Pool workouts are growing in popularity providing better balance, agility and endurance, which is a great confidence boost for anyone who has shied away from exercise in the past. Pool exercises are great fat-burners, eating up a higher level of calories in a shorter time.
The holiday island of Bali is an excellent place for pool workouts, which don’t feel much like work, in fact it’s impossible not to smile as you jump into a pool for your exercise session and enjoying means you’ll likely stick with it.
Getting Started
To get the most of your water workout, don’t go in deeper than waist-high, that way your feet will have good contact with the pool floor and your leg muscles will be able to support some of your weight.
And be sure to wear water shoes to improve traction and webbed gloves (usually made of Neoprene with webbing between the fingers) to add resistance and intensity to arm movements. You also want to stay hydrated, so drink lots of water during and after your workout.
One of the easiest and most effective pool workouts is water jogging. At a high intensity, you’ll burn 17 calories per minute — more than on land and the workout will also make you stronger overall.
Jog for 1-to-3-minute intervals in waist-high water, and then alternate with less cardio-heavy water exercises — that lets you keep the number of calories burned high, but doesn’t require the endurance to jog for more than several minutes at a time.
Here are 10 excellent water workouts:
- Jog in place — keep knees high.
- Tick-tock hop — quickly jump from side to side, keeping feet together.
- Knee twist — cross right elbow toward left knee at waist. Alternate sides.
- Squat jump — squat down with arms extended at shoulder height; jump as high as possible while raising arms overhead.
- Jog in place — keep knees as high as possible.
- Bicycle — lean with back against side of pool, arms outstretched at edge and pedal your legs at the surface.
- Flutter kick — hold onto the edge of the pool, arms extended; kick legs quickly.
- Pendulum swing — from bicycle, extend legs in front of you and swing up and over to the right, then left, keeping them together and underwater.
- Crunch — from bicycle, extend legs, keeping feet together. Pull both knees into chest. Return to starting position.
- Outer-thigh lift — stand with left side near wall, feet together, holding edge with left hand. Lift right leg out to side. Do 20 reps on each side.
The techniques used in water therapy exercise also greatly help those suffering from back pain. And to make it that much more painless, include spa therapy and specialized equipment, such as flotation devices, and resistive devices for the hands or feet.
Active water therapy exercises for back pain are diverse and should be tailored to the individual and his or her specific condition. Exercises range from simple routines performed in a shallow pool to conditioning using underwater treadmills and other high-tech equipment.
Health-e reporting with sources fitness magazine; prevention
