Aqua Dumbbells Crossover

Crossover in the Pool

​In this exercise we will use aqua dumbbells in shallow water to work our upper body muscles. This exercise is easy to perform yet very effective to tone up your upper body. And because the exercise is done in shallow water, you can focus entirely on the arm movement while keeping your legs still. 

​How to Perform

Starting Position:
Start in a front lunge position to lower your shoulders under the water. Keep your back straight and chest up. Now bring your arms out to the side with your hands placed on the water level. Let your palms face forward. 
Action:
Bring your arms across your chest and in front of your body until dumbbells almost touch each other. Then bring your arms out again, back to the starting position. Do not extend the arms behind your shoulders. Make sure your hands and shoulders are aligned. Push the water in both directions and repeat until you feel your muscles fatigued. 
Breathing: 
Breathe in as you push your arms out to the side, and breathe out as you push them across your chest. 

​Muscles Used:

​The primary muscles used in this exercise are chest and upper back muscles. Arm muscles help in keeping arms straight. Your core muscles also help stabilize the body throughout the motion. 

​Benefits

​This exercise has many benefits beside working your upper body muscles. For example it helps improve our body posture. The stretching out of arms corrects a hunched back posture. The Aqua Dumbbell Crossover also improves flexibility in the shoulder joint. The movement of arms in front of the body puts the shoulder joint under a constant stretch. That increases the shoulder range of motion. 

Variations

1. Perform without dumbbells if you are aiming for lower resistance exercise.
2. Alternate arms, moving one arm at a time. 
3. Perform the exercise in smaller range of motion with increased speed. 
4. Add a jumping lunge motion to create an aerobic workout. Jump once as you spread the arms and once as you close them.
5. Lift the arms above water to increase the load on your shoulder muscles.