‘Not just splashing around’

WASHINGTON — Come to the YMCA indoor pool at the right time of day, and you’ll typically find at least a dozen people in the shallow end for one of several aquatics programs. The organization has several classes, from "Aquarobics“ I and II, to water walking, a less strenuous ”Joint Exercise“ option, and a more taxing ”Tabata Freestyle“ class.

The in-pool workouts are especially popular for seniors, according to Pam Perdock, who has led several combinations of the classes since 1988.

“All the people that I work with … they’re probably, I’d say between 50 and 87, and they need to move, moving is the most important thing that we do,” she said. “It is open to any age … In the water, you have the resistance, which is great, but the water holds you up so there’s much less impact on any of your joints.”

Many who attend the classes do so to stay in shape as they get older, or to help recover from an injury or surgery that makes movement difficult on dry land. A few are just there for fun.

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“It’s open to anyone who wants to give it a try,” Perdock said. “You don’t have to have a problem to come, you might just want to check it out and meet some people, which works out great.”

Those who take the classes said the water’s effects weren’t lost on them.

Georgia Baker said she had participated on and off in the Y’s pool programs for the last 20 years. Diagnosed with spinal stenosis and arthritis in her back, she said the pool workouts were essential to building her core muscles.

“I can’t do floor exercises or chair exercises they have at the Y, but I crawl in the water, there’s no pressure on my joints,” she said. “I’m 83 years old, and a lot of 83-year-olds are using walkers and canes … It’s all about the core, and we don’t do fluff. We work very, very hard.”

The workouts are not easy by any means. Baker has seen competitive swimmers struggle to keep up during tabata sessions.

While she’s aware of stereotypes that make fun of water aerobics’ outward appearance of easy exercise for older ladies, Baker said the workouts were much more than “just splashing around.” She posed a challenge to anyone who believed otherwise:

“Come try it,” she said. “You get in there with us, honey, and we’ll work you … I would challenge them to just come some time, we’d love it.”

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For many participants, the classes are as much about social health as physical. The members of Aquarobics II go out for lunch together after leaving the pool on Fridays, and members of all classes socialize in the water before and during their workouts.

Lorna Olson has regularly attended Aquarobics II and Joint Exercise for at least the last five years. She’s known for singing during classes, and while she said her main purpose was exercise, she was thankful for the circle of friends that came with it.

“They’ve expanded my horizons,” she said. “I’m not in a lot of things except church activities. So this gives me another outlet, and it takes me out of myself. I don’t sit at home and brood.”

Lorie Peiffer, another participant in various aquatics classes at the Y, agreed. While the excises help her knees, she said it was the people that brought her back week after week.

“Everybody looks out for everybody, we’re a family,” she said. “Everybody’s friendly, it’s a great place to be, it’s a good community.”

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Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com