KELOWNA, BC, CANADA — Traditional gym workouts are hitting the pool with aquatic fitness equipment that combines land- and water-based exercise without costly refurbishment or new construction.

“Traditional exercise subjects our bodies to impact, improper support, injuries, strains and pain,” says Jill White, president of Waterplay Solutions Corp., a spray park and water treatment system provider based in Kelowna, BC, Canada. “We wanted to help people of virtually any age or ability achieve a healthy, active lifestyle with equipment that's easy to install and adapt to existing pool facilities.”

The Waterplay equipment can transform any swimming pool more than 3.6 feet deep into a zero-impact gym, White says. Waterplay's eight portable, compact units easily can be installed, interchanged and removed to suit existing pool needs.

Aquatic fitness equipment allows operators of existing pool facilities to expand their programming with instructor-led classes, which can increase pool usage, grow client diversity, improve client retention and increase revenue, White says.

The water can be especially beneficial for physical rehabilitation, since typical land-based exercises require exercisers to bear their body weight in compromising positions and also because injuries restrict movement, she says. Aquatic fitness equipment can duplicate exercise movements in water with better control of repetitive impact, resistance and range of motion. Water's natural resistance provides a safe, even resistance, improving balance and strength in all muscle directions. Exercising in water also can increase range of motion because of the hydrostatic pressure of water, White says.

Waterplay offers eight pieces of equipment: AquaAbs, AquaClimber, AquaCycle, AquaRower, AquaStepper, AquaStrider, AquaTwister and AquaPullDip.

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