Aqua Exercises: Your Aqua Fitness Guide
Discover original aqua exercises, clear animated demonstrations, and practical guidance for safer, more effective pool workouts.
Each aqua exercise is demonstrated with clear visuals to help you understand the movement and the muscles involved. You will also find useful tips and variations for every exercise.
The aqua exercises on this website are original and have been thoroughly reviewed for safety and effectiveness. As the collection continues to grow, you will always keep your pool workouts fresh, safe, and varied.
To see what this looks like in practice, check out the aqua exercise library at the link below:
Aqua Fitness Is More Than Just Fitness
Many people think aqua fitness is just exercising in a pool. It is actually more than that. In water, a whole new world opens up. Someone with physical limits can find themselves jumping and kicking, something they'd probably never do on land. Those aiming to shed extra pounds can exercise in the pool without feeling sweaty or ending up with sore joints, like when exercising on land. Even recovering from injuries or coping with chronic pain, moving in water can provide relief, sometimes as soon as one steps out of the pool. So aqua fitness is a whole new dimension of fitness, with possibilities that extend beyond what you can do on land.
And you don't even have to be a strong swimmer. In fact, many aqua exercises can be done in shallow water, while deep-water exercises often use flotation devices that don't require special swimming skills. Water is the main resistance in aqua fitness. This buoyant medium is what you're working against when jumping, kicking, and sculling.
Exercise Example: Cross Country Glide
This deep-water exercise is inspired by the classic Aqua Cross-Country Ski technique, which people usually perform on the spot. In this variation, you will attempt to glide as you pull and kick. The key is to move forcefully when pulling back to propel yourself, and relax when bringing your arms and legs forward.
Aiming to glide as far as possible adds purpose to your movements and creates a rhythm that synchronizes pushing and easing, which is great for training your coordination and motor skills.
You can use this principle to create similar exercises from almost any move in deep water.
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8 Aqua Fitness Facts Everyone Should Know
1
Water can be a pleasant and supportive environment so move with intention and effort when exercising.
2
Water buoyancy allows you to move with more flexibility because of its supportive nature that relieves pressure on your spine and joints.
3
Waves from splashing in the pool create something called "unpredictable resistance," mimicking real-life balance challenges (like walking on uneven terrain)
4
Did you know that aqua exercises can help with land-based sports, like running and boxing? Performing these movements in water creates unique challenges that improve performance on land.
5
Did you know that Jack LaLanne, the fitness legend, invented modern aqua aerobics in the 1950's?
6
In aqua exercises, water temperature matters; cold water burns more calories while warm water helps relax your muscles.
7
You can participate in aqua exercises even if you are not a swimmer. In fact, aqua exercises might actually help you learn to swim more quickly. By challenging your body in the pool, you'll build water confidence, physical strength, coordination, and balance, all of which are essential skills for swimming.
8
Exercising in deeper water increases effort for cardio, while shallow areas focus on balance, allowing endless creativity in routines
Fresh Aqua Exercise Ideas to Get Creative in the Pool
Don't limit your workouts to traditional pool exercises when you can come up with creative movements yourself. Look for inspiration from land-based exercises like lunges or calf raises and see if you can modify them for pool workouts. You can even come up with completely new moves if you know a bit of anatomy, like how joints align and how muscles engage with different moves. The point is not to be afraid of getting creative as long as you're staying safe. This can also include using existing exercises to create your own routines or variations, such as changing the speed, combining different moves, or adding resistance. Make sure to test your custom exercises in the pool first to make sure they feel good, comfortable, pain-free, and safe.
Frequently Asked Questions About Aqua Exercises (FAQ)
Is Exercising in Shallow Water bad for Knees?
Not necessarily! It all depends on the moves and how deep the shallow end is. The deeper you are submerged, the more support you will have.
Can I build muscles in the pool?
You can, but not the big-sized type that people usually get by lifting weights. Water resistance has a different effect, which helps achieve lean muscle tone, rather than bulk.
Can I lose weight in the pool?
Absolutely! Aqua exercises are fantastic for weight loss. Water buoyancy eases the pressure on your joints, which makes your movement safer and more effective. However, you will burn fewer calories in the pool as opposed to land-based exercises. This means you will need to work longer and harder to get the same results.
Can pool workouts replace land exercises?
Not entirely. While exercising in water improves most fitness areas, there are parts where it falls short. For example, water's buoyancy reduces gravitational impact on bones, which may limit their growth.
Want to Keep Exploring Aqua Exercises?
There are plenty more aqua exercises waiting for you. Browse the complete collection in our Aqua Exercises Library.
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