Aquasize Top Ten List

Historic journal entry from 10.31

In an effort to burn more calories, I have added an Aquasize class, which I attended for the first time last night. I thought I would share my Top Ten List  of “Things I wish someone had told me before I started water aerobics.”

 10. Invest in contacts. Without them you’re blind, clueless, and in a swimsuit.  It is hard to see what the instructor is demonstrating on the pool deck, but, even worse, you can’t read signs until you are up close. (There is a big  difference between the men’s and women’s locker room!)
 9. Hard core Aquasizers wear water shoes that look like running shoes, webbed  gloves, and a terry cloth robe they take off right before they get in the pool just like a prize fighter disrobes before entering the ring.
8. Let hard core Aquasizers enter the pool first. They have an unmarked reserved spot. Otherwise, you will be asked to move.
7. The typical plus-size swim suit with a loose fitting, skirt-length top might work great for swimming but not for water jogging
6. Try to stay away from the place in the pool where it begins to become  deeper. It is quite the surprise and a rather clumsy, off-balanced moment when  one foot hits the pool bottom much lower than the other. Glad the instructor is a life guard!
5. You gain instant respect with your classmates if you use the white pool  noodle! When the instructor asks which color you want, it isn’t about color  preference. I said white because it was the color she had in her hand. I didn’t realize white ones offer the most resistance and are the hardest to work with until a nice lady in her 80's who uses a walker explained it. She was concerned
and offered me her blue noodle, the easiest.
4. Super pale skin, like mine, glows as brightly and looks as out of place in an  Aquasize class as it does on a beach. Won’t they be surprised when I show up looking like Caspar the Friendly Ghost even after Halloween is over?
3. When your instructor yells “Spider on the wall!” there is no need for alarm.  She expects you to act like a spider and climb up the pool wall. You also get to be a rocking horse, speed skater, toy soldier, cross country skier, and a washing machine.
2. You know you are making too big of a wave when it knocks your neighbor off her pool noodle.
1. The older they are, the less your classmates see the need to use a private  dressing stall. (Don't think about that one too long!)

If I had known how relaxing and fun this was, I would have started years ago. 480 calories gone. A lot of laughing (at myself), and no sweating! Score!