Exercising in the Water
Exercising in the water is a great cardiovascular workout! There are
several things that you can do to keep your heart rate pumping to achieve a very intense workout. Find a good instructor. One who is going to challenge you while reminding you of your posture and your form. I cannot stress enough how important good form and technique are whenever you exercise, even in the water. Another factor is having a comfortable bathing suit and I suggest supportive aqua shoes. Keen Venice H2 Sandal Womens
For this article, I’ll be keeping the water exercise to shallow water. We will discuss deep water exercising another time.
Depending on how tall you are the water should be anywhere between your navel and mid chest (nipple area). If the water is higher there is too much buoyancy and the results won’t be the same. Likewise, if you are too shallow, it’s too stressful for the joints.
Bathing suit…check. Shoes…check. Away we go! As always it is appropriate to warm up your muscles and joints first. Walking back and forth or sideways in the pool is good way to do that. When you get ready for the cardio portion in your routine, there are a couple of things to keep in mind.
- ALWAYS land on your whole foot! That means you need to keep the heels down! We have a tendency to land on the balls of the feet. I know that I do it too. If you are constantly landing on the balls of your feet, you will eventually begin to have knee issues. Landing on the balls of your feet aggravates knees. No matter what, keep the heels down!
- Hand Positioning. The way you hold your hands in the water can increase the intensity of your workout. The easiest position is slicing through the water, fingers closed (like a karate chop). The next level of intensity is making a fist with your hands. Then, there is cupping your hands, fingers closed, palms down, using your arms to pull the water toward you. Finally, the most intense hand position would be open fingers, palms down and pulling the water toward you. The water has to move through more barriers (fingers) causing more resistance. Remember the more water you move the more toned you will get.
There are Webbed Aqua Gloves Aqua Sphere Webbed Swim Gloves
you can use which will give you the most intensity. There are reasonably priced and can increase your cardio level.
- Traveling in the water. Moving forward and backward or side to side in the water will add resistance to your workout. There is the resistance of the water pushing against you, causing you to work harder. This kind of movement can really help with your land endurance and increase your heart rate.
- Speed. How fast you move in the water contributes to the cardio fitness level. You have to work harder against the water’s resistance to get your heart rate up. It’s great to add speed in intervals. Interval training in the water is an excellent option!
- Suspension. Taking your feet off the floor can be difficult especially
if you’re ‘abdominally challenged’. Additionally, there are some of you who don’t swim, so this option may not be for you. Start off with small increments, 5 seconds at a time and gradually increase the amount of time as your abdominals get stronger. The intensity is awesome, because of the water’s resistance against your whole body and you trying to stay afloat! Combine this with speed and you have intensity baby! - Jumping. Add any jumping move like, tuck jumps, cheerleader jumps, frog etc. and your heart rate will increase. This also adds more stress to your joints.
Try adding any or all of the above options to your workout routine to increase your fitness level. There are other things we can add while exercising in the water, like noodles and dumbbells and we will discuss those toys in another article. For now, enjoy adding some of these more intense moves to your workout and remember to have fun!
