Why You Should Try Aquatic Workouts
The Best Water Based Workouts, and How You Can Benefit From Them!
Looking for an alternative to your usual workout? Aquatic workouts can be the key to unlocking a stronger, healthier you. Your home pool offers many possibilities for low-impact exercise, providing a convenient, accessible space where you can stride, cycle, and swim to reach your fitness goals.
So, say goodbye to searching for a parking spot and braving the crowds at the gym, and let’s dive into the benefits of aquatic exercise as we explore your options for designing a water-based wellness routine that’s safe, fun, and effective.
What is Aquatic Exercise?
Aquatic exercise encompasses any physical activity that takes place in water. Workouts are typically done in waist to chest deep water, which allows you to push off the pool bottom or jog in place while benefiting from the 360 degree resistance that the water provides. That resistance is one reason why so many exercises are even more effective when performed in a pool.
The properties of water make it the ideal environment for people of all levels of fitness and athletic ability. Water’s natural buoyancy takes pressure off the bones, joints and muscles, and offers natural resistance, which can help build strength. Aquatic exercises offer many health benefits, such as improved heart health, reduced stress, and improved muscular endurance and strength.
A backyard or indoor pool at home provides a variety of options that extend far beyond swimming laps. Swimming is a popular activity with many benefits, but it’s just one of many forms of aquatic exercise that are available to you. Many traditional activities, like walking, running, cycling, lifting water weights, stretching, and yoga, can be even safer and more effective when performed in water.
When setting fitness goals, it’s important to choose a routine that you enjoy and will stick to. Water creates a refreshing environment that contributes to the fun factor of aquatic workouts. You’ll look forward to working out all year round, in a temperature controlled pool that can be adjusted to keep you cool in the summer and comfortably warm in winter.
The Benefits of Aquatic Exercise
Regular exercise can improve aerobic endurance, flexibility, and muscle tone, and improve your overall well being. It also can help relieve symptoms of many chronic conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, and depression.
Exercising in water offers those benefits and more, making it a popular option for individuals of all fitness levels who desire a low-impact yet highly effective fitness regimen. Here are just some of the primary benefits of a water-based exercise routine.
The buoyancy of water makes exercise safer and more accessible
When you immerse yourself in a pool, the water cradles your body from all sides, counteracting the effects of gravity by up to 90%, so you feel lighter and more supported. This buoyancy makes aquatic exercise ideal for individuals who struggle with traditional exercises such as walking, running and weight-training due to pain, mobility issues or fear of falling. The feeling of weightlessness also provides a sense of freedom and ease so workouts are more enjoyable.
Research studies, published in the Journal of Exercise Rehabilitation, highlight how water buoyancy significantly reduces the impact on joints during exercise.The buoyant force in water supports the body, lessening stress on joints, and making aquatic workouts particularly beneficial for individuals with arthritis, joint pain, or those recovering from injuries.
The Journal of Aging and Physical Activity reports that water exercise contributes to increased flexibility, as the water reduces gravitational limitations and allows for a wider range of motion in joints.
Leona calls it her "swim gym." She has a stressful job and unwinds afterwork with a swim in our R200 swim spa. Part of our RecSport Recreation Series, this swim spa features three custom-designed jets to deliver an airless current with minimal turbulence.
How to build an effective workout regimen?
Regular water workouts can improve heart health in a number of ways. Simply spending time in the water can reduce high blood pressure by relaxing the blood vessels so they can carry more blood while presenting less resistance to the heart. Swimming and water based exercise can reduce mental stress, which has a positive effect on overall cardiovascular well-being. And exercising in water can benefit internal organs, like the heart and lungs, because the water pressure makes them work harder than they would out of the pool.
A 2020 cross sectional study of older adults, conducted by the ACELA, determined that water aerobics is an effective way to protect against heart disease. The resistance provided by water enhances the cardiovascular workload, promoting heart health. Water workouts, such as swimming or water aerobics, have been shown to increase aerobic capacity, contributing to overall cardiovascular endurance.
The Harvard Medical Journal also touts the benefits of swimming and other aquatic exercise. Dr. Aubrey Grant, a sports cardiology fellow at the Cardiac Performance Laboratory at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital explains that “The pressure of water on your body increases blood flow from your extremities toward the center of your body and your heart. This increases the amount of blood your heart pumps per minute, called cardiac output making the heart work more efficiently. Moving your body through water provides far more resistance than moving through air, which means swimming strengthens your muscles and cardiovascular system simultaneously.”
In addition to swimming, water aerobics, or walking and jogging in water that’s waist deep also targets the heart while the water’s resistance adds extra calorie burn compared with land-based exercise.
Shinji is an actor and MMA fighter who clearly takes his fitness seriously. His aquatic workouts include swimming because, he says, "It's so revitalizing! You feel great after a swim." He's found that cross-training with Endless Pools "massively helps all the other areas" of his fighting and his fitness.
Water rehabilitation can speed recovery and improve mobility.
Pool based exercise can speed up recovery from injury, reduce pain symptoms, and help people suffering from arthritis, joint and back injuries, and other physical injuries gain mobility.
People with arthritis can benefit from water exercise as it supports the weight of their body, reduces the impact on joints, and reduces perceived pain. A study published by the National Library of Medicine determined the effectiveness of aquatic exercises on overweight and older patients with osteoarthritis, as water supports the weight of the body, cushioning the impact on joints and reducing pain during exercise. In addition, the temperature and water pressure of warm water relaxes muscles, relieves stress, reduces muscle stiffness.
Water exercise is not just beneficial to those with arthritis. Those with sprains, strains, tears, knee surgery, hip surgery, and spine injuries can all find relief in the pool, and because of water’s buoyancy, they can exercise safely, without the risk of a fall.
Water provides an efficient workout that targets multiple muscle groups.
During aquatic exercise, water surrounds the body and the resistance provides the additional benefit of targeting all muscle groups at once. While traditional workouts focus on specific muscle groups, aquatic exercise helps you get more out of your time in the pool. And thanks to the added resistance, water can boost calories burned up to 50% over equivalent land based exercise.
Water and physical activity come together to boost mental health
Aside from the physical benefits, aquatic workouts have also been proven to help those struggling with mental health. Swimming in general functions to improve the moods of both men and women, and the Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine found that exercising in warm water can help with stress relief, anxiety, depression, and other issues.
Aquatic fitness can help bring active families closer
Aquatic workouts can also help improve family connections. Pregnant women have reported that exercising in water has had a positive influence on their mental health, and parents whose children have developmental disabilities have been able to grow closer with their kids through activities like swimming that are fun for the whole family.
Initially Liz was skeptical about her husband Jim's dream of an Endless Pools Performance model in their backyard. Soon enough, the former competitive swimmer was drawn in for frequent aquatic workouts. Now, Liz says, "I enjoy getting back into swimming." She swims so often that, she reports, "I quit my gym!"
Exploring Your Options: Different types of Aquatic Workouts.
It may surprise you how many exercises that you’re used to doing on land can translate well underwater. Activities such as walking, jogging, or jumping jacks can have just as much of a positive impact when performed as aquatic workouts, and the resistance of the water around you only adds to that!
Here are some examples of popular pool based exercises, that can elevate your fitness, reduce stress, and keep you moving:
Swimming: For a full-body workout, cardiovascular conditioning, and improved endurance, and flexibility, look no further than your pool!
Water Aerobics: This low-impact cardiovascular exercise is a safe, popular choice for all ages, delivering benefits like improved muscle tone, increased flexibility, and weight loss.
Aquatic Walking or Jogging: This low-impact activity enhances cardiovascular fitness, and strengthens lower body muscles, while improving joint flexibility.
Aquatic Cycling: Stay cool in the pool while enjoying an efficient cardiovascular workout that strengthens lower body muscles while providing a safer, lower-impact alternative to traditional cycling.
Weight Training: Target muscle groups efficiently by channeling the resistance of water with equipment like water dumbbells.
Water Yoga: Get your zen on, and elevate your flexibility, balance, and mood! The buoyancy of the water makes it easier to hold poses, making it suitable for individuals of varying fitness levels.
Got a minute? Here are a few basic exercises to get you started.
Lateral arm lifts
Knee lifts
Leg shoots
Leg kicks
Leg kicks specifically can be made easier by using a kickboard; it helps you float so you can focus on your movements. Flutter kicks, scissor kicks, breaststroke kicks, and dolphin kicks are all good exercises with a kickboard.
There are lots of other items that could help improve upon your aquatic workout experience. Small weights for your wrists and ankles or foam dumbbells can increase resistance and help you build up muscle.
A buoyancy belt, life jacket, or some other flotation device for your torso would ensure that you don’t need to worry about sinking if you wish to exercise in deep water. This is especially important if you’re not a very strong swimmer.
Jessie Graff is a professional stuntwoman, an American Ninja Warrior, and a dedicated Endless Pools aquatic workout buff. "When I run on my Endless Pools treadmill,” she says, “it burns my calves, hip flexors and adductors even more than when I run on the ground, but with none of the impact."
Getting Started: Building your Exercise Regimen
What aquatic workouts will work for you will depend on a number of factors, such as what you want to achieve, what you’re comfortable with, and what kind of pool or equipment you have.
However, much like working out at the gym, it’s important to give yourself time to warm up and cool down on either side of the workout so you’re not putting too much of a strain on your body.
Begin with stretching. Following your warm-up, it’ll be time for a drill to get your heart rate up. These workouts should be a bit more difficult than what you did to warm up, but not at the top of your comfort zone. Save the most vigorous activity for your main set. After your workout, continue swimming at an easier pace to let your body adjust.
In terms of swimming, you can divide the aquatic workouts you do in your main set into three subcategories: speed-based, technique-based, and endurance-based. If you’re serious about wanting to get into aquatic workouts and improving your swimming skills, you’ll make sure to focus on all three of these.
The most important thing to keep in mind while performing any workout — aquatic or not — is your health. What’s the point of working out to get healthy if you’re not doing the workouts themselves in a healthy way? So, make sure you stay hydrated, take breaks when you need to, and keep the water at a moderate to warm temperature.
Five Tips for Water Safety
Water walking and jogging, underwater cycling, and other forms of aquatic exercise may not involve many of the safety issues of land based exercise. There are no cars to dodge, and you don’t have to worry about falling. When you're submersed up to your neck, the water cancels out about 90 percent of your body weight, significantly reducing stress on your weight-bearing joints, bones and muscles. However, there are some things you should keep in mind:
Always consult with your doctor when beginning or changing an exercise program.
Young and inexperienced swimmers should consider having someone else present or close by when you are exercising in the pool.
Find a workout that matches your fitness level and listen to your body to avoid any exercise that causes pain or discomfort.
Drink lots of water. Even though you may not feel as hot and sweaty in a pool, your body still requires ample hydration.
Watch your depth! Exercising in water that is too shallow can cause increased impact on your joints. Exercising in water that is too deep makes it difficult to perform the moves with good form and alignment. For most exercises, water at breastbone depth is probably best.
Realize the Benefits of an Aquatic Fitness Routine With Endless Pools
Endless Pools takes pride in providing our customers with products that promote health and fitness, and help them live better, happier lives by tapping into the power of water. Our pools are built for the ideal aquatic workout experience, with customizable sizes, depths, and a smooth, adjustable current that can provide additional resistance for better workouts.
Whether you’re a seasoned athlete, a beginner, or fall somewhere in between, If you’re looking for a safe, effective, low-impact to exercise, we hope you’ll consider aquatic workouts. Whether you want to try water exercise in the Endless Pools environment or in a traditional pool, we think you’ll find that water provides all the benefits of traditional exercise, plus an extra splash of fun!