Exercising in the water allows you to burn calories through aerobic exercise without breaking a sweat. The water has zero impact on your weight-bearing joints, but provides continuous resistance to your muscles to strengthen and shape them. Water's natural buoyancy of the water enables those who stopped exercising on land due to back pain, injury or arthritis to complete back exercises.
K-Tread
Treading water alone can zap 11 calories a minute, according to "Fitness" magazine. Make treading water fun with this back-toning exercise. In water deeper than your height, tread water by making circular motions with your arms and cupped hands with your legs extended down in the water. Lift your right leg in front of you at hip level and hold this position for five seconds. Quickly switch legs by moving your right leg down as you raise your left leg to the front. Continue treading water and alternating lifting your legs for 30 seconds to one minute.
Side Bend
Work your waist and your back muscles with this exercise. Stand in armpit-high water with your hands on your hips. Keep your lower body straight as you bend from your waist to your right until your right shoulder is fully submerged in the water. Do not twist or turn your upper body, and keep your head and neck in a straight line and your back flat. Return to center, and then duplicate the bend to your left side. Complete eight repetitions of this exercise on each side.
Backstroke
Give all of your back muscles a workout by swimming laps of the backstroke. Lie flat on the surface of the water with your face looking up at the sky or ceiling. Kick from your hips, lifting one leg up and one leg down simultaneously in a repeated motion. Make your kicks small, with toes pointed and your knees and feet in the water as you kick. Too large of a kick will create drag and slow you down. Your arms should rotate similar to a windmill, with one arm entering the water while the other is coming out of the water. Bend your stroking arm to a 90-degree angle and cup your palm right before it enters the water above your head. Dip your shoulder into the winter as your pinky finger breaks the surface of the water. Keep your elbow bent throughout the underwater semicircle rotation. Straighten your arm just before it rises above the water's surface with your palm facing towards your hip. Keep your arm extended as you complete the above-water portion of the semicircle, bending your elbow and cupping your palm right before your arm enters the water again. Always rotate your shoulder towards the arm entering the water to eliminate drag. Keep your underwater stroking arm in a straight position to avoid straining your shoulder. Swim as many laps as you can comfortably complete.
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