One fun aspect of McDaniel’s course catalog is the Exercise and Physical Science classes (EPEs) offered for both majors and non-majors. We’re required to take four under the McDaniel plan, but I definitely would have taken water aerobics just for fun. Most EPEs span a third of a semester, so since my class had started at the beginning of the semester, Wednesday was our last day of Water Aerobics.
I’ve always been a recreational swimmer–I don’t use McDaniel’s gym, but I try to swim at least once a week if not more. I’d always wanted to try out synchronized swimming or water jogging for fun, so I was really excited to get an opportunity for an entirely new experience.
The grade for the class was mainly based on the final test and on showing up to class, thankfully. I have very little athletic ability when it comes to coordination and speed, and somehow I’m able to trip even when I’m standing shoulder-deep in water, so I think I’d have failed had it been based on my competence. Our teacher was also incredible–it’s hard to toe the line between supportive and motivating but she did a really good job of encouraging us and pushing us.
We did a lot of exercises that could be done on land, such as the can can and the Irish jig, with the main difference being that we were in water. The water provided a lot of resistance, making some exercises quite challenging once we tried to speed them up and do them for a minute at a time. We also learned about our heart rate and where we should be in relation to our resting heart rate to get the most benefit from athletic activity.
For our final activity, we created our own workout. Working with a friend, I had a lot of fun picking out a combination of the most fun exercises and the exercises that pushed me the most and combining them together. Seeing other people’s workouts was interesting, too, and the project was a fantastic cumulation to a really fun class.
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