Your swimming pool can become your biggest ally in helping you get fit. Aside from the family togetherness, aesthetic beauty, and increased property value your pool can provide there are also endless physical benefits.
A swimming pool workout has proven to be more efficient than working out on land. Experts have commented that a swimming pool workout for 20 minutes can provide you with the same cardio benefits as 60 minutes on the treadmill. Because working out in water gives you 12 times more resistance than air, exercising in water is like exercising with weights or machines on land but safer.
Running in place, bicycling, doing Pilates, Tai Chi or Yoga can allow you to easily punch, kick and chop the water without any strain on your joints. Bottom line, exercising in water doesn’t feel as intense as the same workout being done on land but the benefits are easily noticeable.
We ran across a very informative article by Jill Barker from The Gazette regarding water running. Seems like it’s too simple to implement but with a flotation belt or a pool noodle you can take this exercise and build lower body strength and power.
Following these simple instructions will help you take your water workout to the next level:
1-On the deep end of the pool, pedal your legs as if you were on a bike.
2- Lifting each knee to hip height then extending the leg forward, drive the foot toward the bottom of the pool. Make sure you relax the ankle as the knee lifts and flex your foot as it moves forward and down in the cycle.
3- Elbows need to be at a 90 degree angle, while you are swinging your arms. As you increase your speed, do not decrease your range of motion.
Once you have this technique down, the article recommends that you “perform several short 30 to 90 second speed intervals followed by longer periods of more moderately paced running”.
After using your swimming pool as your liquid gym, feel free to bare it all this bikini season. Or if you would like more information and are ready to build your very own liquid gym, call our experts at Flamingo Pools.
