The most refreshing way to get in shape

The fitness class meets four times a week, but the members rarely see each other with clothes on.

In fact, two of the students once met randomly outside class and barely recognized each other. That's because this class is water aerobics, and the members only wear swim shorts and bathing suits.

And they rave about the benefits of this low-impact fitness routine. The 600 Plus Gym/Spa in Edinburg offers the aquatic class, and it's one of the only gyms in the Upper Rio Grande Valley to do so. The group meets Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at 10 a.m. The biggest classes pull in about a dozen attendees.

Ten attend on a recent Friday morning. They carry towels, wear sunglasses and sport flip flops. They grab a pair of foam dumbbells from a storage bin and head for the pool, located in a fenced enclosure behind the gym near the intersection of Trenton and McColl roads.

Presiding over the class is Ben Waddell, who has taught water aerobics for five years. Of all the people who plunge into the pool, Waddell looks like the youngest. Most of his students are retired teachers. And they've been taking his class pretty much since he started teaching it.

"Are you going out tonight? It's Friday," says Eunice Gomez, a 71-year-old retired principal. She spent most of her career at Escandon Elementary School.

Waddell laughs, and the class begins. For the next hour, they twist, kick and lift. The foam weights absorb the water, and they go from feeling like nothing to weighing more than 10 pounds.

In the beginning, the class chats freely and often. Gomez jokes that she has lost 250 pounds thanks to water aerobics. She has not. But she has made some close friends, and to look at her, you'd never guess her age. She's the most vibrant and out-going one in the pool.

Other members of the class say they enjoy it because of the ease. Brian Cary is another retired educator. The Edinburg man has taught high school math in the Valley since the 1970s. He worked in Edinburg, Hidalgo and Sharyland. Cary is now 61 and he comes to class with his 60-year-old wife, Billie Jean Cary.

Brian Cary is 400 pounds.

"I could walk for maybe five minutes out of the pool," he says. "In the pool, I could walk all day."

Experts say pool aerobics are an excellent alternative to treadmills and traditional gyms, especially for people like Cary. Eric Plasker is a chiropractor and fitness consultant based out of Atlanta who recently wrote a book called 100 Year Lifetime. His work centers on ways to stay healthy through age 100.

He says pool workouts are a great way to ease stress on the joints. He also praised them for raising heart rates without smashing the knees, hips or ankles.

"It's a lot of fun," Plasker says. "You're with your friends, you're running around jumping in the pool and getting water aerobic activity."

As the 600 Plus class winds down, teacher Waddell begins to do pushups on the side of the pool. The class joins him.

"Let's do 25 and we're done," he says.

The class counts out loud the whole way, with Gomez leading the chant. A big smile is on her face.

Zack Quaintance covers features and entertainment for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4447.