It’s official – I’ve given a name to that thing people do in waist deep water, usually at a resort in a tropical place like Hawaiʻi or Florida. It’s a cross between swimming and jogging. Not to be confused with the swogging definition from Urban Dictionary, which involves public sex. My version, though possibly not as fun, will definitely burn more calories and tone more body parts, which is the ultimate goal. To officially swog, the athlete should be covered with as much UV protection as possible.
Swogging is the casual approach to Aquajogging
Luckily for me there is an entire industry surrounding Aquajogging. There is an annual Aquajogging World Championship, and more importantly there is tons of research on the health benefits of running in the water. The Aqua jogger, it seems is usually a serious athlete recovering from an injury, they wear a gravity belt to keep them in the proper position and shoes. A swogger in contrast is generally wearing a big hat, glasses and bikini, or for men, swim trunks.
Scoring System
Local Getaways will start rating beaches for swogability. For instance, Ka’anapali Beach gets a 9.5 because it’s miles long, usually calm, but there are a few rocks which knocks off that .5. The Mauna Kea Beach Hotel’s Kaunaʻoa bay gets a ten, not only is it a gorgeous swath of sand and rock free bottom, but this is where my grandmother and I coined the term ‘swogging’ decades ago. The Kahala is gorgeous and always calm, but since it’s only 200 yards long, it gets an 8.5 and finally Lanikai or Kailua, both world famous beaches, get an 8 because of the seasonal man 0′ wars.
Goal = Burn Calories
According to an expert on Livestrong.com, “water running burns 11.5 calories per minute” hence, “30 minutes will burn about 345 calories and an entire hour of water jogging will burn about 690 calories.” What this really means is that after 30 minutes, you’ve earned a glass of wine and decent serving of ahi poke.
Get Your Swog Gear Here
