Allergy Therapy

Mark heads off allergy season with swimming and aerobics in his basement Endless Pool.

The enhanced aerobic capacity attainable through aquatic therapy is, of course, a desirable fitness benefit in itself. But as Mark Langan has discovered, his Endless Pool workout can be used pre-emptively to combat the allergies he has suffered since his teenage years.

"My reaction to pollen and other irritants has for some reason gotten more severe," says Mark, now 31. "However, I've also become much more aware of the symptoms and their patterns, and that's made the problem more manageable."

Thus, he knows that the "shoulder" seasons - when daytime and nighttime temperatures tend to vary widely, typically early spring and late fall - are usually the worst. As each allergy season begins to loom large, Mark employs early-morning workouts to help him get through it.

As soon as he wakes up with a runny nose and sneezing, Mark knows to head downstairs to the Endless Pool in his basement. On most days, a good swim will keep him symptom-free.

Mark's workout consists of about five minutes of breaststroke to warm up, then 15 minutes of freestyle swimming. If time allows before his infant daughter, Olivia, awakens, he extends his routine to include underwater aerobics and stretching. He keeps the water temperature at 86 degrees, a couple of degrees cooler in summer.

Occasionally, at the peak of allergy season, he will augment his morning workout with an evening session. When his allergies are at their most severe, Mark will also resort to taking antihistamines, which tend to make him drowsy. However, his Endless Pool workouts help him avoid taking medication as much as possible.

"It may not be a scientific barometer," Mark laughs, "but my nose definitely knows the difference."

Like many Endless Pool users, Mark came by its therapeutic benefits serendipitously, having originally installed it two years ago in the basement for his wife, Rachel, to exercise when she was pregnant with Olivia.

Mark Langan is an Endless Pools employee.

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