For those who love the water “and” the burn of a good work out, this is exactly what you are looking for.

It’s Aqua Aerobics, an exciting and yet little known program offered through the Intramural office of the UMass Boston Athletic department. Classes are held in the Clark pool every Monday and Thursday at 5:30pm. Although the program has been around for some years now, it has always faced the difficulty of maintaining an enthusiastic and dedicated instructor.

That is until Brenda Mayfield came along. Mayfield has been the aqua aerobics instructor for the university for the past several months. She, unlike many of her instructor predecessors, is not a student of UMass Boston. Mayfield works as an aerobics instructor at the Dorchester YMCA in Codman Square.

A resident of Boston for her entire life, Mayfield attended school in Lexington, both primary and secondary, as a member of METCO, the civic program designed to send inner-city children of color to more flourishing schools systems outside of Boston. After high school, Mayfield attended Fisher College where she received a degree in Computer Science.

Although she is heavily involved in aerobics (both in the water and out of it), she is a guru of exercise and physical fitness. Her top activity is Martial Arts training, which she also teaches at the Dorchester YMCA to small children from ages six to 12.

Yet, aqua aerobics holds a special place in her heart. Mayfield brings her cassette tapes of blood pumping music and her enthusiasm, and the students feed off it. ” I love teaching ‘water aerobics’ and what makes it special is the jumping around” said Mayfield, “and I like getting the girls motivated. It’s a lot of high energy.

Mayfield realizes that aqua aerobics draw some people to participate in physical activity when they might not be otherwise. “I deal a lot with people who are obese and I like to see them motivated when they get into the water. They are not intimidated and the water makes the workout easier for them, because even though I’m on the deck, they can see what I’m doing and go at their own pace. They can feel comfortable; it’s easier to raise your legs, or jog when we are jogging in the lanes. It’s all around good times.”

There are advantages to aerobics in the water that might go unnoticed by many. The water takes much of the stress off the joints that would normally be felt in conventional aerobics. Physical therapists encourage and recommend their patients with knee and various leg injuries to first come back to physical activity through aqua aerobics.

The program is offered year-round and it is free for all students, staff, faculty, and alumni of UMass Boston. The class size ranges from four to 12 people. Mayfield hopes the numbers continue to increase as word about aqua aerobics spreads.

“Hopefully, we’ll be able to offer more classes. Maybe instead of twice a week, we’ll be able to offer it on three or four days.”

Additional information about aqua aerobics can be obtain by calling the Intramural office at (617) 287-7830 or by visiting the Athletics office in the Clark Athletic Center.