I had a dilemma. I frequently swim but like to listen to music while I work out.

Of course, my digital music player and earphones were not designed to work under those conditions. If I got them wet, the only song they would be playing is the "Sound of Silence." (Ok, bad joke. I know. Back to the point.)

Fortunately, there’s a whole set of products like MP3 goggles designed for people like me. Over the past few years, I've experimented with a lot fo them so I put together MP3Goggles.net to share some of the knowledge I picked up.

There are a lot of options out there and I try to go over each. My favorite option is--surprise, surprise--MP3 goggles. You can either buy a set ready-made or hook an MP3 player onto your current pair of goggles.

I personally believe the second is a great option, because if you’re like me, you get comfortable with a certain model of goggles. You don’t want to give them up.

To make a pair of MP3 goggles, you can buy a product like the Finis SwiMP3. It’s a completely waterproof MP3 player that snaps on a pair of swimming goggles. The devices can hold about 60 tunes on it. That means you can put it a lot of laps before you hear the same song twice.

This is by far one of the best options around for MP3 goggles. I think a lot of this has to with the fact that Finis is probably the most established player in the field. They released their first waterproof set back in 2004.

The best part about MP3 goggles is that the MP3 player is just clipped to your goggles. This means you don’t have to hold a player or strap it to somewhere else on your body and have a dangling chord.

A big question that people have with these is whether water will leak into their ears. After all that gets very annoying and can muffle the music.

My answer? It depends. Everybody’s ears are different. Every model I’m discussing on this site is also different. If you have regular sized ear canals you are probably fine. If you have larger or smaller ones, research to see if the set you are looking at comes with different sized earbuds.

Another question: Will these help you work out harder or more? That’s something you need to ask yourself. When you go to the gym and run on the treadmill do you like listening to music or do you like silence?

If you like some tunes, you should definitely take a look at this option. For me, it makes the workout go faster and songs I like can motivate me.

If you do get a set make sure you are aware of the rules and regulations at your pool. It will get harder if anybody is trying to get your attention. Just be familiar with how your pool operates, stay in your lane, and remain attentive.

MP3 goggles aren’t the only option though. There are also a lot of waterproof MP3 players. I think these are a great option for people involved in water sports (like sailing) that don’t need goggles.

You still have to be very careful in those sports no to get a player like an iPod or Zune wet. If they do, they can be destroyed. Waterproof MP3 players are specifically designed to withstand this type of damage.

If you do get a waterproof MP3 player though keep in mind you’ll also need waterproof headphones. Standard headphones typically can be damaged by water. Some waterproof MP3 players come with waterproof headphones, others do not. The links in the tags section below have more of my information about these devices. Happy swimming.