Watered down? Not this workout

Some of you may recall that my fitness column last month was about a disappointing experience I had with an aqua aerobics class at a local 24-Hour Fitness club. The workout was easy -- too easy, really.

My heart rate barely hit 90 in that class. I didn’t feel that sense of accomplishment when my muscles ache and I am flushed from the workout. This unsatisfying workout was not the fault of the gym or the instructor but rather a reminder of the importance of choosing a class that suits one’s workout needs.

Some of you wrote to me to complain about the column, noting the wide variety of water-fitness activities and cautioning me not to paint all such classes with the same brush. Several people challenged me to give aqua aerobics a second try, with a high-impact class, saying that it would indeed provide a vigorous workout.

So, I took them up on their challenge and walked into the Spectrum Club South Bay in El Segundo at 9 a.m. on Tuesday ready for a real workout. I jumped into the cold water, hoping that this class would not be a waste of time. It wasn’t.

First, the class instructor, 32-year-old Heike Fallon, was energetic and fit. She smiled happily as she jumped into the water with us. She cranked up a 1980s disco greatest hits CD and got into her routine.

Some of the women were geared for battle, wearing water shoes to better grip the bottom of the pool and ribbed gloves to increase the water resistance. They advised me not to step on the tiled black line along the bottom of the pool.

“You’ll slip, dear,” one 60ish woman said to me, smiling kindly.

We kicked, ran, jumped, pushed floating devices and finally stretched for nearly one hour. At times my heart rate stayed low at 93. But with some of the more strenuous activities, such as running from side to side, my heart rate went up to 128. The most challenging part was using the floating devices, which we would push underwater like weights to form resistance. At one point, my upper arms burned so much I didn’t think I could finish the set of 10.

The group went wild when the Village People’s cheesy anthem “YMCA” came on, and we moved our floating devices in the air to the rhythm of the music, hand-waving letters. Fortunately, the pool was big enough to accommodate the group of nearly 25 women.

True, this was not as strenuous as in-line skating for miles or even lap swimming. But it was fun, social and got my heart beating faster.

Fallon, who is an avid mountain biker and rock climber, says most of her students are in their 60s or are pregnant. Water aerobics is a cool, fresh way to get a solid workout without straining or risking injury, she said.

This particular class is offered at a club where individual memberships range from $64 to $89 a month. But there are plenty of other high-impact water-aerobics classes offered in the L.A. area.

In the end, I’m glad I took the readers up on the challenge. I would go back to this particular class, which was well-suited for my needs and athletic ability.

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Times staff writer Lorenza Munoz can be reached by e-mail at lorenza.munoz@latimes.com.