If you think water and workouts don’t mix, you’re in for a surprise! Many fitness freaks have said that working out in the water or doing water-based exercises can help the body and the mind.
A study found that doing water exercises twice daily for 12 weeks can significantly improve body strength, blood pressure, and even body composition!
So, if you’re looking for some fun water exercises to try out, then let’s get started!
1. Walking in water
While this isn’t an exercise, it can be a great way for beginners to adjust to water resistance and friction.
Walking in water can also help you to relax your arms and legs and target your core and lower body. If you wish to increase the intensity, use hand or ankle weights.
Start by slowly walking on water about the level of your waist. Lengthen your spine and put your heel first instead of your toes.
Next, keep your arms at your sides and try to increase the pace. This will keep your core engaged as you test yourself. Continue this for about 5 to 10 minutes.
2. Water aerobics
For the ones who love splashing around in the water, water aerobics can significantly improve your health!
Moreover, water aerobics has also been reported to elevate happiness and reduce stress.
This exercise is typically done in a group where people keep themselves steady using their limbs. Some kind of groovy aerobic music is played, and the people start working out to the beats in the water itself!
It might be a little difficult for beginners to start performing aerobics right on the first day but focus on having a good time and learning the movements.
But if you want to speed up your learning, it’s always good to enroll in proper classes and then have fun with everyone!
3. Back wall glide
Back wall glide in water helps you activate and strengthen your core and lower body muscles.
People who have exercised in the water for a long time can do this quite easily, but even if you’re an amateur, you can always try this out!
Hold on to the pool's ledge, press your knees lightly into your chest, and press your feet against the pool wall. Next, push against the wall and float back as far as possible.
Draw your knees back into your chest and press your feet firmly on the pool's ground. Finally, walk or run back to the wall and repeat the exercise.
4. Swimming
This is one of the easiest and best ways to keep yourself healthy and have a grand time in the water!
The best thing about swimming is that not only does it help to reduce belly fat, but it also requires no fancy workout training or sessions.
Anyone who knows a bit about swimming can easily perform a basic lap of 25 meters from one end of the pool to the other and then back to the starting point.
If you swim about five laps a day, you can reduce quite a lot of belly fat and even improve your lung function.
5. Jumping jacks
Jumping jacks in the water is a lot more fun than on the ground simply because you can play with the water and enjoy it to the fullest!
It improves your upper and lower body muscles, giving you the ultimate workout. You'll get even more resistance if you add wrist or ankle weights.
Stand in a pool with the water up to your chest and keep your feet together with arms at your sides.
Jump slightly so your legs are wide apart, and your arms are above your head. Take another jump and return to the starting position. Repeat this about 8-12 times for 3 sets.
6. Water polo
While water polo might sound very fancy and difficult, it’s a very simple and fun exercise. You can ask your friends and family members to join you for a friendly game of water polo, where there will be two teams.
Each team should have a minimum of three players and one goalkeeper. The objective is to pass the ball skillfully from one end of the pool and then score a goal on the opponent’s goalpost.
Water polo gives a good workout to all your muscles by helping you to battle water resistance and even improves your hand-eye coordination.
7. Leg kicks
Leg kicks might sound very easy, but they’re quite difficult to perform, especially in the water.
But if you’re willing to take on some extra challenge, tie ankle weights to increase the fun!
Hold on to the ledge of the pool, or use a kickboard. Next, flutter-kick your legs slightly and then increase the pace. Otherwise, you can also scissor-kick your legs by opening and closing them.
Follow each set of exercises with dolphin kicks and perform each kick for about a minute or so. This will help you to get a good core and leg workout.
Conclusion
These are a few of the many water sports you can enjoy while getting a good workout in the pool. So go on and try them out!
The content is intended to augment, not replace, information provided by your clinician. It is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. Reading this information does not create or replace a doctor-patient relationship or consultation. If required, please contact your doctor or other health care provider to assist you in interpreting any of this information, or in applying the information to your individual needs.
