Water wellness

By DAISY NELSON RIVER CITY NEWSPAPERS

Staying in shape is challenging enough, but adding Havasu heat to the mix can make it feel impossible. Luckily, the water is your friend – and there’s plenty of it at the Aquatic Center.

There are multiple ways to incorporate water into your fitness routine, such as swimming, kayaking, paddleboarding – or water aerobics.

Margie Snyder, fitness instructor for the Parks and Recreation Department, teaches several water aerobics classes at the facility, along with her fellow teachers Vince Barr, Mary Frances Emerson, Sue Katschke, and Cheryl Miller.

“When we’re in water, our flexibility is entirely different,” Snyder said. “You might not be able to do an aerobics land class, but you can do water aerobics… The water is taking that beating for you.”

Snyder retired from teaching kindergarten in 2001 and began at the department in 2002 as an instructor. But teaching exercise began long before that – in 1988, to be exact, Fourteen years after moving to Havasu in 1974, Snyder started teaching jazzercise.

“It just became my passion,” Snyder said. “When I retired from teaching, I had a chance to come in here. I was still teaching and still had people. I love entertaining, I guess. I love laughing.”

That comes in handy. Keeping the class in high spirits allows everyone to be far more relaxed – and not even realize how much work they’re putting in.

“When you come to water exercise, you leave your troubles behind,” Snyder said. “Concentrate on what you’re doing. Enjoy the class. I’ve had people who have had surgeries, bad hips, bad joints, that say the water has just saved them…. Just forget. Just let everything go, and come play with me for an hour.”

Music also helps class participants forget they’re working hard. Snyder – or Sarge, as she’s known by her students –always encourages them to sing along.

“You should hear them sing when I put on, “Your Momma Don’t Dance & Your Daddy Don’t Rock & Roll,” she laughed. “It’s hysterical.”