So after procrastinating for 2 years I finally joined the Y. Last week I got shots in both my knees for my osteoarthritis. I had a bad reaction in one of my knees which led me to calling the doctor in the middle of the night in extreme pain. So after a couple of days rest I was ready to exercise.

Last night I took a Zumba class. I was the largest one there and I made it through the whole class. yippee ! ! ! ! Now, just to clarify. I was feeling some discomfort while taking the class but I was determined to get through it. I was afraid that was going to happen, a false sense of wellness and me thinking I could do anything.

A couple of hours after I got home. I was in some discomfort. I iced my knees, and tried to sleep. I had a restless night and realize to much sadness. Zumba is not made for these knees.

So my next stop will be water aerobics. I really don't want to put on a bathing suit. But I'm going to do it anyway. Everyone tells me how much better the water will make me feel.

I'll report back and let you know my experience.

Water aerobics is awesome!! You can get such a good work out. I've taken a water class where we use resistance bands, and I'm still sore from Saturday. You get a fully body work out--from your legs, tummy to arms, and it's fun and there's no stress to your body. Youll love it!! I much much prefer the deep water!

You also might check to see if they have ladies circuit training (ours is in the teen center schedule)

I think you're awesome for trying zumba right away. I've gone to so many classes, including cardio box, but zumba scares me for some reason!

Have fun, gyms are so much fun

Has the water aerobics help you lose any weight. My cousin takes it and she said she noticed losing inches. I just took my measurements and I'll check them again in about a month.

I'll be in water aerobics soon too, just waiting to receive my swimsuit. I had a mastectomy in July, so the swimsuit is a 'special' order.

You're brave for trying Zumba with sore knees. I know I won't go there until I've lost at least another 50 lbs and know my knees can take it. I have bad knees too. Otherwise, I know I would love Zumba. I've been doing teeny tiny bits through YouTube videos...

I think that it definitely would. I wore my heart rate monitor to deep water class and I burned about 340 calories--we did lots of laps and drills. I wore it to shallow water (aerobics) and I only burned like 220 cals or something like that. But that's with me and my weight, and I work out about 5 days a week. I think it is the perfect way to exercise I do a huge mix of other classes, including weights, cardio, yoga, pilates etc., but I do think it can help you lose inches. In fact, my first day there, my instructor handed out a study that said water jogging burns more calories than in land because of the water resistance. The problem for me with burning calories and the shallow water class is there is a lot of intervals that just don't get your heart rate up and burn cals, but it will shape your body and make you stronger! If you're not as in shape, it will get your HR going!! If you do the shallow aerobics, I highly recommend staying before or after to swim laps for at least 15 minutes and/ or flutter kick to get your heart rate up!

Well I just got back from my first water aerobic class at the Y. It wasn't bad at all. It's called aqua toning.

I was a little uncomfortable with all the jumping up and down because my feet were touching the bottom of the pool and I could feel it in my knees. Mind you I just got shots in my knees 5 days ago.

The last half of the class was better we used weights made of styrofoam and and a styrofoam noodle.

Next I think I try the class at the deep end where they use a vest and your feet don't touch the bottom of the pool at all. It's called aqua jogging.

I have never been to a water aerobics class. When you say that in the deep end you wear a vest, do you mean like a life jacket? And do you have to be a strong swimmer to be let into the class in the first place?

As for swimsuits, can someone make some recommendations? I have a two piece where the bottoms have a skirt. But of course there's not much it can truly hide. I wish you could swim in shorts!

I love deep-water aerobics! I used to take them with my aunt, and I was thinking about signing up for them again this winter but the place we went to no longer offers them. I will check out another place. The class I took, you didn't really have to know how to swim, and your head didn't even go underwater, but it sure does help if you're not afraid of water.

As fare as suits go, it seems like there are many new styles these days that offer ample coverage. The class I went to was at a junior high school in the evening, and we were the only ones there (mostly women), so we didn't have to worry about much of an audience.

OK, I'm inspired! I'm off to look for some deep-water aerobics classes. Thanks!!

In our deep water class, you wear a little floating device that clips around your waist. You don't have to keep yourself afloat at all, and you don't even have to get your hair wet..... Like this: http://www.watergym.com/content/sf.asp

I choose not to wear it because I feel I get a better cardio work out if I have to keep myself up while doing all our exercises

I wear Land's End suits because they have the D/DD cups that keep the girls up I need to buy a new suit because my boobs are shrinking!! You can get some boy swim shorts, or just wear your swim skirts, no one cares

My body is too old for Zumba! It just does not move that way anymore.

But I love anything in the water!

I was a life guard in high school. Water exercise is great and not as stressful on old overused, worn out joints.

I haven't taken the class yet but I saw the vest on the side of the pool and they are big vest so I will float. There is nothing that says you have to be a swimmer at all probably because of the vest. There was also a lifeguard on duty when I took the class in the shallow end.

As for a swimsuit I'm glad you asked because I was just going to post about that.

I had on a 2 piece suit where the bottom is like a skirt and the top is a loose fitting top. That is the worse suit to have. I had never worn the suit before so I didn't know what it would do in the water. What happens is the skirt floated up all the way to my chest. I had to keep pushing it down. The top was floating around also. You really want a one piece suit. I have one in the house I don't know if it fits so I may be wearing this 2 piece for awhile.

Oh and when I got out of the pool it felt like I had and extra 20 pounds on me. I didn't know what was happening but the skirt had all this extra water in it weighing me down. It was not a good suit to have on at all. I noticed that everyone in the pool all shapes and sized had on a one piece suit.

Thanks, everyone, for the info.

2feelbetter: Oh, I'm SO glad you posted that about the skirty swimsuit. I have not worn mine in water yet. I wish I could return it. I wonder if swim shorts would be okay and not float up.

As for the poll: I have not used a calorie counter. When I want to know how many calories are in something, like something unpackaged such as a piece of fruit, I just search for it on Google and I see a lot of calorie counting Web sites crop up. Is there one particular site that is supposed to be more accurate?

So I went back and took another Zumba class. It was a different instructor and she wasn't as good as the first person. I barely broke a sweat. I did modify it some so I wouldn't jar my knee to much. The funny thing about it is the instructer was wearing a knee support.

I have two bad knees stemming from volleyball ijuries years ago and now exasperated by my weight. I can't do a lot of traditional exercise. I wish I had access to a pool. Swimming is the one thing I have always loved to do and water aerobics would be so fun!

I just started 2 weeks ago so far I have taken
aqua toning and
aqua jogging.

Aqua jogging is in the deep end of the pool. I've only taken one class so far. It wasn't as easy as the aqua toning because you have to wear this belt that keeps you afloat. The problem is the belt kind of rises up under your arms and I had to constantly keep trying to push it down. The instructor said it wasn't me it was the belt and a lot of them are stretched out. It didn't seem stretched out it was just awkward. They have 3 different types of belts I'll try another one next time.

Check with your local gym also. The Golds gym near me also has a pool and they give discounts to AARP members.

I joined my local Y . It's very low key. Nothing fancy. Even though my knees ached I still have taken 2 more zumba classes. One thing for sure all the teachers are different. 2 of the teachers classes are packed. One of the teachers her class wasn't full at all and I see why. She just wasn't that good.