A NEW exercise class has been set up in Falmouth, which uses the benefits of the sea to help customers keep fit.

Joanna Curd, 40, set up the new business when she moved back to Falmouth after living in France since 2014.

While in France, Joanna made friends by attending Longe-côte classes, an exercise popular in the north of the country, which sees people doing exercises in the sea.

Now, Joanna is offering the classes in Falmouth, under the business name Longe-côte UK.

The exercise began gaining momentum in 2005 after Thomas Wallyn, a coach at a rowing club, set it up to help train his rowers.

The Opale Longe-côte Association was set up in 2007, which brought the exercise to a wider audience.

Longe-côte is made up of walking, and performing static exercises, in the sea, with the water up to waist level.

It is believed that the water cushions the joints, so patrons get the benefits of doing the exercise without the joint damage associated with running.

Longe-côte is very popular In France, with the first aquatic hiking trail the blue path of the unicorn, opened in April 2009.

However, in the UK the phenomenon is relatively unheard of, but Joanna is hoping to change all that.

She said: “I’ve started an exercise club that does exercises in the sea off Gyllyngvase Beach.

“I lived in France and they do it all year round. I started doing it because it was a great way to meet people. There were lots of people doing it every day.

“I’m just going to be doing the classes from May to September, because the sea is too cold outside of those times.

“Using the water cushions your joints, so this exercise isn’t as damaging as walking or jogging. It takes that impact away as opposed to running on concrete.

“We also do warm up exercises on the beach before we go in the water, and cool down exercises after.

“It’s the most fun exercise I’ve done.

“I started on May 1, and run classes on Monday and Thursday, then in June will be hosting an extra class on Saturday.

“If it gets busier I will do an evening class as well.

“We have groups of about five or six turning up so far, with a range of people from 20-year-olds up to people in their 60s.”

Admission to each class costs £5, but monthly tickets are available at a discount, and a further discounted season ticket is also available.

A monthly ticket costs just £30, enabling participants to attend as many classes as they wish, and a season ticket costs £150, but only £120 for the remainder of this season.