Your Own Private Aquatic Therapy Pool
Portable, affordable aquatic therapy pool
I have been an avid athlete for as long as I can remember. I have toured with bands for decades extensively through the US/Europe/UK and I rarely miss a day of an intense physical workout. This is my story of finding my own private, portable, affordable, heated, saltwater, aquatic therapy pool.
It’s fun to stay at the YMCA
When we are on the road in the US, we always stop at a YMCA en route to the gig.
Away program for YMCA members
Membership at your local Y often includes an ‘away program,’ which gives you free access to almost any of their establishments across the country.
You might have to pay a nominal ‘non-local member’ fee on rare occasions. Usually, it’s five dollars or less.
They often will provide towels and locks for your items, but be prepared with your own.
Some facilities are cleaner and offer more amenities than others.
Favorite YMCA’s in Florida and amenities
Our favorite Y is in Orlando, FL. They have everything . . .
steam rooms, saunas, indoor and outdoor lap pools (One major drawback of any public swimming pool is the amount of chlorine we subject our bodies to).
There is even a cafe where you can get meals and delicious smoothies for reasonable prices.
YMCA Child Care saved me
Most Y’s also provide excellent child care service for up to two hours a visit, which we have depended on since our daughter was a baby.
Two hours is the perfect amount of time to get in a great workout and a nice warm, relaxing shower.
We were always so grateful for this service the Y has provided for parents over the years. Thank you to all the YMCA’s out there who offer this!
Much of our time was spent at the wonderful Frank Berlin YMCA in Sarasota when our daughter was very young. (Unfortunately, it has recently undergone changes and is now privately owned. It’s still an excellent facility.)
We got to know all of the child care workers pretty well. They were extremely competent which allowed us to always have a worry-free workout. That’s a HUGE deal for new parents!
We usually spend the entire two hours using the facilities, be it circuit training, spinning, yoga class, etc… and then conclude our workout with a nice, long swim before hitting the showers.
We have relied on this for years…until 2020.
Swimming is my favorite exercise
I enjoy biking, hot yoga, hiking, weight lifting, and various sports, but my numero uno has always been swimming.
A friend once dubbed me, ‘Aquaria’. Whether it’s a pool, pond, lake, river or ocean . . . I live for the water.
Spending a day swimming in local lakes and ponds used to be my ideal getaway. But with all the runoff, pollution, and contamination, it’s become a real health hazard.
I’ve been seeking an alternate option where I can at least regulate certain things like the pool temperature and the quality of water that goes into the pool. (Read on to see how I fill up my iPool.)
Small space exercise swimming
A long-time dream has been to own an Endless Pool (a small aquatic therapy pool where you swim against a current powered by electricity).
Therapy Pool Prices
An affordable option for swimmers
I have fantasized for years over my many collected photos of beautiful, outrageously expensive, small swimming pools. They start at about 30 grand, so that wasn’t happening anytime soon.
A friend in Bavaria built his own eco-friendly, narrow lap pool in his backyard. Boulders encircle the outside of the deep end for jumping into the cool water.
When we are overseas, we make sure to stop there so we can splash around with the fish.
It is a costly endeavor if you want to build one, but his design inspired me to create my own simplistic getaway.
Alternatives for athletes
After 2020 hit, all the local gyms shut down.
We stopped going to the Y and the hot yoga studios because it didn’t feel safe. Some of our favorite studios and gyms tried to stay open and navigate around all the rules that kept changing.
Eventually, many went out of business.
Oh no! What to do before insanity sets in?!
I had recently been in two consecutive bike wrecks, one breaking my clavicle and the other hitting my head and sustaining a substantial TBI. (Both accidents occurred on a full moon five months apart!)
I took this as a sign from the universe telling me it was finally time to get a pool.
Options for the aquatic therapy pool
I desperately needed my daily swims, primarily for mental clarity.
At the end of March, I began researching small lap-style aquatic therapy pools.
The iPool was my favorite hands down.
I was initially attracted to it for its compact size and depth. But how would the pool and I deal with the cold weather when we travel up North?
After an extensive search of every above-ground pool on the market, we found a special deal on the perfect iPool.
It included a saltwater pump, filter pump (with six replacement filters), a heater, a child-friendly ladder, and pool for under three grand.
We decided to take the plunge and now it is my best friend.
Bells & Whistles you can get with the iPool
This also included many bells and whistles such as a swimming harness, pull-up bar, water barbells, skimmer, a basic pool cover, solar covering for top and sides, and a fun, colorful canopy that allows you to swim in the shade if you prefer.
We purchased the additional pull-up bar. At first, I could barely manage to do one chin-up, but now I am up to twenty a day!
The therapy pool brings the family together
It’s a great way to cool off after a workout or on a hot day. Plus, it’s a lot of fun for the whole family.
We’ll spend hours making up synchronized swim routines, playing Marco Polo, or just lounging on a raft. (The pool fits two large rafts with ample room to float around.)
Sometimes I lay back in the harness, letting my limbs dangle in the water as I close my eyes and drift away.
Relieve stress and float upstream
Benefits to buying the iPool?
- PRICE– If you are sick of traveling to the public, chlorinated swimming pools that are dirty, crowded, and not heated, and you don’t mind swimming in place, the iPool is the best bang for your buck. It’s about 1/10th the price of an Endless pool. It’s portable and very well made and comes in various sizes and depths depending on your specific needs. They also replace parts if anything goes wrong. We priced out many above-ground pools from Kiddie pools to upgraded Endless Pools and the iPool was the one for us.
- HEALTH– Swimming helps with everything from relieving stress, back pain, arthritis, tight muscles, sore limbs, etc… to getting and staying in shape. It helps build your strength, endurance, and flexibility. The iPool offers a wonderful space to promote healing. Its small heater really does the job. The water can get mighty toasty which relaxes the muscles and allows you to swim any time of year. I’ve even swum long hours on snowy days up in Maine. It was magical!
- CONVENIENCE– No need to ever drive to a gym or pool again. No more shivering, or losing your desire to work out while waiting for a lane to open. No more sharing lanes with aggressive, slow, or oblivious swimmers. Just step outside into your own back yard and there you are day or night. Heaven awaits!
- PORTABLE– It’s great if you are a traveler. Very compact. Packs up somewhat easily (it takes practice) and fits right inside your trunk. You don’t have to worry about missing your workouts just because you are on vacation or have more than one place of residence.
- HYGIENE– No more poisonous chlorines, chemicals, questionable public water, dirty bacteria, and who knows what else! The same goes for the showers and bathroom floors. Let’s not forget potential illnesses that others bring (often unknowingly) to the gym.
Maintenance for your iPool is somewhat simple
Buying and maintaining your own small, above-ground, aquatic therapy pool is a small price to pay for all the conveniences it has to offer.
There is a bit of a learning curve with the pump, heater and filter, but once you get the flow, you won’t ever look back. Definitely NO regrets!
Have iPool, will travel
Who would have ever thought you could travel with your very own swimming pool?!
The Setup
The iPool website says it takes about two hours to set up. It took us close to a day and a half the first time.
We organized all the pieces in our small backyard located in downtown Sarasota. We deliberated on where it should go and ended up moving it more than once.
It is possible for one person to accomplish the setup on their own, but it’s easier and less time-consuming with two or more.
Filling up the aquatic therapy pool
Living in the city, one can’t be trustful of the water quality.
We use a Berkey filter on our sinks and showers. It makes for excellent drinking water as well.
We removed our Berkey shower filter and screwed it onto our garden hose. We used this to fill up our 2,000-gallon iPool.
It took a little more than eight hours before we could swim. The first swim in the crystal clear water was so exciting!
The floating pool filter attachment, along with a handheld skimmer, does a wonderful job keeping the pool very clean. (We never had to change the water for three months after the initial fill.)
When the pool gets dirty, we take an extension from our house vacuum and attach it to the pool filter. This allows us to clean the bottom of the pool and get to the corners. Those pool cleaners that crawl along the floor can be quite expensive!
Breaking down and setting up the pool
After three months, we packed up the pool and headed to our small cabin near Stonington, Maine. We set it up (much quicker this time) on our lawn looking over the ocean. What a magnificent view to enjoy from the edge of a heated pool!
After four months we returned to Sarasota and set it up again.
Even more benefits of an aquatic therapy pool
When I want to do physical therapy/rehabilitation exercises for my shoulder and neck, I heat up the pool for a few hours with the mini-heater and it becomes a large, soothing soaking tub.
I like the temperature cool to cold for swimming laps, so I just switch the heater off and it cools down in a few hours. It’s so versatile!
Swimming greatly helps with physical and mental rehabilitation
I spent a week in January at a brain clinic in Orlando to help with my TBI. One of the many therapies had me strapped in a chair that you would expect to see at an amusement park. It flipped me upside down and around 360 degrees eight rotations, three times a day.
I recreated this movement in the pool so I could continue with this unique therapy. It has definitely done wonders for my healing.
Therapy Pool helps with insomnia
If I have difficulty falling asleep at night, sometimes I’ll go for a moonlight swim. Or, if I wake up at an ungodly hour and can’t get back to sleep, I walk ten feet and jump into my pool. After swimming about a mile, I am definitely ready for a nap. Goodbye insomnia!
This certainly would not be a possibility at a public/private swim club and who needs the chlorine?!
My own private swimming pool
I feel extremely thankful to have my own private, affordable aquatic therapy pool during this time with the state of the world.
I swim over a mile at least five days a week and I spend about thirty minutes a day in the pool doing a variety of exercises. The pull-up bar and water weights enable you to enjoy a full aerobic workout.
It is a necessity for healing, staying in shape, and family fun.
The iPool travels with us wherever we go.
For more fun and adventure with the Aquatic Therapy Pool, check out our blog post: Travel School. You can read more about our trip from Sarasota to Stonington, Maine, and other activities we like to engage in for our mental health and well-being.
