Healthy Hoboken: Dive In!

Working out in this heat is just about the last thing I want to do. After walking just a couple of blocks the other night, I thought I was going to pass out. The heat alone is so taxing on our bodies that it's hard to think we should be doing anything more than a 10-minute walk to Cold Stone.

Alas, sitting around in the air-conditioning all day and then sipping cooling cocktails at happy hour or devouring ice cream is nothing more than a recipe for fitness failure. You need to conquer the heat without sugary, cold treats to keep your waistline intact.

Jumping in a pool is one way to freshen up and work out at the same time, but a public pool in Hoboken is hard to find. 

I've been escaping to my parents' and friends' backyard pools outside of Hoboken the last few days, and heading to the beach. Put me near the water and I can't help but swim. Lucky for me, it's a fantastic workout that trainers everywhere recommend.

"Swimming is not only a great cardio exercise to incorporate into your weekly workout, but it's a fun exercise, too," says Stefanie Semaya of Pilates on the Hudson. "Just like Pilates it brings every part of the body into play and it's easy to modify, as well as throw in some variations."

Since learning to swim as a two-year-old, it's always been my absolute favorite workout. There's nothing like diving in the water, feeling weightless and refreshed while getting in a fabulous cardio session. As a member of my high school swim team, I learned all about the variations Semaya mentions.

No matter what the length of the pool, I do each stroke for a timed period so that I make sure I am staying even. But if I start to get sick of breaststroke (my least favorite) I just switch to backstroke or butterfly. I usually do a five minute warm-up, concentrating on freestyle but also just getting acclimated, treading water and doing some sidestroke.

I then move on to 10 minutes of backstroke, 10 of breaststroke, and 5 of butterfly (this is really challenging the first swim of the season, so I start with 2 minutes and build up.) I bring a kickboard and do about 10 minutes of kicking, then 10 minutes of upper-body work by crossing my ankles and letting my legs drag behind me like deadweights.

I finish the workout with five minutes treading water in the deep end. This should feel like running, minus the knee pain.

With swimming, there's no need to head to the weight room afterwards or worry that you've skipped a muscle group. It is a complete workout all in one. I don't know exactly how much I burn with this workout, but swimming in general is a calorie blaster. A quick web search of calorie-burn shows that 30 minutes of swimming burns about 400 calories. That's more than a half hour of running, with a lot less sweat.

If heading to a friend's backyard isn't an option, don't fret. Sky Club Fitness and Spa has an Olympic-size swimming pool. Check out the daily schedule for available programs and lap swim hours. I'm going to be working out there very soon, with a trainer who promises to tailor a pool workout to my fitness level.

Hoboken High School has a small lap pool available to the public. Check with City Hall for registration requirements and fees.

Stevens Institute's Debaun Aquatic Center has a lap pool available to the public. The fee is $50 per calendar month ($30 for seniors aged 65 and older; $90 for families; $65 for one parents and child) or $15 per drop-in visit ($20 for families).

These are all great options for escaping the heat. Much better than ice cream and cocktails, as far as fitness is concerned. Make sure to drink lots of water in this scorching heat. Swimming can be deceptive in that you don't realize you are working out as much, so you don't realize how dehydrated you get.

So when you get out of the pool, remember: fluids, fluids, fluids!

Sidenote: If your child isn't a little fish just yet, sign them up for lessons at one of the local pools. Swimming is a life skill that all children should learn–the sooner, the better.