INUVIK - About two years ago Donna-Lynn Baskin's osteoporosis and arthritis had progressed so far that her doctor said she had to stop running and find a lower impact sport to pursue.

She promptly took another piece of advice from him - join aquafit.

Aquafit instructor Donna-Lynn Baskin uses a set of "marshmallows" to demonstrate one of many exercises she teaches her students at the pool throughout the week. - Andrew Rankin/NNSL photo

"I fell in love with it," she said of the sport, which is a form of water aerobics.

For a few nights a week she took classes at the pool and before long she was noticing results.

"I was able to rebuild my strength and improve bone density very rapidly and that sold me on it," she said.

She's since been able to get back into running and weight training but she's stuck with her newfound hobby. In fact, last summer Baskin decided to take a few instructor classes so she could teach it. Since last December the Aurora College instructor has been holding three, one-hour classes at the pool every week for a small registration fee. She also teaches yoga.

While working against water resistance, students of different skill levels are introduced to a range of aerobic movements that offer a full body workout.

To make things interesting, Baskin said she introduces a variety of tools into the exercises, such as "marshmallows," which are dumbbells that, when underneath water, weigh about 10 to 12 pounds each.

"We do a variety of arm workouts and my style is to keep them aerobically active so they reach muscle fatigue a little quicker," she said.

She said compared to other conventional sports such as running, aquafit exercises put very little stress on bones, joints and ligaments because of the body's natural buoyancy in water.

Barb Lennie is one of her regulars. She said she always leaves the classes feeling great. The mother of four especially loves the deep water exercises where participants, with the aid of a flotation belt, follow a variety of movements without touching the bottom of the pool

"Donna-Lynn's an excellent instructor," she said. "I always get something out of the workouts and I enjoy the camaraderie.

"Plus you get to hop into the hot tub afterwards," she said with a laugh.

Enrolment continues to climb - Baskin's mailing list of students and those interested in giving her class a shot has grown to 108 from 15.

She's hoping to get some guys to sign up, saying the program is a great supplement to any workout schedule.

"I'm happy with how far aquafit has come here," she said. "But I think we could do better."