Row, row, row your spa

Once considered the ultimate in creating a mood for love, the spa is now a fitness center creating biceps and triceps instead of romantic moments.

Aquatic Fitness System is an aquatic exercise pool and hot tub that allows for swimming against current, jogging or walking in place, and rowing … basically anything someone can do in a gym but with the added benefit of warm water and no body impact.

I don’t need those Johnny Mathis or Barry White eight-tracks anymore. Get me some Rocky Balboa music.

Dimension One Spas makes the AFS and other luxury spas that combine modern design and technology. But these conveniences do more than just stimulate circulation and remove pain from those aching joints. And they’d better. A home hydrotherapy spa can cost from $5,000 to $18,000 and aquatic fitness units start at $29,000.

The increasing popularity of spas and hot tubs has more to do with lifestyle and health than with how much they cost. As baby boomers discover new aches weekly, the warm hydrotherapy does more than just feel good. It becomes an aquatic and medical friend to go along with the recent plastic surgery.

And these spas aren’t “your father’s Oldsmobile.” The Amoré Bay tub has seats designed for men and women (right depth and width), adjustable neck rests with built-in jets, mood lighting, cup holders, a 4-foot-long “playground” bench, hand-held adjustable massage jets, and is even iPod-friendly.

“A luxury spa is something a customer wants when he or she is ready to step up from an ordinary spa in terms of design and internal quality,” explained James Hedgecock, marketing director of Dimension One Spas, which is based in Vista, Calif. “Technology is the big difference. On a regular spa, chemicals have to be used and a filter turned on each time the spa is used. A luxury spa has ozone, ultraviolet light and other nonchemical technologies integrated into its water management system, thus minimizing the need for chemicals while providing clean, clear water on a consistent basis. All of this, depending on individual heating costs, averages out to about $20 a month.”

Other features are his and her “hydronomically” designed lounge chairs lined with massage jets, fountains, lighting systems and a remote control to select underwater massage programs.

But what about those biceps?

“The AFS is an above-ground unit built to specification,” said Hedgecock. “Our flagship model is a hybrid of fitness and hydrotherapy. The19-foot tub makes it possible to swim stationary laps, run or jog in place for cardiovascular conditioning, row for an upper body and arm workout, or attach specially designed bands for resistance training. You can exercise in whatever water temperature you want, but it’s usually 75 or 80 degrees. Then when the routine is completed, move over to the hot tub section of the pool where muscles can be soothed in a 102-degree hydrotherapy body massage. It really is ideal for aging boomers, overweight exercisers and rehabilitation.”

Apparently all this actually works. Doctors from St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Institute in Spokane, Wash., studied the effects of aquatic activities among people in need of recovery from injuries or ailments. The report stated that “simply being submersed in water up to the neck increases cardiac output by more than 30 percent in a sedentary individual. So, just by sitting in water, the hydrostatic pressure on your body, and being in a buoyant state, benefits the body.”

Well, there’s always the bathtub.