Until last month, Sarah Leard-Dugger had not been swimming since high school, more than 50 years ago.
Now, she takes a dip at least twice a week in the Swimex facility at Greenwood Leflore Hospital's Wellness Center, and the experience has been something of a return to youth, she says.
"You actually don't in your mind feel like you're 70 years old, but this makes your body feel younger too," said Leard-Dugger, a retired registered nurse who ran the newborn nursery at the hospital for many years.
The program opened to the public last month, with eight visits going for $15 for Wellness Center members and $30 for nonmembers. The offer coincides with the Leflore County Scale Down for Your Health program, a weight-loss challenge that was launched a month ago at the Wellness Center. The first weigh-in is Saturday.
While Swimex isn't exactly the fountain of youth, it does conceal to a great extent the wear and tear of old age, at least underwater. Leard-Dugger is used to enduring a routine of treadmills, stationary bikes and stairmasters that aggravate her arthritis - and she still does - but the swimming program has made an underwater world of difference.
"You definitely feel better when you get out," she said. "The main thing about underwater exercises is you can move your limbs easier than you can in the air, I guess you'd say."
That's because water is what Swimex trainer Sherry Kelly calls a "healing medium." The fluidity of water protects joints while the resistance it offers massages and works muscles. And that combination is the key to exercise for people who are usually hindered from exercising, Kelly says, whether by arthritis, osteoporosis or obesity.
"Someone who weighs 300 or 350 pounds can jog in water just like if they weighed 100 pounds," she said.
And they can do it without swimming one lap or travelling a mile. Swimex is basically a swimming treadmill. Jets at one end of the small pool shoot water up to 6.5 miles per hour to the other end, creating resistance for any number of exercises.
The Wellness Center is making the offer to the public as a way to get more people in the community motivated to lead healthier lives, said John Cook, the center's rehab director.
"We just want to get people out and try to get them more active, more involved in doing physical things," Cook said. "This gives them the alternative of doing exercise in a weightless environment."
The extra compensation and tranquility water brings - along with the chairlift to get in and out easily - make Swimex an easier segue into a regular exercise routine, which can seem like a nearly insurmountable goal for people who just can't find the motivation, Kelly said.
"If a person comes in two to three times a week and gets in the habit of doing that, they've started something they can do repetitiously," she explained. "After a few weeks, they think, 'Now , I can go do the treadmill.' It helps them get their foot in the door."
Kelly's oversees the afterhours Swimex prorgram, but interested persons can make arrangements with the Wellness Center staff to use the "swimming treadmill" during the day when times are available.
Kelly began at the Wellness Center as a full-time exercise trainer a few years ago. Even now, since she has moved on to become public relations director for the Northwest District of the Girl Scout Council, she can't stay away from physical therapy. She still spends about three evenings a week training people on Swimex. Mainly, she's in it for the underdogs, she says.
"People with toned muscles and washboard abs, they already have their routine," she said. "I really want to be motivational to people who need that extra push, who have problems getting started."
But Swimex isn't just for the elderly, infirm and overweight either.
Dr. Jacquelyn Lucas is a young optometrist who has exercised most of her life. She regularly lifts weights in the Wellness Center gym and walks and runs on the treadmills. Now, she's choosing to spend some of her work-out time in the water.
"I tend to have a problem pulling muscles, and getting in warm water seems to help keep them relaxed so that I don't strain my muscles," said Lucas, who lives in Greenwood and has an office in Winona.
Athletic injuries and ailments are often treated in the whirlpool-like environment. With Kelly as her guide, Lucas gets all kinds of other assistance too.
"If you tell her what area you want to work on she'll try to find exercises for you to work out that area," Lucas said. "She'll even make suggestions in terms of food, nutrition and health."
Leard-Dugger said Kelly makes the workout even more invigorating.
"Sherry is a wonderful instructor," Leard-Dugger said. "She just gets you feeling up, and she makes you feel like you're not old."
