Water Workout

Are you headed on vacation to a warm climate, or just wish it was summer again? Why not take your workout to your community center’s indoor pool, or try this workout while vacationing in the sun.

Water is a great fitness tool adding great resistance to every motion made, to not only impact your cardiovascular system, but also help strengthen muscles. Due to the buoyancy of water, some of your body weight will be supported in the water. This will prevent your joints and bones from bearing too great a load, allowing for a low impact workout. This is especially beneficial for people with injuries, arthritis, or who might be overweight or obese. Getting into the pool is also great cross training if you are in off season for your usual athletic events.

Here are some great tips to enhance your water workout:

·         Keep your feet in contact with the floor so your leg muscles are supporting some of your weight during exercise. Aim for about waist deep water.

·         To add resistance consider wearing webbed gloves, water shoes, or weights on your ankles and wrists.

·         Keep hydrated by drinking fresh water during and after your workout.  

Now for the exercises:

Jog: Begin with a jog from one side of the pool to the other, staying within waist deep water and make contact with the floor of the pool with your feet. The water adds great resistance allowing more calories to be burned than on land. Jog for 3 minutes as a great warm up.

Spiderman: Stay in the water and move to the side of the pool. Begin treading water by sweeping your hands back and forth to help stabilize your body. Begin to walk your legs up and down the wall of the pool. The goal is to keep your head above water while you do this exercise. It will really challenge your arms, core, and lower body as you work to stay afloat.

Leg lift: Use the same noodle or foam float. Stand in the pool and balance one leg on the float, bending the knee at 90 degrees. Hold for several minutes while squeezing your core. This exercise helps build abdominal strength and strengthens your leg muscles.

Waves: Told on to the edge of the pool, your face should be towards the pool wall. Extend your legs out behind you, keeping them straight. Keep your legs together and create waves by moving from your abs, to your hips, to your thighs, to your knees, to your feet. This should remind you of a kick from a dolphin. Keep as fast as you can for up to 1 minute. This will really challenge your leg muscles and core.  

Fly’s: this exercise will engage your pectoral muscles and also engages your core while working on your balance. Hold a lunge in the pool and extend both arms to either side. Elbows should be slightly bent. Push your arms together in front of your chest so your palms touch and thumbs are pointing upward. Return back to the sides to complete one rep. Repeat 8-15 reps and add in a pool jogging between 2-3 sets.

Plank: Get a noodle, log, or other foam float you can use. Stand in the pool and hold onto the float with arms shoulder width apart. Lean forward until your body is at an incline but your head is still above water. Hold for about 1 minute.

V-ups: Begin treading water with your hands but keep your feet closely together, legs straight. Bring your legs up to the surface of the water forming a V. Only your head and toes should be out of the water. Keep treading and hold for up to 1 minute. This will really target your abdominal muscles.

Water is a great exercise medium and really adds a creative twist to your workouts. Remember safety is very important. You should have a basic knowledge of how to swim before attempting any of these exercises. It is best to exercise in the pool under supervision of a lifeguard incase help is needed. All of these exercises should be performed in the shallow end of the pool, with your head above water to prevent serious fatigue and drowning.

So now that we just had an intense exciting workout how do we refuel for tomorrow's exercise?

This week’s post workout snack suggestion:
Low fat chocolate milk

Remember this workout plan and snack is only a suggestion and may not be appropriate for all populations, especially people who are pregnant, suffer from previous injuries, or other special circumstances. Please consult a medical doctor prior to making lifestyle changes.