We all know the importance of exercise in our daily lives. For people with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes, swimming may well be the perfect exercise, as it can keep them more active and healthy.  Swimming does not jar the joints like, basketball, jogging, football, soccer or tennis.  Unlike golf or bowling, it keeps you moving for a length of time, rather than having to expend some energy and then rest.  That is important for cardiovascular fitness in that it allows one to pump blood and oxygen more efficiently.  Swimming also exercise both the upper body and the lower body muscles at the same time, something that many other sports do not and can burn from 350 to 420 calories per hour.  It is especially good for those who have numbness or lack of feeling of the feet (due to diabetic neuropathy) as it will do no harm.
 
As with other exercises, swimming makes you feel good by producing endorphins.  Finally, swimming can help diabetics tone their body; they will lose calories and lose weight, help lower cholesterol and blood pressure, and in the process of becoming fit, help to control their weight.  All these are very good reasons to try swimming when someone has diabetes. Being in the water is also calming mentally and physically which can help diabetics more easily cope with the stresses associated with their medical condition.
 
The incidence of diabetes is increasing dramatically in Australian society, particularly as overweight and obesity become more prevalent.  Swimming in a heated indoor pool, available for use in a variety of weather conditions from hot and/or humid, to cold and/or rainy and/or windy and all weathers in between is so convenient and practical, to ameliorate diabetes caused by those conditions.  Convenience and practicality are major facilitators of keeping people exercising once they begin.  As we age, many of us gain weight and can no longer engage in the vigorous sports that we may perhaps have enjoyed; but swimming can provide the vehicle to enable all ages to maintain optimum fitness to the maximum of their ability and health status.  Improved health from swimming is an almost a fail-safe guarantee.
 
This article was produced by members of our committee with research from long suffering Diabetics help from Diabetes Australia & general health providers.
 
 Authorised by: Peter McMahon Secretary PIACF Inc.
 

According to the census of 2011. Phillip Island has 44% of its population in the 50 – 85 + age group.
 
It is an alarming fact that I in 5 Australians suffer from arthritis according to Arthritis Australia (AA).  That body is Australia’s peak arthritis body.  It provides support and information about arthritis, promotes awareness of the challenges faced by people with arthritis, funds research and keeps health professionals informed.  
 
If you have arthritis or at risk of developing a musculoskeletal condition (a disease that affects people’s muscles and bones) you may feel confused about how safe it is to exercise with arthritis.  The answer, according to AA, is that it is perfectly safe to exercise with arthritis and in fact it is beneficial.  Even for those in terrible pain, for whom exercise is the last thing that they want to do, that is exactly what they should be doing.  Staying still will only make joint pain worse, cause muscles to wither and put more strain on the very joints that they need to protect.  Regular and consistent exercise (based on advice from a medical or para-medical practitioner) can help to ‘manage’ arthritis, relieving the pain and inflammation to enable a better quality of life.  The Joint Movement® exercise program was researched and initiated by AA, in conjunction with leading health and fitness experts, in response to the uncertainty people reported about whether exercise would help or worsen arthritis symptoms. 
 
And what about the role of water exercise in ameliorating the symptoms of arthritis?
 
Exercising in warm water is one of the most comfortable and effective ways that a person with arthritis can exercise.  That is because the water supports their body, taking the weight off inflamed and painful joints.  For such classes, the water is heated to 340C, as the warmth helps tight joints and muscles to loosen up and relax, easing any soreness and soothing any pain.
 
The role of the water in such exercises is two-fold: not only does it soothe and support the human body but it also offers resistance to movements, acting a bit like a weight to help strengthen muscles during the exercise.  Under guidance from a physiotherapist, the water can offer as much or as little resistance as one likes; press hard on the water for maximum resistance, press less for less or minimal resistance.  That enables participants to instantly adapt the exercises to suit their individual needs, and means that the exercises can be beneficial for different people with different levels of strength and mobility. 
 
Each class begins with a warm up, followed by a selection of exercises that move through the body to give a full body work-out for overall wellbeing, and ends with a warm-down.  The exercise regime covers the whole body, not just specific joints – it works those joints that are affected by arthritis as well as those that aren’t, acting as a preventative measure as well as treatment.
 
In 2014, the Phillip Island Aquatic Centre Committee presented a Submission to the Bass Coast Shire Council, in order to convince Council that Phillip Island needed to have its own Aquatic Centre.  In May 2014 Council resolved that such an Aquatic Centre was indeed required.  As part of the research for the submission (and included in the submission) the Committee determined that the average age profile of the permanent population of Phillip Island was 5 years older than the average for all Victorian municipalities.  Surely it is not too much of a stretch to propose that the incidence of arthritis in the Island population would therefore also be higher than the State average.  That supposition highlights even more why Phillip Island needs its own Aquatic Centre NOW.
 
This article was a collaboration carried out by members of our committee including sourced from “Arthritis Australia.”
 
Authorized by: Peter McMahon Secretary  PIACF Inc