Often marketed to older adults and those with arthritis, water provides an ideal environment for exercise that is easy on the joints. While aerobic water exercise is excellent for these individuals, other exercisers should not overlook it. Exercising in the water provides a challenging workout for all fitness levels and can add variety to your regular routine.
Cross-country Ski
Exercises where you move yourself back and forth across the deep end of the pool will challenge your arms and legs and raise your heart rate for an effective aerobic workout. The cross-country ski is one movement that will get your heart pumping. Be sure to wear a water belt for this exercise to help support you in the deep water. To increase resistance and challenge the upper body, hold a pool dumbbell in each hand.
To begin the exercise, slowly move the arms forward and back while kicking the legs forward and back at the same time. Find your rhythm as you begin to alternate the arms and legs to the front, and keep the limbs elongated the entire time with a slight bend in the knee and elbow. The motion should mimic a cross-country skiing motion. Your arms should stay under the water during the exercise. Allow the movement to propel you to one side of the deep end, and then turn around and perform the movement to take you back to where you started. The faster you move your arms and legs through the full range of motion, the more challenging the exercise will be.
Water Jog
Water jogging provides an aerobic workout and can a benefit your performance when running on land. When water jogging, wear a water belt to help support you in the deep end and give you freedom to move your arms and legs. Simply begin a jogging motion under the water. It is ideal to stay stationary, so lean back if you feel the motion is propelling you through the water. The arms should stay under the surface for the entire exercise. To add variety, jog bringing your knees high toward your chest, or kick your heels back behind you.
Water marching is less intense than jogging and can be done in the shallow end. For this exercise, your feet will be in contact with the bottom of the pool. Keeping the arms under the surface of the water, march from one side of the pool to the other.
Mountain Climber
The mountain climber exercise will work the abdominals, hips and thighs while also increasing your heart rate for cardiovascular benefit. Perform this exercise in the deeper end of the pool at a point where your feet do not hit the pool floor when your legs fully extend. For this exercise, you will face the pool wall and grasp the ledge in each hand at shoulder level. Pretend you are trying to climb the pool wall as you bend the leg and bring the knee out to the side and up toward your chest. Your feet will gently brush the wall of the pool during the movement. Alternate your right and left legs during the climbing movement. To make the exercise more challenging, get the knees up as high as you can and move your legs more quickly.
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