Swim Spas Make a Big Splash with Baby Boomers

If you are an aging baby boomer like I am, you may be looking for a fun form of water recreation where you can get some relief from aching muscles and joints, be able to exercise or just relax, have a place for the grand kids to play and better yet, all of this occurs in one place from the comfort and convenience of your own home.

Many of the potential swimming pool buyers are looking into swim spas as an alternative to installing a fiberglass swimming pool or above ground pool. Many homeowners don't have the space in the backyard or the budget to maintain a full size pool.

Now you can get the benefits of water therapy for the mature family members as well fun for the family in one small package.

Swim spas have been around for a long time but they weren't very popular until recently. Now retailers are claiming a distinct increase in sales and the benefits of owning a swim spa are highly touted by the public.

Recreational swimmers like them especially if they don't care about using a full size pool. They will easily fit on a deck or small backyard, but can also be installed indoors. If you really are limited in space in the backyard consider a home remodel and include the swim spa in those plans. Basements and garages are a popular place to install the spa but look for models that come in pieces so they will easily fit through a 30 inch doorway.

You might be building a dream home so why not create a complete swim spa room by including an infrared sauna, wet bar, fireplace, dining table, television and more? This could be your new workout room or part of the family room for entertaining. Many like to put them in a glassed wing of the home so they can look up at the stars while relaxing or working out. If you live on a lake in the North woods enjoying the water in the summer, install the swim spa indoors so you can have aquatic benefits in the winter months. Those long cold Wisconsin winters will be tolerable when you are working out or relaxing in the nice warm water from your very own swim spa.

The swim spa was invented to give the capability of swimming in place and typically uses a 4-horsepower jet system that moves water as fast as 400 mph, creating a strong resistance while swimming "up stream". Most models allow you to control the intensity of the workout and speed of the water so you can get in a vigorous swim or just a slow walk. Another spa might have a small propeller that drives a current naturally for the swimmer. The most popular material is a gel-coated fiberglass, but you will also find a vacuum-formed acrylic and vinyl liner as well. They are extremely low maintenance and uncomplicated. They vary in size, but a usual spa will be 14 feet by 6 feet and vary from 3 ? 6 feet deep. They come with thick padded covers for child safety. Many models have seating around it just as a hot tub would have.

A typical swim spa is easy to clean, doesn't require dehumidification indoors that larger pools need and the circulation quickly keeps your water quality at a high level. You use a lot less chemicals and less heat is required making them very economical to use.

You can also add surround sound music and lighting just as in other hot tubs for a complete experience. These pint size pools can give you the best of many worlds. The exercise therapy and rehabilitation are well documented for everything from sports injuries to the typical arthritic aches and pains. You have hydrotherapy and relaxation from the spa jets, exercise and low impact aerobics from water resistance, injury rehabilitation from the isometric therapy and water fun for everyone. There are many aquatic pieces of exercise equipment such as a treadmill or stationary bike that work great when added to the spa as well.

Where else can you find all of these things in one compact product and all at your convenience while staying at home? They range in price from about $14,000 to $32,000 plus monthly maintenance, but with all of the benefits they are well worth the investment for your home and your health.

Beverly Hlavka is a successful freelance writer offering guidance and suggestions for consumers buying hot tubs, pool supplies, saunas, above ground pools and more. Her many articles can be found at http://www.sauna-4u.com She gives information and tips on http://www.sauna-4u.com/above_ground_pools.htm to help you save money and make informed buying decisions.

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Palestinians pray over the bodies of  people killed near a United Nations school Tuesday, during their funeral in the Jebaliya refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009. Israel's military paused its Gaza offensive for three hours Wednesday to allow food and fuel to reach besieged Palestinians, and the country's leaders debated whether to accept an international cease-fire plan or expand the assault against Hamas. With criticism rising of the operation's spiraling civilian death toll and Gazans increasingly suffering the effects of nonstop airstrikes and shelling, Israel's military said it opened 'humanitarian corridors' to allow aid supplies to reach Palestinians.(AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)AP - Israel resumed its Gaza offensive Wednesday, bombing heavily around suspected smuggling tunnels near the border with Egypt after a three-hour lull to allow in humanitarian aid. Hamas responded with a rocket barrage.



President-elect Barack Obama gestures during a news conference at his transition office in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009, where he introduced Nancy Killefer, not shown, to the newly created position of chief performance officer. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)AP - Pointing with concern to "red ink as far as the eye can see," President-elect Barack Obama pledged Wednesday to tackle out-of-control Social Security and Medicare spending and named a special watchdog to clamp down on other federal programs — even as he campaigned anew to spend the largest pile of taxpayer money in history to revive the sinking economy.



Illinois U.S. Senate Appointee Roland Burris, left, meets with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev., Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)AP - Senate Democrats beat a hasty retreat Wednesday from their rejection of Roland Burris as President-elect Barack Obama's successor, yielding to pressure from Obama himself and from senators irked that the standoff was draining attention and putting them in a bad light. Burris said with a smile he expected to join them "very shortly."



In this photo provided by the Washington State Department of Transportation, water rushes past a washed out road near Blewett Pass on U.S. highway 97 in Washington State on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009 in Washington State. (AP Photo/Washington State Department of Transportation)AP - Rain and high winds lashed Washington state Wednesday, causing widespread avalanches, mudslides, flooding and road closures as the heavy snowfall that has buried parts of the state began to rapidly melt.



President-elect Barack Obama is welcomed by President George W. Bush for a meeting at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009, with former presidents, from left, George H.W. Bush, Bill  Clinton, and Jimmy Carter.  (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)AP - Confronting a grim economy and a Middle East on fire, Barack Obama turned Wednesday to perhaps the only people on the planet who understand what he's in for: the four living members of the U.S. presidents' club.



Workers put bullet proof glass on President-elect Barack Obama's Inaugural Reviewing Stand on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House in Washington, Monday, Jan. 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)AP - The upcoming inauguration of Barack Obama is an attractive target for international and domestic terrorists, but U.S. intelligence officials have no information about specific threats to the Jan. 20 event.



AP - You've heard of making cheese from goats' milk, but prescription drugs? In what would be a scientific first, an anti-clotting drug made from the milk of genetically engineered goats moved closer to government approval Wednesday after experts at the Food and Drug Administration reported that the medication works and its safety is acceptable.

Ellen DeGeneres accepts the favorite funny female star award at the 35th Annual People's Choice Awards on Wednesday Jan. 7, 2009 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)AP - Ellen DeGeneres and "Dancing with the Stars" were early winners at the People's Choice Awards.



Harvard's Jeremy Lin (4) drives for the basket in front of Boston College's Rakim Sanders in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)AP - Jeremy Lin scored 27 points to lead Harvard to an 82-70 upset over No. 17 Boston College on Wednesday night, three days after the Eagles upset previously top-ranked North Carolina.



In this  Sept. 28, 2008 file photo, New York Jets coach Eric Mangini gestures on the sidelines during the third quarter of an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. The Cleveland Browns have agreed to hire Eric Mangini as their head coach, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun, File)AP - Eric Mangini is the new head coach of the Cleveland Browns, a week after being fired by the New York Jets. A person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press that Mangini will be introduced Thursday at a news conference at the team's headquarters in Berea.



An Israeli soldier stands next to blindfolded Palestinian prisoners after they were arrested during an Israeli military operation in the northern Gaza Strip January 7, 2009, in this picture released by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Wednesday she had pressed Israel to seriously consider an Egyptian ceasefire plan as the U.N. Security Council weighed action to end Israel's attack on Gaza. (IDF/Handout/Reuters)Reuters - Israeli warplanes bombed the Gaza Strip on Thursday and tanks pounded Palestinian guerrillas on the ground as U.S. backing for a proposed truce raised expectations of an end to the offensive.



Senate-designate Roland Burris talks with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in Reid's office on Capitol Hill, January 7, 2009. (Larry Downing/Reuters)Reuters - In an abrupt switch, Democratic leaders began talks on Wednesday to swear in Roland Burris, appointed by embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to replace President-elect Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate.



President Bush greets President-elect Barack Obama at the White House, November 10, 2008. (Joshua Roberts/Reuters)Reuters - The U.S. budget deficit will swell to a record $1.186 trillion in fiscal 2009, congressional forecasters said on Wednesday, the result of an economic recession that has cut tax receipts and caused massive government bailouts of banks and automakers.



Reuters - U.S. cities are vulnerable to an attack like the gun-and-grenade assault that terrorized Mumbai for three days and killed 179 people, the White House homeland security adviser said on Wednesday.

Ali al-Marri, who has been held for 5-1/2 years at a U.S. military prison in South Carolina, is seen in this undated photograph released to Reuters on January 6, 2008. An early test for President-elect Barack Obama will be the case of suspected al Qaeda 'sleeper' agent Marri, which will force Obama to take a position on his predecessor's claim that anyone the president deems a national security threat can be imprisoned indefinitely without charges in the United States. (Handout/Reuters)Reuters - The case of Ali al-Marri, accused of being an al Qaeda "sleeper" agent and held for 5-1/2 years at a U.S. military prison in South Carolina, will be an early test for President-elect Barack Obama.



Eggs are stacked up at an egg farm in San Diego County, July 29, 2008. (Mike Blake/Reuters)Reuters - An outbreak of salmonella food poisoning has made 388 people sick across 42 states, sending 18 percent of them to the hospital, U.S. health officials said on Wednesday.



Bernard Madoff is escorted in a vehicle from Federal Court in New York, January 5, 2009. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)Reuters - Accused swindler Bernard Madoff should be jailed for violating a court order by mailing $1 million worth of diamonds, watches and other jewelry to friends and family, U.S. prosecutors told a court on Wednesday.



An Austrian hotel owner lights a gas stove. Envoys from Russia and Ukraine go to Brussels on Thursday for emergency EU-brokered talks to resolve a bitter gas fight between the two ex-Soviet giants that has engulfed Europe in a major energy crisis.(AFP/Joe Klamar)Reuters - Russia and Ukraine argue their case to Europe on Thursday in a gas price dispute that has choked off energy supplies to EU countries beset by bitter winter weather.



Smoke billows following an Israel air strike in Rafah near the Gaza Strip's border with Egypt. Israel on Wednesday approved an even tougher war on Hamas, warning residents to flee southern Gaza ahead of planned bombing of cross-border tunnels, as the Palestinian death toll passed 700.(AFP/Said Khatib)AFP - Israel on Wednesday approved an even tougher war on Hamas, warning residents to flee southern Gaza ahead of planned bombing of cross-border tunnels, as the Palestinian death toll passed 700.



A woman looks at a manometer set on a gas pipe at a compressor station in the Ukrainian city of Boyarka. Envoys from Russia and Ukraine go to Brussels on Thursday for emergency EU-brokered talks to resolve a bitter gas fight between the two ex-Soviet giants that has engulfed Europe in a major energy crisis.(AFP/File/Sergei Supinsky)AFP - Envoys from Russia and Ukraine go to Brussels on Thursday for emergency EU-brokered talks to resolve a bitter gas fight between the two ex-Soviet giants that has engulfed Europe in a major energy crisis.




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