Is the summer heat zapping your health and fitness efforts? Try water exercise
Not only is water refreshing, it offers a gentle yet challenging way to combine strength training and balance training, both of which are recommended as part of the new exercise guidelines offered by the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association.
Water's buoyancy and constant resistance offer many advantages -- ranging from a perpetual balance-training activity to more rounded weight-training -- all while reducing the strain on joints.
"No matter what you're doing, you're automatically muscle balancing, working opposite muscles," said Indiana University fitness expert Carol Kennedy-Armbruster, who has been teaching water exercise classes for 27 years. "Balance training is easier because buoyancy assists the movement. We can do balance exercises throughout the whole workout because the water adds support, and we are in an upright functional position."
"I call water the liquid weight room," says Tatiana Kolovou, a long-time group exercise leader at IU and a fitness consultant. "It's an incredible use of your time because you can do cardio and strength together in a constantly changing environment."
Katy Pittman, a nurse from Bloomington, and her friends call it a blast.
"I like cardio," said Pittman, under the hot midday sun at the IU Outdoor PooI. "I don't like to do weight training, but I like doing it in here."
Pittman had just finished one of Armbruster's weekly water exercise classes. She began doing the workouts four or five years ago. Leslie Scott of Bloomington is a newer convert.
"I feel graceful in the water -- and I'm not," she said.
Kolovou has been teaching water exercise classes for around 18 years and frequently gives presentations about the activity at fitness conferences in the U.S. and abroad (more than 15 countries to date). She said people often dismiss it as an easy activity because it can be done by such a broad range of people. They miss out on the cross-training benefits that might help them stay healthier longer by reducing the wear and tear caused by doing the same activity over and over again.
"It should be a cross-training tool for everyone because of the variety it offers, because of the lower impact, because of the combination of cardio and strength work," said Kolovou, who also is a lecturer in the Kelley School of Business.
Here are some of the other benefits:
- Provides a low-intensity cardio workout once participants are strong enough to move quickly through the water
- Provides a degree of flexibility training because of the range of motion required for the moves
- It's a non-weight-bearing exercise so it can be suitable for people with hip and knee conditions
- Little can be seen underwater, reducing the anxiety people feel from body image or peer pressure issues often present in aerobics or other group exercise classes
- Enjoyable for special populations, such as people who have arthritis, because the water can warm the joints
