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Take the plunge into the wonderful world of swimming for a lifetime of physical fitness.

Dr. Jane Katz's love affair with water began at age two when her father taught her to swim. Today, the well-known author, college professor, and authority on swimming and exercise physiology says that she spends most of her time "babbling about bubbles," helping others learn about and enjoy the sport. And like many of her students, Dr. Katz is a "seasoned" athlete, who continues to break world records and compete in senior swimming competitions around the world.

"Older is better," says Jane Katz, who at 58 is widely recognized as a world-class Masters long-distance and synchronized swimming champion and ranked among the top six All-Time U.S. Masters swimmers. Dr. Katz tirelessly promotes the sport across the country and has appeared on such programs as "Good Morning, America," the "Today" show, and "The Saturday Evening Post Health Show."

For Dr. Katz and millions of other senior swimmers, water is a wonderfully forgiving medium that is gentle on older joints, muscles, and bones. And unlike many other sports, swimming works all major muscle groups and is particularly good for building upper body strength.

The Post spoke with Dr. Katz about how others can "lap up" the benefits of aquatics at every age.

Q: Does water offer benefits that land exercises can't?

A: People who can't move easily on land can do so in the water. The beauty of buoyancy and the hydro-static effect of the water give you that upward feeling and help to protect your joints, making water a great rehabilitation medium.

In chin-deep water, you only weigh one tenth of your apparent body weight on land. In chest-deep water, you-weigh about 75 percent, while you weigh about 50 percent in waist-deep water. If you are in thigh-deep water, water provides resistance while still allowing you to move. Depending on where you are in the water, it gives you a variable gravitational effect, allowing you to work against the resistance of water vertically, horizontally, and circularly. If someone does not have a great range of motion or is deconditioned (overweight or out of shape), the water's buoyancy allows you to move more freely with a greater range of motion.

Q: Is swimming useful in addressing health concerns?

A: Absolutely. Water is a great rehabilitation medium. People who are overweight and out of shape are not going to run five miles. But they can water-walk and get into shape and maybe then choose a combination of land and water exercises. Water allows you the opportunity to get to a level of fitness where you are able to do other exercises.

I started the W.E.T. (Water Exercise Techniques) Workout[R] because I was in a terrible car accident 22 years ago before sports medicine came into vogue. I embraced activity, particularly water activity, as beneficial. I created my own program, and the W.E.T. Workout is the result.

Q: What exercises are good for people with arthritis?

A: In the water, people with arthritis can work on increasing the range of motion of their joints. As range of motion increases, they can return to activities that may have been "lost" to disability. For those with arthritis, water temperature should ideally be at least 85 degrees. This warmth, along with the buoyancy and resistive properties of water, can help decrease pain or stiffness and improve joint flexibility. Some people also experience increased muscle strength and improved coordination, endurance, and ability to perform their daily tasks.

If you have arthritis, there are several modifications that you can make to your program. First, increase the amount of time spent on warmups. Second, decrease the already-reduced impact by keeping one foot on the ground at all times. Replace jogs and hops with rocking and stretching on your toes. Third, reduce stress on joints by using a reduced number of repetitions of moves. Usually, residual pain after two hours indicates that you overdid it and should do less during the next session.

Doctors often advise people with arthritis to soak in warm water in the morning before beginning daily activities. Morning is a time when many people with arthritis find that pain and stiffness is at its worst.

In any workout, the protocol, or anatomy, of a workout is very important. Start with a warmup of about five minutes, using easy exercises such as water-walking and stretches. In water, you can walk forward, backward, or circularly. I call this "sweats to wets," because you are bringing familiar land-based exercises into the water workout. Some people will say, "I don't know how to swim, so I can't exercise in the water." We are not talking about swimming yet. For someone who does know how to swim or is learning, it is a great way to reinforce and train.

# posted by Medical Information : 4:37 AM