Swim Spas

Lauded as one of the best all-around exercise activities, swimming keeps your heart rate up, builds endurance, cardiovascular fitness, muscle strength, reduces impact stress, and hits nearly every muscle in the body. This cannot be achieved with other types of exercise (running or cycling for example), and as such more and more people each year seek out space and time to swim.

Swimming can obviously be achieved where you have concentrated volumes of water. The ocean, a lake, or a swimming pool. These are your 3 most common places to swim. However, many times you might find yourself living in an area where there is no ocean or lake, and if they are there, they might not be the most adequate place to swim either due to weather or sanitary issues. A swimming pool could solve this, but they are costly to build, and to access one many times you must be a member of a club.

This elegant build-up brings us to … the swim spa. Not all that new in terms of the technology, the swim spa is still relatively unknown, however. The answer for those who want a daily swim workout, a swim spa is essentially a machine that allows one to swim against a water current that is constant. This results in one being able to swim in place, never hitting a wall or having to turn around. Moreover, if you want to stop the current, you can, and the small pool can be converted into a hot tub or a small pool for kids.

There exist a range of swim spas available on the market today. The first are molded acrylic swim spa shells. Like hot tubs, these swim spas are acrylic and 12 to 24 feet in length. One can purchase the shells separately, line them up on a deck and then build out around them. Another option are fiberglass composite swim spas. Constructed of fiberglass composite, like that of the hull of a boat, fiberglass composite spas are finished with gelcoat that create a shell that can weather all elements.

Third are self-contained, acrylic swim spas that are portable in nature. Physically, they are big and bulky, but can be moved from location to location within a backyard environment for example. Units like this are increasing in popularity due to the ease of installation. All the pumps, heaters, filters and jets are built inside the unit and the entire component is installed within a thermoplastic or wood cabinet. Fourth are component/modular designed units, popular for those who are looking for an option that can be fit inside the home. Due to its modular design, 7 x 12 feet, or 10 x 16 feet with a depth of up to 6 feet are all possible. Wall panels are made of steel and the sidings are custom built according to client specifications.

Of all the exercise options out there, these swim spas might be the best option. Yes, they’re expensive, more expensive than strapping on a pair of running shoes and hitting the street. But over the long-term, there are few options that will provide a more full-body centric work-out than these, hands down.