's resolutions. According to people who keep track of such things, "health and fitness" is the most popular category of New Year's resolutions, with approximately 22 percent of people having it at the top of their lists.

Exercise is recommended for lots of reasons: to lose weight; to prevent weight gain; to gain muscle; to improve balance and coordination; to reduce stress and improve mood; to lower insulin levels; to lower blood pressure and triglycerides; and even to sleep better.

Raising endorphins is another good reason to exercise. Stress causes the endorphin system to suffer. Scientists have discovered that regular exercise stimulate the endorphin to work more effectively. I am sure lots of people have stressful lives and need their endorphins balanced; I am a stay at home mom, and I know I need my endorphin level to increase.

It's also hard to know what type of exercise is actually going to be beneficial. Should you get up and jog every morning? Get a DVD and follow along with an exercise program at home? Tae bo? Kick boxing? Richard Simmons? Join a gym? How about a walking club? Should you lift weights? Swimming is good and burns lots of calories, right?

You may have seen water aerobics advertised at your local gym, YMCA, or municipal swimming pool. It is easy to down play the benefits of water aerobics and think they are beneficial to people with injuries, or maybe seniors. Because it looks like you are just splashing and playing around in the water, it is hard to think of water aerobics as serious exercise.

But let's take a closer look at this exercise program called water aerobics. Basically, aerobics is any exercise that increases a body's heart rate long enough to benefit the body. Walking, swimming, jogging, and dancing are all forms of aerobic exercise. Water aerobics allows a person to get the same benefits as these other type of aerobic activity, but with some advantages.