“Not only does swimming slow down the aging process – by upwards of 20% in some cases -- in terms of respiration, muscle mass, bone density, cardiovascular activity and neurological function, but there’s also evidence to suggest that it increases mental health and even spiritual and social health.” -- Dr. Joel M. Stager, Medical Director, St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Institute, Spokane Washington
DIMENSION ONE SPAS AQUATIC EXERCISE MACHINE FOR THE HOME16 TO 19 ft Swim-in-Place Workout Pool Offers Multi-Taskers Multi Benefits Making the Most of Exercise Space and TimeWhat is more efficient than a swimming pool, more sophisticated than a hot tub and safer than a backyard playground? Dimension One Spa’s revolutionary Aquatic Fitness Systems® is an
aquatic exercise machine for the backyard where you can safely swim, walk, run, stretch, row, strength train and relax!
The line’s flagship model -- the AquaFit® 19 Dual Temp – is the ultimate hybrid of
fitness and hydrotherapy.
This unique 19-foot high-tech tub makes it possible to swim stationary laps; row for a robust upper body and arm workout; attach specially designed bands for resistance training; run or jog in place for cardiovascular conditioning – all in cooler water. Then when your routine is done, muscles can be soothed with a relaxing hydrotherapy body massage in the hot tub section of the pool. This watery workout is an ideal environment for low impact exercises to tone, shape and enhance flexibility, while the body is suspended in buoyant security. Ideal for weekend warriors; aging boomers; overweight exercisers and athletes needing rehabilitation, D1 offers three models of the pool -- the AFS 16, 19 and 19 DT – and their retail price ranges from $29,000 to $39,000.
Superior to a traditional “swim spa” because of its multiple functions and sophisticated design, the AFS has garnered substantial industry recognition. The Society of Plastic Engineers granted the AFS a “People’s Choice Award,” Consumer’s Digest designated the AFS the “Best Buy in Portable Spas” in the Premium Products Category and the Robb Report included the pool in a “Best of” issue.
Effective and efficient, the D1 Spa’s AFS swim spa takes up less space than a conventional pool and can be installed inside or outside the home. The pool’s
Ultralife slip-resistant interior is surrounded by a durable, all-weather exterior, making the tub adaptable to either above ground or below ground installation. High volume swim jets are positioned to provide lift as well as current. The 100% insulated tub uses a stainless steal heater—the most reliable on the market – providing optimal heat recovery and lower energy consumption. And, pure, clean water year-round is easily achieved with an E-Z Lock filter cartridge and the ozone purification system, allowing the owner to use fewer chemicals than most competitive products.
Mary E. Sanders, PhD Professor at the University of Nevada’s School of Medicine and Public Health is known in fitness circles as the “water fitness guru.” The research her team has done with groups of aquatic exercisers over the years underscores the fact that water can be used as a liquid weight machine with unique benefits. “Water’s buoyancy reduces impact and supports the body for increased range of motion,” she explains. “And, the natural resistance of water (the harder you press the harder, the water presses back) provides an individualized personal training environment. Water’s viscosity or “thickness” -- being about 800 times greater than air – makes it an effective exercise environment in which to build muscular endurance. And using resistance tethers, like those featured in the AFS pool, provides additional core stabilization work.”
D1’s founder, Bob Hallam, is clear about his target market for AFS: “Baby boomers are the most health & lifestyle conscious group of people in history. They spend more on working out, plastic surgery, health care and vacations than any other generation. And now with options like the AFS, they can achieve wellness efficiently and safely, in their own backyards.”
Hallam also notes that his customers are choosing priorities carefully. “One couple who bought an AFS from us lives in a mobile home near a beautiful apple orchard in Northern California,” he says. “They told us they invested $30,000 in this pool because of the real and essential relief using it brings to the husband’s chronic back condition.”
When it comes to getting the most out of your exercise space and time, the AFS just makes sense. Dr. Joel M. Stager, Medical Director of the St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Institute in Spokane Washington, who has studied the effects of aquatic activities among athletes and people in need of recovery from injuries or ailments for the past 30 years said it best: “Simply being submersed in water up to the neck increases cardiac output by more than 30 percent in a sedentary individual. So, just by sitting in water, the hydrostatic pressure on your body and being in a buoyant state benefits the body.” How much more beneficial would using an aquatic exercise machine at your own home be?
Dimension One Spas® (D1®) was founded in 1977 in Vista, California by Bob and Linda Hallam. By combining innovations in materials science and water handling technology, D1 has set an industry benchmark and today is the leader in designing and manufacturing luxury home hydrotherapy and aquatic fitness products. The family-owned business is dedicated to bringing customers the most advanced spas in the world -- engineered to rejuvenate both body and mind.
D1 spas and aquatic fitness products are now sold through a network of more than 200 dealers in the United States and 450 dealers worldwide in 35 countries. The company's four product lines include a selection of home hydrotherapy (ranging from $5,000-$18,000) and aquatic fitness products (ranging from $29k-$39k) that meet a variety of consumer needs and budgets: D1 Reflections®, D1 Bay Collection®, AFS- Aquatic Fitness Systems® and @ Home Hot Tubs®.
Holding more than 30 patents – more than any other company in the industry – D1 has earned accolades and awards from Consumer’s Digest, Robb Report, Poolandspa.com, Quality Buy and more, and in 2004 Bob Hallam was named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year. D1 proudly supports Vision of Children, a national organization dedicated to the eradication of blindness and vision disorders in industrialized nations. For more information about Dimension One Spas, its
hot tub products and practices for health, fitness, swimming and romance, please visit DimensionOne.com.
# # #
FINDINGS ON THE BENEFITS OF AQUATIC EXERCISE:
Total Wellness: Aquatic exercise is a medically proven solution to boosting one’s mental, physical and emotional well-being. Scientific studies reveal many impressive health benefits of exercise, which include healthier bones and muscles, a leaner body, radiant skin, a strong immune system, fast recovery from illness, and a higher quality of life.
Cardiovascular Health: Water Fitness Guru Mary E. Sanders (PhD, University of Nevada’s School of Medicine and Public Health) deems water an effective and safe liquid weight machine whose thickness and natural resistance reduces impact during activity while increasing range of motion and promoting muscular endurance.
Extensive studies by Dr. Joel M. Stager (Medical Director, St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Institute in Spokane, Washington) reveal that the hydrostatic pressure and buoyant state of being submersed in water increases cardiac output in a sedentary person by more than 30 percent.
Arthritis: New research by Marlene Fransen, PhD, explains that water therapy alleviates joint pain and directly improves one’s physical performance and function. The Arthritis Foundation, in fact, endorses water exercise as an ideal way to relieve arthritis pain and stiffness without harming joints. The Aquatic Fitness System drastically reduces excess strain on joints and muscles, and offers soothing therapeutic treatments provided by state-of-the-art massaging jets.
Diabetes: A recent study by SoJung Lee suggests aquatic activity can help lower the risk of deadly diseases by 44 percent through exercise that increases the vitality of the heart and lungs. Findings show that a fit heart and lungs decrease one’s chance of acquiring diabetes and related maladies, and further reflect low blood pressure and high HDL “good” cholesterol.
Sleep: Soaking in warm water is a natural, safe way to enhance deep sleep and ease sleep-related problems, according to the National Sleep Foundation. Water’s relaxing properties of buoyancy help promote sleep through the alleviation of pressure on joints and muscles, and by the creation of a peaceful, weightless sensation. Unlike sleeping aids, warm water is an organic and healthy remedy for sleep deprivation.
Weight Management: A recent study titled “Effects of Aquatic Exercise and Walking in Sedentary Obese Women” (published in the February 2007 launch of the International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education) examines weight loss resulting from a separate aquatic and land-based walking program. Participants in both the water and land-based groups significantly improved their total body weight, cardiorespiratory fitness, flexibility, strength and quality of life. The aquatic walking group, however, recorded slightly higher body weight losses, improvements in flexibility and greater attendance rates.
Back Pain: A study by Gerhard Strauss-Blasche, PhD, published in the Clinical Journal of Pain, finds exercise therapy to be an effective treatment for chronic back pain. Water exercise specifically prevents and reduces back pain by relieving the weight-baring effects of gravity on the lower extremities and spine. The built-in massage jets of the Aquatic Fitness System further reduce pain with varying bursts of water that offload the spine and buffet the body’s soft tissue.
Depression: Improved mental health is directly linked to the performance of fitness activities, including those done in water, according to a recent study called “The Influence of Exercise on Mental Health” by Dr. Daniel M. Landers (PhD, Arizona State University). An important conclusion of the study is that exercise is powerful in reducing mental ailments such as anxiety and depression.
Prenatal Health: A Journal of Perinatal Education study reports that aquatic exercise during pregnancy benefits both mother and baby, as psychological stress levels can lower and thus reduce complications including adverse fetal outcome.
###
Submitted by
Mary E. Sanders, Ph.D., FACSM
Associate Professor, Division of Medical Nutrition
Dept. of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine
Adjunct Professor, School of Public Health
University of Nevada, Reno
Director, WaterFit/Wave Aerobics
www.waterfit.comExercising in water improves respiration performance because the breathing mechanism must work harder when immersed, respiratory strengthening occurs. (Becker & Cole, 1997)
Effects on the circulatory and autonomic nervous systems facilitate improvements in muscle blood flow and increase the rate of removal of metabolic waste and injury products from deep within muscle tissues so normal and exercising muscles and ligaments experience beneficial effects (Becker & Cole, 1997).
Effects of immersion promote the excretion of metabolic wastes; assist with regulation of sodium, potassium, and water; and generally can lower blood pressure. (Becker & Cole, 1997).
Participants with chronic low back conditions, reported less pain after water training, with improvements in the quality of life for ADL (Ariyoshi et al., 1999; Landgridge & Phillips, 1988; Smit & Harrison, 1991).
Running in shallow water is rated in the “top 12” most strenuous exercises in terms of number of kcal expended per minute: Running in shallow water, 1.3 m depth, no buoyancy vest, maximal effort expends approximately 17.1 kcal/minute. (MacArdle, Katch, & Katch, 1999) Sports & Exercise Nutrition, Baltimore, LWW).
Women aged 55 and older improved their land-based functional skills such as stair climb, agility, sit-to-stand, speed walking, flexibility, and balance skills after only 16 weeks of water exercise training in shallow water. Participants also significantly improved strength and educed body fat with the training (Sanders, M. 1998 &2006).
Ten weeks of progressive aquatic resistance training targeting the lower body (using equipment for overload), resulted in significant improvement in muscular strength/endurance for 24 women, average age 34 years (Poyhonen, T., et al, 2002).
Older adults (age 60-75 years, average age 68 years) experienced a 6% improvement in back extension strength after 12 weeks, 3 days a week, 60 minutes per session by performing self- paced, vigorous shallow water exercise that included walking backwards. Additionally, their subjects improved significantly in cardiorespiratory endurance and body composition, muscle power for knee extension/flexion, vertical jumping, side step agility (Takeshima, N., M.E. Rogera, E. Wantanebe, W. F. Brechue, A. Okada, T. Yamada, M. M. Islam, J. Hayano 2002) Water-based exercise improves health-related aspects of fitness in older women Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 33(3), pp. 544-551)
Combining Turf & Surf for Weight Management: During another study, Nagle and colleagues (2003) combined diet plus water exercise and walking for a weight loss program. Forty-four obese, sedentary women with a BMI of 34.9, (mean age: 40 years), were randomly assigned to an aquatic exercise + walking on land group or a land walking only group for 16 weeks. The combined group (water exercise + land walking) participated in 2 shallow water exercise classes per week and the walking only group participated in 2 supervised walking classes per week. Both groups performed 3 sessions of land walking per week at home. According to Dr, Nagle, the pool exercises targeted cardiorespiratory training, were self-paced, and progressive with average intensity equivalent to walking about 4 miles per hour, or faster on land (moderate to vigorous). Sessions progressed from 20- 60 minutes over 16 weeks. Diet was controlled for reduced energy intake.
Both groups decreased body weight: combined water + land lost approximately 6.8 kg or 14.9 lbs while and land only group lost 5.6 kg or about 12.3 lbs. Both groups also improved in flexibility, lower body muscular strength and cardiovascular endurance. (Nagle, E.F., A.D. Otto, J.M., Jakicic, R.J. Robertson, F.L. Goss, J.L. Ranalli (2003) Effects of aquatic plus walking exercises on weight loss and function in sedentary obese females. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 35(5), May, S136, Abstract 753)
Trunk Core Training: During a study by Masumoto and colleagues (2003), participants who walked backwards, were measured using electromyography. Groups included walkers: on land, in water (xiphoid depth) without current and with a current applied (flume). Levels of muscle activity for the paraspinal muscles (erector spinae) while walking backwards with a current in shallow water were significantly greater when compared to walking on land. Water walking backwards, can possibly provide effective training for healthy backs and improved posture. (Masumoto, K., S. Takasugi, N. Hotta, K. Fujishima, Y. Iwamoto, Electromyographic analysis of walking backward in water. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 35(5), May, Abstract 1356, S141.)
Labels: aerobics, aquatic, cardiovascular, exercise, fitness, health care, hot tubs, hydrotherapy, jogging, outdoor spas, running, swim spa, swimming, walking, water
