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Aqua Fitness
By fitness | August 12, 2007
Aqua workouts have been around for years but have been viewed as workouts for the elderly or feeble. This is simply not so. Aqua workouts can be for the senior population as well as those with injuries or recovering from an injury but thanks to innovative programming, aqua workouts are also seeing an increase in participation by younger populations looking to incorporate lower impact, non-jarring exercise routines. Aqua workouts fall into 2 categories:
Aqua aerobics
More low-impact than land-based aerobics, these classes have most of the fat-burning and endurance-building benefits that you get from other forms of aerobic activity. An aerobic water exercise of around 30 minutes will help you burn about 300 calories. Classes should include a warm-up, cool-down and stretching exercises. The classes will include things like jogging, kicking, jumping, squats, and dance movements, and may or may not be accompanied by music.
Aqua aerobics is great for all fitness levels, good for weight loss as well as fat burning, it builds strength and flexibility and is an excellent cardio-respiratory exercise
Aqua exercise
This is more focused on resistance or strengthening and aimed at improving tone, strength and mobility. The main advantage of exercising in water is that it offers resistance in all directions, compared to land exercises where you work only against gravity. This form of exercise is particularly beneficial to anyone at risk from bodily stress, including the elderly, overweight, or those recovering from soft tissue injury. It’s also particularly good for pregnant women and is an ideal post-natal exercise. Aqua Exercise increases aerobic endurance, flexibility and muscle tone.
Other benefits include but are not limited to:
High calorie burning during and after a workout.
Renews your energy level as it releases your stress and tension.
Exercising in water requires you to support only 50% of your body weight, making exercises easier to perform.
Water lowers the risk of stress-related injuries associated with land exercises.
The water’s resistance against your movements results in a higher workout intensity compared to land exercises.
In the hotter months it’s one of the best ways to get an outdoor total body workout without overheating.
You don’t sweat sp you come out of the water looking fresher and smelling nicer than many other exercise classes.
Look for future class/ workout ideas as I write out my class practices, including my two new class formats – aqua boot camp and aqua yoga. I am thrilled to be able to teach at a facility where the Olympic sized pool is surrounded by palm trees and a lake making our experience look like a tropical getaway.
Topics: Aqua Fitness |