Endless pools - any experiences?

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ericnealdavis
ericnealdavis Posts: 66 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
My wife would dearly love to have a pool but we have a very limited amount of space to put one and the slope on our lot would require major retaining wall work for a level location. I've got enough room for an endless pool and she likes the idea because she was a swimmer in high school and mostly wants to do laps for exercise. Does anyone out there have any experience with one? Is it easy to use for exercise? Any issues with maintenance?

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  • Ainar
    Ainar Posts: 858 Member
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    Only one I have used was in a hotel couple years ago. Swimming was pretty much like in real pool only you do not swim away. It's good for exercising. And water flow can be turned off if you want to do different things like water aerobics. Personally it bored the crap out of me, that's the only problem. I just find it boring when my environment does not change when I do cardio. Same thing running on treadmill indoors and staring at the wall/TV... I can not stand it. I always go run outside even in cold winter. Don't know about maintenance tho.
  • ericnealdavis
    ericnealdavis Posts: 66 Member
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    Thanks Ainar. Anyone else?
  • CarolinkaCjj
    CarolinkaCjj Posts: 622 Member
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    Bump - I have the same question. I am daydreaming about one (it is my favorite exercise but I just do not have the time in my current job) and wonder if anyone has used one and what their thoughts were. Can you only do freestyle (that is all they ever show in the commercials) or can you do breaststroke and other style?
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    I daydream about them, too. I actually would ideally like to have a less-lazy river in my yard, like some of the high-end water parks have. I don't think that's going to happen but if money was no object... :laugh:

    Maintenance should be about as easy as a pool or spa. I've had pools for 15 years and they're not hard. I'd trade them all for a current pool.
  • CarolinkaCjj
    CarolinkaCjj Posts: 622 Member
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    Yeah, but money is the object for most of us. I keep dreaming though - we do not have the room for a "real" pool but when we blow out the back wall, take down the giant spruce and build the fancy-pants greenhouse, we could slip a pool in as well. Just need that megabucks to come through:laugh:
  • kateanne27
    kateanne27 Posts: 275 Member
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    I went to a college that had one, I used it a few times, but it felt like being in an aquatic hamster wheel, no sense of time or how far you have gone. I found it so boring that it was hard to do for longer periods of time, as 10minutes felt like an hour. I also found it challenging to get the resistence right, if it was strong enough to keep me from running into the front, then it was strong enough to catch me and push me to the side if I ever veered slightly of center. I was a high school swimmer too, I have pretty good form, I don't know any actual swimmers who like these pools.
  • CarolinkaCjj
    CarolinkaCjj Posts: 622 Member
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    Thanks for the input! I actually like the monotony of swimming (I zone out and have trouble keeping track of the laps anyway) but I do worry about the logistics.
  • omma_to_3
    omma_to_3 Posts: 3,265 Member
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    Never tried one, but check locally and see if anyone has one you could try. There are places here where you can rent time in them for training for competitive swimmers.

    We priced them out and you're looking at around $25K. We put in a regular pool instead.
  • rickarnold2282
    rickarnold2282 Posts: 1
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    I've had the chance to try one at a friends home and enjoyed it, his is in their basement. I was able to do freestyle and breaststroke (I'm not as great at the other strokes, but he swims Butterfly and Backstroke, too) and thought it was great exercise. What's nice is that you can set it for a more leisurely, relaxing swim or an intense workout and there is an underwater mirror to keep an eye on your form. He is part of a demonstration program for Endless Pools so I think you should be able to find one to try if you contact them. Definitely have thought about getting one myself, love that it doesn't take up much space and there are so many cool installation possibilities: http://www.endlesspools.com/photo-gallery.php?set=72157624652382738 that I love to go through!

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