When you work out in the water, the water itself provides resistance against your movements. Just walking laps from one side of the pool to the other can be a challenge at first. Once you're ready for a tougher workout, increase exercise intensity with specialized aquatic exercise equipment that provides greater resistance, or by challenging yourself to move faster through the water.
Prevention/Solution
Just getting into the pool can be a hurdle. If you feel shy about working out in a skintight swimsuit, take heart: Women can choose full-coverage or skirted models that flatter the body. Some swimsuits also have built-in elastic panels to help streamline your shape. If you're a man, you can suit your choice of swim trunks to fit your modesty level, and purchase a swim top if you don't want to go bare-chested.
Types and Calories Burned
Just like on dry land, you can do both cardiovascular, strength-training and some stretching exercises in the water. Examples include organized water aerobics classes -- which often contain a strength-training component -- walking or jogging laps in the water, swimming laps or simply playing during open swim. According to Harvard Health Publications, if you weigh 185 lbs. you can burn 356 calories in an hour of water aerobics, or 888 calories in an hour of vigorous lap swimming.
Equipment
Don't take your dry-land dumbbells into the pool. They'd sink straight to the bottom. If you need more resistance than the water provides, use buoyant aquatics-specific equipment like hand webs, gloves that provide greater resistance against the water than your bare hands. Other examples of aquatics exercise equipment include buoyant dumbbells -- the more floats on them, the more resistance they offer -- and water noodles, long, slender foam cylinders you can use as makeshift float aids or tie to your legs as makeshift ankle weights.
Considerations
Working out in the water reduces stress on your joints by about 90 percent, according to the American Council on Exercise. ACE recommends monitoring your aquatics exercise intensity by paying close attention to how you feel, because your exercise heart rate might decrease by as much as 17 beats per minute in the water, making it an inaccurate gauge of your exertion level.
Warning
Working out in a swimming pool introduces the additional risk of drowning. Some, but not all pools have lifeguards. If you feel particularly fatigued or aren't a strong swimmer, stick to the shallow end. Your other option is to wear adequate, secure flotation -- such as an aquatics jogging belt -- so you feel confident in your ability to handle yourself in deep water. But don't mistake an aquatics jogging belt or any other aquatics exercise equipment for an actual personal flotation device. The aquatic equipment isn't designed to keep you afloat if you lose consciousness.
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