Awesome pool accessories that will forever change swimming laps
Think of the pool as not just an oasis where you can relax, catch up on your celeb gossip mags and perfect your golden tan. It’s also the perfect playground for a workout. The benefits of swimming laps are many: It’s an aerobic exercise that’s easy on the joints and the pool’s water adds resistance, which makes swimming a full-body, muscle toning exercise.
Of course, if you plan to swim laps, you’ll want to pack goggles and a towel — maybe even a swim cap and some spray-in hair detangler. But we’re also swooning over these products and gadgets that have the potential to make swimming summer’s best exercise routine.
Listen to music through your cheekbones: Thought you could only play your “bust a move playlist” while on the treadmill? Think again. The Neptune FINIS is a waterproof MP3 player will play your music for you — without requiring you to wear finicky ear buds, which are a tough accessory for the pool. Neptune uses a high-tech “Bone Conduction” audio transmission to transmit audio through the cheekbone directly into your inner ear. The Neptune player has 4 GB of storage so you can listen to your music or even an audio book while you get your swim on. The device attaches securely to goggle straps. (Need some ideas for summer songs? Check out our hit list of summer 2013’s anthems).
Time yourself: Whether you’re training for a triathlon or just want to time yourself while you’re swimming laps, a waterproof stopwatch — like this Timex Ironman from Target — will help you perfect your pace.
Tone up with water weights: Pump iron. In the water. Aquatic barbells from Brookstone will help you tone up — without putting any pressure on your joints. Take these barbells to a local water aerobics class or use them in the pool for some muscle-toning moves to complete your workout. Need ideas for arm-defining moves to do in the pool? Check out these upper-body exercises to learn how to do bicep curls, tricep pushes and shoulder shrugs in the pool.
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