Some people like to just plug and play. They don’t need to understand what makes something work. They’d rather not have to tinker or worry about maintenance. As long as the appliance or piece of machinery performs as it is supposed to, they’re happy. And then there are other people who’d rather take things apart and put them back together instead of actually using them the way they were made to be used. Understanding how something works is more important than using them as they were originally intended. This post is for the latter type of person. That said, we won’t be getting overly technical, but rather than simply trying to sell or promote exercise pools, we’re using this article to explain how exercise pools work. If that interests you, continue reading…
What Is an Exercise Pool?
Just to ensure we’re all on the same page, we should first define what constitutes an exercise pool. Exercise pools are also often referred to as swim spas. When some people think of spas, they think of a hotel facility that provides services such as massages, nail care, and skin treatments. When other people think of spas they’re thinking of a hot tub. A swim spa could be considered somewhat of a combination of the two, but also a whole lot more. You can use your swim spa as a hot tub and you can get a decent massage using the generated water currents, but you likely won’t find manicures or pedicures unless someone you know is willing to provide those services.
In a swim spa or an exercise pool, you’re able to swim in place, similar to jogging on a treadmill, because you’re swimming into a water current that’s strong enough to prevent you from moving forward. In this way, the water tank becomes a virtually endless pool. You’ll never reach the end of the tank and you’ll never have to turn around and swim back the other way. Because of this novel feature you no longer need a full-sized swimming pool or a lengthy lap pool to perform your swimming workout. If you’d love to have a swimming pool in your backyard, but don’t have enough space, an exercise pool might be perfect for you. Similarly, if you only have enough room for a hot tub but would like to have the option to do some swimming as well, you might want to look into swim spas/exercise pools.
How Do Exercise Pools Work?
The key feature of exercise pools is the strong current that allows you to swim in place. There are a few different ways that this current can be generated. Many of the early models of exercise pools used a large paddle wheel system which spun at a high rate to create the current. Some of today’s models use propellers to generate the water movement. And yet others use a system of powerful pumps that direct the water through jets to generate the current.
What Makes A Good Exercise Pool?
Because exercise pools have been around for a relatively short amount of time, the design is still being tinkered with. Some models may have drawbacks that make their use a little more tenuous than others. Ensuring the current that’s created is powerful enough to keep you in place is very important. If you’re a strong swimmer you want to make sure the current can match your strength. Being able to adjust the power of the current will allow you to perform different strokes at different speeds while also allowing the pool to be used by swimmers of varying abilities. There are certain properties of the current itself that should also be acknowledged. Smoother currents will provide the conditions for a more natural swimming stroke, while more turbulent currents can make swimming more difficult. You should also ensure the size of the current’s swim lane is wide and deep enough. If it isn’t you may find yourself constantly struggling to get back into the current.
To learn more about how swim spas or exercise pools work, download a free buyer’s guide today.