18 Feb Benefits of Deep Water Exercise
Do you want to exercise but find exercising is hard on your body? Land based exercises can add stress on your muscles and joints, resulting in muscle soreness, stress fractures and injury. Deep water exercises provide a great opportunity for people of all ages with different levels of fitness to exercise. Your body becomes weightless in the deep end of a pool so there’s no pressure on your joints and less stress placed on your muscles and bones. Goodbye achy joints and sore muscles after a workout!
As an added bonus, water provides resistance, which ranges between 4 and 42 times greater than in air, depending on the speed of movement, in all directions. Water’s resistance can be increased with speed and higher resistance means better workout. Start slow, increase the speed as you become more proficient with each movement.
If you have access to a warm pool, take advantage of it! Warm water increases blood flow, decreases muscle spasm, relaxes tense muscles, relieves pain, and reduces swelling, allowing for greater mobility and flexibility.
For these deep water exercises, get into the pool, with a noodle under your arms and let your legs hang. If you find this is hard on your arms or shoulders, wear a flotation belt instead.
Kick Front To Back
With the noodle securely across your back and under your arms, let your legs rise until your toes are out of the water. Bending both knees, lean forward and shift your position so your toes are behind you. Gently stretch out your legs raising your heels to the surface of the water. Bend your knees again, lean back and repeat the process 10 times.
Kick Side To Side
Similar to the previous one, bring your right leg to the surface of the water, bend your knees, shift your upper body to the right while your lower body sifts left. Stretch out your legs so your left leg is now on the surface of the water. Bend your knees again, shifting you weight back and repeat the process 10 times.
Pendulum Front To Back
Bringing your legs back to the front of you, toes out of the water, keep your knees straight, lean forward, and gently let your legs drop down and swing behind you until your heels are out of the water. Then, continuing to keep your legs straight, lean back and drop your legs down until they have swung back in front and your toes are out of the water. Repeat 10 times.
Pendulum Side To Side
Similar to the previous pendulum exercise, bring your right leg to the surface of the water. Lean your upper body to the right, dropping your legs down until they have come up to your left and your left leg is at the surface of the water. Repeat 10 times.
Scissor Kick
Keeping your legs straight, fully and simultaneously extend one leg forward and one leg back into a “splits” position. Then drop both legs down, doing a single leg pendulum, bringing each leg to full extension each way. Repeat as many as you can for 30 seconds.
