Work Out Without Working Up A Sweat May 2, 2014
Posted by nrhatch in Exercise & Fitness, Health & Wellness.trackback
In 7 Ways Water Workouts Work Wonders, we touched upon the many benefits of staying cool while working out and getting fit.
Water exercise, or aquatics, is a terrific non-impact fitness tool. Almost everyone can benefit from joining an aquatics class, including pregnant women, out of shape folks, the elderly, and patients recovering from injuries or certain surgeries.
* Water’s buoyancy reduces your “weight” by 90%, resulting in less stress on weight-bearing joints, bones, and muscles.
* You’re less likely to have sore muscles after working out in water, which makes it perfect for folks with arthritis, back problems, knee problems, or motivational problems.
* Water exercise, done right, encompasses all fitness components: cardio-vascular, endurance, strength training, flexibility, and body fat reduction.
* The water’s resistance offers an excellent opportunity to strength train without using weights.
To create additional resistance, cup your hands and pull or push the water away from you, or just run in place.
* Because of the water’s support, you can perform stretches that would be difficult (or impossible) on land. As a result, you can move your joints through a wider range of motion and achieve greater levels of fitness and flexibility in and out of the pool.
Being in the water is calming and energizing at the same time. Instead of creaking and groaning on land, you move with the ease and grace of a kid.
And, if you stay in the shallow end of the pool, you don’t even need to know how to swim!
Aah . . . that’s better!
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Spirit Lights The Way 
Anything that reduces ‘weight’ by 90 % can’t be that bad, right? 🙂
Exactly! I love the freedom of movement I have in the pool . . . it always makes me feel like a kid again. Plus, since most of me is under water, no one laughs at my un-smooth moves.
Is there a swim-up bar in this pool? That would certainly motivate me!
I’ll bring up the idea at the next board meeting . . . if they don’t go for the idea, maybe we can do a poolside Tiki Bar.
That’ll work! Those old people will just pee in the pool.
You’ve got a point, Kate ~ I vote poolside, not swim up.
I find one of the easiest ways to swim is to snorkel. You’re so focused on the fish that you’re unaware of the effort you’re making.
Of course, I live far from a snorkeling place and so I have to content myself with the local Y pool, which your post reminded me i should be doing about this time of the year, when I don’t have to worry about going out into freezing cold weather.
Have a Happy Weekend. 🙂
Thanks, Carol. Hope your weekend is a blast. We can swim year round, but I enjoy it more when the air temps are warm.
Okay, Nancy. You’ve sparked a bit of interest in me to try the lap pool at Bally’s. It’s not deep (just very public, yuck) but I will give it a try sometime in the next 12 weeks – after I buy a swimming suit. You’ve posted so many excellent reasons for jumping in the pool, most of all no sore joints, that I think I’ll have to shelve my fear for a while and give it a go. GULP.
We have a shower by the pool, so I just rinse off before and after swimming and figure we’re never as clean as we think we are.
Just don’t read Kate’s last comment before you dive in.
If Bally’s had a poolside bar, I think I’d choose that over the pool anyway. It wouldn’t take much to keep me away from the pool. In fact, maybe Kate makes a good point, but it’s not the old I worry about.
I hear ya! We don’t have many young kids in the neighborhood or the pool. And when the weather’s warm, the water is so refreshing. So much better than slogging through the humidity on land.
If the water is deep enough, you can pretend to be Bruce Lee.
I know a little thing or two about pitching ideas, don’t I?
😉
I DO pretend I’m Bruce Lee . . . Hie Yah!
Don’t do it on land. You’ll end up with surgery to repair a torn ACL.
Ya think? 😉
Besides the “no impact” value, the orthopedist emphasized the improved range of motion that water’s buoyancy provides. It’s interesting to read how many things water exercise amends!
Yes! I can reach my toes, heels behind my back, etc., with greater ease in the water. And walking is both easier on the joints AND a better work=-out due to the increased resistance of water vs. air.
Having to buy a new suit is a problem.. 😀
I find that Beall’s usually has a good selection. In fact, I’m about due for a new suit.
I should spend more time in the water, if I had the time… And I don’t think I could break a sweat in our community pool. The water is always freezing cold, except during major heatwaves. 🙂
Our pool is heated in the winter and cooled in the summer ~ to a fairly constant 84-85 degrees. Perfect for staying cool without “hypothermia.” 😎
Ah, nice! That would be perfect for me but I think most pools here don’t get above 80 degrees. It sounds hot but it really isn’t.