The author admits a swimming pool is a frivolous luxury - until Texas summer hits, at which point it becomes a survival tool. But for actual exercise, pools are useless unless you own a mansion with an Olympic-length lane. Enter iGarden's Swim Jet, a device that creates an artificial current so you can swim in place, turning your postage-stamp pool into a cardio machine without needing 50 meters of still water.

The Swim Jet is a 31-pound water pump that you lower into the pool edge. It has no physical controls but can cycle 1,100 gallons per minute through its intake-output system. It's bulky enough to have wheels and a rubberized handle for wheeling it around the deck or holding it against the pool wall. Works with both in-ground and above-ground pools, so no backyard is too small for aquatic suffering.