Case in point: Top-ranked high school volleyball player Kristi Rhead, who broke her ankle while surfing this summer.

“Kristi suffered a severe break which required open reduction internal fixation, which means they had to surgically fixate the break with hardware,” explains MountainTop owner Preston Hall, PT, DPT, OCS, CSCS. “She was non-weight bearing for six weeks.”

So Preston set up a rehabilitation regimen for Kristi using the center’s SwimEx 600T. Initially, he had Kristi work on strength and range of motion exercises in a non-weight-bearing fashion utilizing the SwimEx’s powerful paddlewheel current and the deep well. Then, as Kristi’s ability to bear weight improved, Preston moved her onto the treadmill and onto the pool’s work stations for exercises focusing on weight bearing, dynamic movement and explosiveness.

“The SwimEx allowed us to be a lot more progressive in Kristi’s treatment, which meant she could return to the team in time for volleyball season,” Preston says.

The SwimEx at MountainTop is the first 600T model fitted with an integrated treadmill to be sold in the United States. The pool offers trainers a wide assortment of treatment options, with its front-to-back work stations providing water depths of 48 to 60 inches. Preston has used the pool to treat a wide variety of physical conditions, such as pelvic fractures, tibia or fibular fractures, hip and knee replacements, degenerative spine issues and post-op spine issues, ACLs, and rotator-cuff recoveries.

“We’ve had a lot of patients in there in the first few months,” Preston says. “The pool allows the patients to make great progress.”

Kristi found time between school, homework, rehab and volleyball games to send a grateful message regarding her treatment by Preston and the SwimEx 600T.

“SwimEx has played an extremely important role in my early recovery from a broken ankle! Before I could bear weight, I was able to build my muscles and stay in shape through the resistance from the underwater current…with the help of SwimEx and my wonderful physical therapist Preston Hall, I will be back playing volleyball more quickly than I thought to be possible!”

SwimEx. Go with the Flow.

A Montreal Canadiens player exercises in the team's SwimEx 900T

What do the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Lakers, Montreal Canadiens and Green Bay Packers have in common, besides the fact that they’re all professional sports franchises?
Answer: They all have SwimEx pools in their training facilities.
These teams, along with nearly 50 other professional franchises and more than 80 college sports programs, use the strong, deep current generated by SwimEx’s unique paddlewheel technology to provide physical therapy to their elite athletes.
Graham Rynbend, Head Athletic Trainer for the Montreal Canadiens, said the team’s SwimEx 900T equipped with an integrated treadmill is used daily to treat injured players during the hockey season.
“We put the athletes into the pool before they’re able to do any other exercises. Even if they’re on crutches, we can get them into the pool and get them moving and exercising, which speeds up their recovery,” Graham said.
Prior to installing the SwimEx, the club had only a hot tub for aqua-based therapy, Graham said. “The SwimEx is by far the most important therapy modality that we’ve added,” he said.
With an overall depth of 66 inches (167.6cm), the 900T features a second floor level creating anywhere from 42 inches to 54 inches (107cm to 137cm) in water depth. Therapy patients can utilize shallow rehab stations as well as deep-water exercises. The optional integrated treadmills give athletes the ability to begin running against the SwimEx’s “wall of water” without bearing their full weight.
Ed Lacerte, head athletic trainer of the Boston Celtics, said the deep well and workstations in the team’s SwimEx 700T provide an effective mixture of therapeutic options for recovering athletes.
“Our deep water well is particularly important to us. It allows for a totally non-weight-bearing environment. Utilizing the pool’s multiple water depths and various workstations, athletes of different sizes and heights and in all stages of injury recovery can run, swim, or complete prescribed therapeutic exercise programs against the current,” Ed said.
The ability to avoid placing stress on an injured joint while rehabbing in the strong current provided by SwimEx pools worked out well when Percy Harvin, a star running back for the 2009 national champion Florida Gators, suffered a high ankle sprain and associated hairline fracture. University of Florida assistant athletic training Kyle Johnston said Harvin said the team’s SwimEx 700T played a crucial role in Harvin’s recovery.
“We used the SwimEx to help him regain his range of motion and strength through active plantar/dorsi flexion and inversion/eversion exercises with the foot attachment. It was used to unload the joint as we progressed him into jogging/running, and we used it to maintain his cardiovascular fitness and introduce him to explosive movements through agility exercises with the aid of the water’s buoyancy,” Kyle said.
The 130-plus pro and college teams with SwimEx pools in their training facilities feature athletes of all heights and weights who suffer injuries of all kinds. But they share one thing: Reliance on their SwimEx therapeutic pools to help their athletes recover from injuries.
SwimEx. Go with the Flow.

In her new book, Swim: Why We Love the Water, published by PublicAffairs Books, Lynn Sherr reports that the benefits of regular swimming extend even to your mental health.

According to the book description on Amazon.com,

“Swim is a celebration of swimming and the effect it has on our lives. It’s an inquiry into why we swim—the lure, the hold, the timeless magic of being in the water. It’s a look at how swimming has changed over the millennia, how this ancient activity is becoming more social than solitary today. It’s about our relationship with the water, with our fishy forebearers, and with the costumes that we wear. You’ll even find a few songs to sing when you push out those next laps.

Swimming enthusiast Lynn Sherr explores every aspect of the sport, from the biology of swimming to the fame of Esther Williams; from turquoise pools and wild water to the training of Olympians; and she reveals the secret of buoyancy so that anyone can avoid the example of the English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, who lamented, “Why can’t I swim, it seems so very easy?” When his friend, the biographer Edward John Trelawny, said, “because you think you can’t,” Shelley plunged into Italy’s Arno River and dropped like a rock. With Swim, you can avoid that happening to you.”

The book is winning rave reviews and is a favorite among the SwimEx staff. Learn more.

Check out this review on their website:

“We offer 2 state of the art SwimEx Pools. Nothing compares to a SwimEx Pool. Traditional lap pools have absolutely nothing on a SwimEx inground lap swimming pool other than size and a lot of maintenance. In a SwimEx swim-in-place pool, you get the invigorating workouts you desire and perform the same workouts you would in a longer lap pool. Even better, you can swim a mile’s worth of laps without making turn after turn to disrupt your flow.

SwimEx counter current swimming pools are the most powerful current pools on the market. This unique and patented paddlewheel technology creates the widest, deepest and strongest river counter current in the industry – reaching speeds of up to 6.5-mph*!

An industrial electric gearmotor and variable speed control system is used to drive the paddlewheel, enabling up to 40 different counter current speeds – making SwimEx the innovative leader in current swimming pools.

All speed adjustments are made via air controls mounted at the front of the pool for easy adjustment while swimming or exercising. A rear-mounted air-controlled automatic shut-off bar disconnects power to the paddlewheel motor by contact.

The SwimEx counter current paddlewheel drive system is controlled by a 5-hp or 7.5-hp variable speed gearmotor. The gearmotor is attached directly to the current pool and requires no additional support.

Be sure to ask a staff member for instruction on use of these specialized pools or schedule an Aqua Fitness Training Session to learn how to maximize your workout in this unique aquatic facility.

Please note there is no lifequard on duty.

The fitness pool temperature is kept at approximately 85° and our rehabilitation pool at 94°.

The pool chemistry is checked daily and the pools cleaned frequently to ensure your health and safety. Please read pool rules for more information.”

At age 86, Harriet  Goodwin works out three times per week with personal trainer Kate Soule at 121Fit in New Hampshire and comes in to use the pool on her own. Harriet’s “Surf & Turf Workout” involves working out in the gym and in our therapy pool. 121fit is the area’s only facility equipped with a state-of-the art SwimEx therapy pool designed specifically for people who experience pain, enabling them to exercise pain free. Since beginning her workouts with Kate, Harriet has lost a total of 26 inches and 18 pounds all the while inspiring us all with her can-do spirit and enthusiasm. Congrats, Harriet!

Learn more about SwimEx  Aquatic Therapy Pools for physical therapy, rehab and conditioning.

According to Nicole McLain, DPT, “the pool provides a fun, safe alternative or addition to land based therapy. We can work on things like strengthening, stretching, balance, agility/coordination, swimming, diving under water, jumping and other gross motor skills. The warm water is soothing to the patient and allows for reduced muscle tone for children with high tone from neurologic origins or from muscle tightness.”

The SwimEx pool enables temperature and flow adjustments, helping to create ideal conditions for children, “It can be soothing and provide a sense of safety for some patients,” says Rosa Garcia, Pediatric Occupational Therapist at Lakeland Regional Medical Center. (Therapists provide a sensory assessment for patients prior to their first swim in order to gauge gravitational insecurities or tactile processing issues.) The unique paddlewheel technology created by SwimEx offers the widest, smoothest, deepest and strongest water counter current in the industry. The paddlewheel “pulls” the water rather than pushes, and generates a smooth wall of water extending up to 30 inches (76cm) in depth.

“Building that sense of security and comfort is necessary before we can start working with other skills in the pool. Therapy in the water also helps by providing a fun environment were the kids work hard without “knowing” they are. For most patients with body awareness limitations or those who need deep and/or proprioceptive input to be sensory organized, the movement in the water as well as the effort they have to put to complete their exercises improves and helps meet these needs,” says Garcia.

The findings from clinical studies suggest that clinicians are observing multiple benefits from the use of aquatic therapy for children with an ASD in many areas of function, which provides support for the use of aquatic therapy as an effective treatment option. Results of increased swim skills, motor skills, social skills, and water safety, as well as decreases in sensitivity to sensory stimuli are similar to the findings of Vonder Hulls et al. (2006) (Source)

McLain says the SwimEx pool offers a variety of features that traditional pools lack, “The aquatic environment provides a different and varying sensory environment for children with sensory integration difficulty. The colored areas  for different floor heights are also good visual cues for children with difficulty following complex directions and enable them to work on agility and coordination with less assistance from the therapist.”

About Swim Ex:

SwimEx specializes in the design and manufacturing of superior fiberglass rehab and exercise swim spa pools for home and professional use. Our focus is centered upon controlling the therapeutic properties of water used for aquatic therapy to provide a nearly stress-free environment for rehabilitation. SwimEx is dedicated to building the finest swim spa swimming pools and rehabilitation equipment for home, sports, therapy and healthcare.

For more information on SwimEx, visit www.swimex.com

Media Contact: Julie Ruditzky, Julie@publicitycrew.com, 860-334-4774

Authors: Kasee Hildenbrand, Sara Nordio, Timothy S. Freson, Bruce E. Becker

The purpose of this article is to propose creation of a consistent, measureable 12-week aquatic exercise progression for individuals diagnosed with asthma. An aquatic exercise option not requiring swim skills may offer real value, but no previous literature explicitly describes a standardized nonswimming aquatic exercise progression. Participants were diagnosed: medically managed asthmatics in a rural community. Guidelines set forth by AEA and ACSM were used in the development of the exercise program and progression. By the end of the 12 weeks, instructors were challenging participants with multilevel travel sets and complex timed sequences, meeting programmatic goals for exercise intensity progression. In conclusion, this 12-week aquatic exercise protocol could effectively be prescribed by aquatic exercise specialists to increase physical activity in an asthmatic population. The design may be used in research studies as a consistent and measurable treatment protocol.

http://journals.humankinetics.com/ijare-back-issues/ijare-volume-4-issue-3-august-2010/development-of-an-aquatic-exercise-training-protocol-for-the-asthmatic-population

2 November 2010

Regular swimmers are less like to catch a cold this winter and will suffer less severe symptoms, according to new research.

In a report published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, scientists from North Carolina found adults physically active on five or more days a week suffered from cold-like symptoms almost half as frequently as those exercising once a week or less.

“Exercise like swimming is fantastic for reducing stress which helps maintain a healthy body.”

The study, which tracked 1,002 adults between 18 and 85-years old over a 12-week period, also found the severity of the symptoms fell by 41% for those who felt fittest and 31% for those who were the most physically active.

The researchers said the results were due to a temporary rise in immune system cells every time the body exercises which led to an increased resistance to viruses and bacteria.

Aerobic exercise and perceived fitness were the most significant factors measured while eating fruit was also linked with a lower frequency of colds.

And ASA Exercise Scientist Ian Freeman admitted eating a meal rich in protein and fibrous carbohydrates immediately after exercise was the best way to maximise immune function.

“Your immune system actually dips during exercise but then raises to a higher level over time,” said Freeman. “Exercise like swimming is fantastic for reducing stress which helps maintain a healthy body.

“But eating the right foods at the right time is also important. Lean protein is excellent for boosting your immune system function and fresh fruit and vegetables will also certainly help.”

To find out more about how a healthy diet can improve your performance in the pool and out, click here.

Swimming, water jogging, and aqua aerobics are lifetime physical activities that provide many health benefits comparable to those of walking and running. Research on the association between swimming and mortality is scarce, however. To evaluate the association between different types of physical activity and all-cause mortality, we studied 40,547 men age 20–90 years who completed a health examination during 1971–2003. Cox proportional-hazards regression was used to estimate the relative risks according to physical activity exposure categories. A total of 3,386 deaths occurred during 543,330 man-years of observation. After adjustment for age, body-mass index, smoking status, alcohol intake, and family history of cardiovascular disease, swimmers had 53%, 50%, and 49% lower all-cause mortality risk than did men who were sedentary, walkers, or runners, respectively (p < .05 for each). Additional adjustment for baseline prevalent diseases did not change the inverse association between different activities and all-cause mortality. In conclusion, swimmers had lower mortality rates than those who were sedentary, walkers, and runners.

Authors: Nancy L. Chase, Xuemei Sui, Steven N. Blair

http://journals.humankinetics.com/ijare-back-issues/ijare-back-issues/SwimmingandAllCauseMortalityRiskComparedWithRunningWalkingandSedentaryHabitsinMen

Poolsearch .org

by Rochelle Belsito

HEALTH BENEFITS

If you suffer from chronic pain, swimming may be your answer as water relieves the stress on muscles and joints. In water, humans weigh one-tenth of their actual body weight and, therefore, exercise can cause less strain. The buoyancy of the water also helps since it lets you glide across the surface rather than remain with your feet planted on the ground…….

To view full article click here, http://bit.ly/aCrpxC