I’ve seen the morbidly obese in water aerobics classes; my mother was among that group, as a matter of fact. But I’ve suspected that swimming would actually be more effective for weight loss.

I got some support for my belief watching A&E’s show, Heavy.

I know I’ve shared my mother’s story here and at my personal blog.

I used to watch Richard Simmons and sob, wishing my mother would participate. Now that she’s gone, I obsess over shows like Heavy and The Biggest Loser, desperately wishing they could have saved her.

In the second episode of Heavy, I watched a young woman learn to swim for the first time at the age of 28, and weighing over 280 pounds. She had started out doing water aerobics, but once she learned to swim, her weight loss accelerated, and it gave her such hope.

Her partner in weight loss was not allowed in the pool at first because of an open sore on his leg. He was so happy when finally allowed into the pool. The 500+ pound man already knew how to swim, and he also accelerated his weight loss once he started swimming.

There is hope for the morbidly obese. Swimming is a lot gentler on their joints than land exercising. Don’t ever give up. There are family members and friends who would miss you so much if you lose the fight.

My son said that he didn’t think the Rangers had a water training segment to deal with. He wasn’t exactly correct, but the Ranger water training doesn’t involve swimming long distances, just braving cold, dirty water in full gear.

By far, the hardest struggle is psychological. After going through the grueling obstacle course, the rangers in training roll through muddy water. Then they crawl while rolling through the freezing muddy water. (The air temperature is 56 degrees and falling). After rolling through the cold water for a while, the men must do monkey bars with wet hands over the water. Then they jump back in the water and crawl through the mud.

The next day, on 3 hours sleep and one meal over the course of 24 hours, students must climb to a 50 foot high balance beam, walk to an obstacle, crawl to a rope line, touch a tab, drop into the freezing cold water, and swim 25 yards to a finish line.

A ranger must lead others through some of the most hostile environments on earth. They must show no fear.

Cold water swim test. Swim 25 yards in the cold water, fully dressed. Some of the black people on this particular episode couldn’t survive the cut. the cold water and full gear plus lack of swim skills disqualified some recruits.

The lesson here? Get your swim training before, during or after your military training. Lack of swim skills could stand between you and your dream–even if you dream to be part of an elite land based military unit, like the Army Rangers.

Day 1: treading water in full gear. After 15 min. of treading water, and 8 pound rifle is dropped inot the water. The men pass the rifle from man to man while still treading water. After that, the class forms a circle and starts passing 2, 5, and 10 pound weights while treading water. “Eventually the endless exertion begins to test every marine. Safety swimmers surround the pack, and begin rescuing everyone who shows signs of fatigue.

“Relax! Don’t let the pool beat you”, the staff sergeant cries.

After 2 hours in the pool, each man must swim thirty yards underwater without breaking the surface. As each marine surfaces, he must show that he is in control and lucid. Run til you puke, swim til you can’t swim anymore. Failure to complete the full 30 yards means they must repeat until they complete the task.

Shallow water blackouts occur during extreme training.

I watched Captain Washington, a black marine, finish his second attempt of swimming the 30 yards underwater, touch the wall, and then hyperventilate, and black out.

After proving themselves in the pool, the men move to the ocean.

Day 2: Amphibious phase: The gear gets much heavier–ca 90 pounds. 2 mile hike to the beach, then hell in the Pacific Ocean.

First lesson when attacking from the sea. If they can’t see you, then they can’t shoot you. They must first camouflage themselves by rolling in the sand, then they run into the ocean for training.

Day 3: Zodiac: A lot of paddling, and a lot of carrying a boat. Paddle 200 yards to buoy number 1, then 300 yards to buoy number 2, then they flip the zodiac over and carry the boat back to the start, then they repeat until they’ve completed 5 rounds. Then they hit land, and have 3 mile boat carry. An empty Zodiac weighs 300 pounds, not to mention a boat with sand and undrained water and oars.

As the winners rest, the last 3 teams get to do pushups.

Day 30: The longest day: Surviving in the Pacific Ocean. A marine must be able to swim 2000 yards in the ocean with full gear. Their packs give them buoyancy in the water. The marines must make it to the buoys in 60 minutes. Six 2 man teams failed; they could not break the surf. The failing teams will get a retry the following week. Captain Washington made the cut.

Week 12: Only 36 of the original 65 who started the course remain. They have just 24 hours to complete the course. They will get no sleep; it is the closest thing to combat they can get.

At 9 PM, all hell breaks loose. Instructors assault the perimeter, and flank the area with tear gas. The marines don’t have gas masks, and must fight the urge to run. Leave your position, and you fail the course on your last day. Attacks continue throughout the night, for 10 hours straight. At dawn, they have a job to do.

The marines attack the enemy base, then must hike 3 miles back to base carrying 200 pound dummies, and other marines designated as wounded. But there’s one big roadblock: tear gas. The instinct to quit overwhelms every man. If they can’t figure out a way to get through it, they will not succeed.

Despite overwhelming physical tests, mental endurance is what is tested above all else. All of the final 36, including two black men, survived 12 weeks of brutal training.

I took my 4 youngest children to the beach today, and I must say I am so glad my 7 year old has had swim lessons! It made so much difference. Usually he’s the kid who takes risks in the water, thinking he should know how to swim, so he tries to just make it happen.

Now he knows what he can or can’t do, and doesn’t take unnecessary risks.

I look forward to getting him back in swim lessons. Not to mention his little sister!