Water activities are a great way of exercising and keeping cool too.
Hit the local pool, beach, river or your own pool and go for a swim. Swimming is a great all over body workout because almost all of your muscles are used during swimming. Exercising in water also has he added benefit of putting resistance on your body in all directions, compared to land exercises where you work only against gravity making water exercise a great calorie burner and ideal for developing your cardio respiratory fitness.
Water exercise is ideal for people with sore joints or restricted mobility.
Because you are floating in water, swimming is very low impact and is therefore less demanding on your joints than other sports. Water exercise is ideal for people with sore joints or restricted mobility. The reaching motion in swimming improves flexibility in your joints and the absence of gravity while you are suspended in water has great therapeutic benefits for your whole body.
If swimming laps of a pool isn’t appealing, don’t worry swimming is not the only activity you can do in a pool. Try these calorie burning ideas:
- Use a kick board to isolate the thighs, buttocks and calves.
- Knee raises are a great water workout.
- Water walking, jogging or running is great for toning legs and strengthening your hips, as well as increasing cardio-respiratory fitness levels. Start by walking through the shallow end of a pool, increasing the depth as your fitness increases. Then increase the speed to a jog or a run. You can use flotation devices so your feet don’t touch the ground and walk on the spot OR you can actually move through the water.
- Hold onto the side of the pool and KICK! The scissoring motion is great for the buttocks and hamstrings, and it indirectly tones the abdominal muscles. What could be more fun than this?
The variations are endless and you will soon customise a workout suited to your needs. Remember to build up the intensity of the activity you choose over time.
