If you’ve got joint pain, there are two types of exercises: the ones that hurt and the ones that don’t. The old adage “no pain, no gain” is simply not true. For people with aching joints, pain and gain just don’t go together — and with a swim spa, there’s no reason they should have to. Swim spa owners rave about loving the convenience of their roaring rivers in a box. You get all the benefits of swimming in a pool with a fraction of the cost and maintenance. You need far fewer chemicals, you can enjoy them all year round and you’ll never grow out of the current, which is enough to challenge even Olympic-level swimmers.

But the benefits don’t stop there. Let’s talk about exercise and how it affects people with achy joints.

By definition, a low-impact workout is any exercise that keeps at least one foot on the ground at all times. With high-impact exercises, like running, both feet momentarily leave the ground. Running can cause an impact of two-and-a-half times the runner’s body weight. If you have joint pain, the benefits of the workout simply aren’t worth the agony. Swimming, on the other hand, is well worth it. Swimming isn’t high impact, or even low impact. Swimming is among the world’s only full-body, no-impact exercises. Every cell in your body works and is revitalized when swimming laps, all without any stress on your joints whatsoever. If you choose, you can walk against the current, treadmill style — only this treadmill might as well be on the moon. Your body weighs so little when submerged, that even walking against the current will have essentially no impact.

So there you have it. You can actually buy a rectangle-shaped box that brings all of the benefits of a no-impact, full-body swimming workout onto your deck.

No pain. All gain.