Aquatic exercise can help improve cardiovascular strength and endurance as well as muscular strength. Additionally, because water exercise is non-weight bearing, it's an activity that's open to people of all ages, sizes, weights and ability levels, including those who have injuries or are pregnant. Aquatic exercise and exercise equipment has grown and changed to meet the needs of the participants.
Function
Water exercise equipment serves to increase the difficulty of the water exercise movement, and allow for creative ways to engage your muscle groups while in the water. Because water increases buoyancy and decreases the impact of various moves, to see gains in strength, it is necessary to use the resistance of the water against water exercise equipment to challenge the body and see continued improvements.
Types
There are a number of types of water exercise equipment. Traditional equipment used for lap swimming, like fins, kick boards, pull buoys and paddles all serve to isolate specific muscle groups and strengthen the isolated group, increasing muscular endurance in lap swimming. For example, kick boards allow you to isolate the legs, pull buoys allow you to isolate the arms.
Other equipment used primarily for water exercise includes: water noodles, water belts, water dumbbells and hand webs. These pieces of equipment add more resistance to water exercise moves, increasing the difficulty because they force the water to move around the barrier you are creating when you push these pieces of equipment through the water.
Water exercise developers have also developed underwater exercise bikes and treadmills to offer a more traditional gym experience while at the pool.
Benefits
Use a piece of water exercise equipment, and you will immediately increase the difficulty of your workout because of the increased resistance they provide. Also, if water exercise is your preferred exercise method, over time, the lack of impact can lead to decreases in muscular strength and bone strength. By actively choosing to isolate muscle groups and use the water's resistance for strength training, at least some of these risks will be mitigated.
Features
Most water exercise equipment is designed specifically with a chlorinated swimming pool in mind. These pieces of equipment are made with plastic, foam, rubber and stainless steel, which don't corrode, giving them a longer life.
Many of the foam pieces are designed to float on the surface of the water. This serves two purposes: if you drop the equipment, you won't have to dive to the bottom of the pool to retrieve it, and because it naturally wants to float, forcing it under and through the water is difficult to do, increasing your workout's difficulty. Other pieces of equipment, like kick boards and swim belts, are designed to float and to support your body weight. This allows you to take them into deeper water and exercise without worrying about the water's depth.
Considerations
As with any exercise plan, get your doctor's approval before beginning water exercise. Start light and increase the resistance and difficulty level as you go. Start without any equipment, and then work your way up from hand webs, to water noodles, to water dumbbells, and so forth. Don't start with a workout that is too difficult or discouraging. The reverse is true as well: as you see exercise improvements, continuously change and challenge your body's routine by introducing new exercise equipment and skills.
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