Swim Spa Myths by Arctic Spas - Looking at buying a Swim Spa, check out these Myths First!

I’m Christian Staples with Arctic Spas. We all like a good myth and how it is proven wrong, right? The definition of a myth is something that you believe to be true, but reality says it is not.

The biggest myth with swims spa is that you need a water current to swim, or you need the nicest current out there to swim. This is just false. It is a myth and the biggest myth with swim spas. When you believe this myth, it changes what you looking for in a swim spa but it is still a myth based on false principles.

There are a couple of fundamental problems with water currents in swims spas and I know some spas have a $10,000 swim system, it includes those as well. This has nothing to do with the quality of the current. It is, that it is a current.

First, when you exercise by swimming, you get the exercise by the resistance of the water as you pull your hand through the water. The water pushes against your hand and you have to pull harder to get it to move through the water. This is what pushes your body forward in a typical swimming pool. When the water is moving with a current, this resistance is drastically reduced, and the current is now pushing your hand making it easier. Yes, you still get exercise but not like you do with regular swimming. It is as if you were a runner who only ran down hill and then had someone pick you up at the bottom to take you back up to the top.

The second problem is, and I apologize upfront as this might come across as offensive, but most of us are not Michael Phelps. You are probably not an Olympic Gold Medalist swimmer. When we exercise it takes us a little bit of time to warm up which means we are slower, then we get into a groove which means we go faster, then we start to get tired which means we go slower again. The current, while it is adjustable, has to be adjusted. This means you either have to swim at a consistent speed, which going back to we are not Michael Phelps is pretty hard or you have to stop and adjust the speed of the current, which really does not help if you are there for the exercise.

This all means that you typically are all excited about exercising but then don’t enjoy it as the current is pushing you back against the back of the spa or you are out swimming the current hitting the other end in front of you.

The solution is a swim tether. This is simply a pole with a rope attached to a harness around your waist that holds you in place as you swim. It is fully adjustable based on your size and most importantly it doesn’t care how fast or slow you swim, if you swim a little crazy to the right or the left, it just holds you in place. Then since you are not swimming against a current, you get the full exercise value of swimming just like you do in a regular swimming pool.

To set up the swim tether in an Arctic All Weather Pool, you remove the threaded insert from the recess and place the pole in it. Initially you will have to adjust the length of the rope as well as the size of the belt. It is nice to have your own individual swim tether if you have more than one swimmer in the house so you don’t have to readjust each time. There has to be a good amount of tension on the pole so you will have to have the rope shorter than what you think. I also like to have the belt lower on my hips. Once you have it all set up, you just start swimming. Super easy and amazingly, without a current.

The second biggest myth, and once again I am sorry to be offensive, is that a swim spas are just about exercise. You may justify the decision to purchase a swim spa with exercise but you will spend as much time just having fun as you will exercising for most people. This is why it is important to have a family fun swim spa as well as something you can exercise in.

While we offer 6 different models at Arctic Spas, the Arctic Ocean is by far the most popular model we offer. Check out this layout? 4 hot tub style seats at one end for relaxing and socializing, then the big swim area for exercise and playing around, and then two additional seats at the other end. When you add our upgraded Family Lighting package with multi-colored LED lights throughout, 4 waterfalls, and a swim current that your kids will love, it becomes the perfect combination of an exercise spa and a family fun spa.

Check out the Arctic Ocean and all of our other models at ArcticSpasUtah.com, give us a call at 801-483-1001 for more information or stop by our store in Salt Lake at 2368 S State Street or coming in June to St George at 1086 W Red Cliffs Drive.

Arctic Spa, the Only Spa Built for Utah’s Harsh Climate