Aquajock
Cathlete
In her most recent newsletter / blog entry, Cathe described several low-impact exercise formats, and had this to say about water workouts:
"Water Workouts
Some health care providers recommend that people with joint problems do water workouts to reduce the impact on their joints. However, water aerobics isn’t as challenging as land-based training, so it’s best if you want to work out in the water, alternate water workouts with more intense options such as spinning and circuit workouts. Plus, some studies show swimming and doing aerobics in cool water increases hunger. So, it may not be the best form of exercise for weight loss."
I was an ACE-certified aqua group fitness instructor from 1997-2007, and have continued to rely on the pool as an integral part of my fitness practice to the present day. I agree in part with Cathe's comments, especially the recommendation to alternate water workouts with land training. Unless there is an orthopedic reason, one should never rely exclusively on water training for their fitness practice, because weight-bearing activities are vital to bone density, and weighted muscle conditioning is vital to muscle strength building.
However, I have an alternate viewpoint, based on 23 years of experience in the water environment, about the intensity available in a water workout, especially water workouts performed in the deep end of the pool where your feet never hit the ground. You won't see that in commonplace aqua aerobics classes, which are typically geared to more deconditioned participants. But if my own experience is any example, developing deep water workouts that are equal in intensity to land workouts is possible and highly recommended for those who want to maintain aggressive land workouts without pummeling their bodies into the ground throughout their later years.
The only pieces of equipment you need for a productive deep water workout are a pair of resistance gloves (Speedo neoprene/lycra gloves are the best), and an Aquajogger or other float device that buckles around the torso, to keep your head above water. You may have seen runners aquajogging in the deep end of the pool, as cross-training for their running practice. Aquajogging, which is simply a high-knee run with arms pumping brought to the water environment, is in itself a great mid-intensity-range pool workout. You have to keep your core strong so that your torso is in a strict vertical position, avoiding hinging forward at the hips, and you have to keep your upper body joints in a fixed position so the muscles are driving the upper body running motion without the wrists and elbows getting all floppy. And you have to run HARD. Don't expect the water to do the work for you. You have to push, and your body will tell you when you are doing so.
However, there are scores of other drills that you can do while wearing an Aquajogger:
Long-leg / long arm "skis" in the water, keeping your limbs straight and joints firm (picture being on a cross-country ski machine)
Long-leg skis while performing a combination pec flye / rear delt flye with arms at the surface
Long-leg skis while performing a lateral delt raise / lower (putting equal force on the up-phase and down-phase of the movement)
High-knee runs while performing fast-paced biceps curls with your elbows anchored at your sides and your palms flat to increase the resistance
High-knee runs while performing fast-paces triceps extensions with your elbows moderately behind the torso, again keeping palms flat
Vertical flutter kicks performing any of the above upper body drills, or keeping the arms extended straight up overhead and the core braced and vertical
Alternating "butt kicks" with your body in a strict vertical position, again with the upper body movements mentioned above, OR with the arms out of the water
Long-leg skis with the arms out of the water
This is only a small sample of the drills you can do; they work all of the muscle groups, and what is great is that you can muscle conditioning for multiple upper AND lower body groups while at the same time getting an equally intense cardio component that is seldom true in land workouts; usually cardio and muscle conditioning have to switch emphases in land circuit training.
AND . . . after you've mastered these and other drills using your knowledge of specific muscles and their functions, and getting used to performing them against the constant, swirling resistance of the water environment, you can . . . TAKE THE AQUAJOGGER OFF AND DO YOUR DRILLS USING YOUR OWN EXERTION TO KEEP YOUR HEAD ABOVE WATER.
Trust me on this one - most certified aqua instructors and other professionals would shoot me if I said this to them. They believe you cannot perfect your movement form without the supportive float device, and your core stability will be compromised. Well . . . that's why I no longer instruct for pay. As a matter of fact, you CAN perform these deep water drills (and hundreds of others not written here, given the human body's limitless variety of human movement potential) without a supportive device, and it is a whole new ballgame, exertion-wise, when you do so.
In addition to the myriad drills you can do in the vertical position, there are also great leg-focused drills you can do with your hands anchored on the wall of the pool:
Prone long-leg kicks, keeping knees and ankles straight and strict, using equal force on the downward phase as the up-phase;
Prone flutter kicks, body flush at the waterline
Prone whip kicks, body flush at the waterline
Seated long-leg kicks with your arms placed fully on the wall and your body in a V-sit position
Supine bicycles, with your arms placed fully on the wall and the body flush at the waterline
Vertical long-leg kicks with one arm on the wall, paying attention to using equal force on the down phase and the up phase
Vertical alternating butt kicks, either with the thighs / knees together or legs / knees abducted
Prone alternating butt kicks, body flush at the waterline, keeping the making sure to break the surface of the water to max out its resistance
And so on.
What I've detailed above is not for the beginning exerciser. It is for already well-conditioned exercisers who have a baseline of strength in all muscle groups including / especially the core, and who have good cardio capacity. And, again, it is only a small sample of what you can do.
Regarding water workouts promoting hunger: it is true to a point that the water environment, which usually is cooler and has a cooling effect, promotes the appetite. However, if you do a targeted muscle-focused workout with the collateral cardio component as I've described, you will absolutely build up heat in the muscles, and that can offset the cooling effect of the water and the appetite stimulation. But yes, I will acknowledge that I'm less hungry after a hot, sweaty-mess land workout than a cool, splashy water workout.
There are many YouTube clips you can search for using "deep water workouts" as your keyword search, to get ideas on what you can do when you "go off the deep end". I've relied on this mode as at least 40% of my time spent working out for over 12 years now, and it absolutely enables me to stay fit while giving my joints a needed break; I am able to do extreme high-intensity and high-impact land workouts because of this, and have maintained a very, very healthy body composition ratio as I push (or splash) toward age 59.
Anyway. I hope this has been of some value to some of you. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Love,
A-Jock
"Water Workouts
Some health care providers recommend that people with joint problems do water workouts to reduce the impact on their joints. However, water aerobics isn’t as challenging as land-based training, so it’s best if you want to work out in the water, alternate water workouts with more intense options such as spinning and circuit workouts. Plus, some studies show swimming and doing aerobics in cool water increases hunger. So, it may not be the best form of exercise for weight loss."
I was an ACE-certified aqua group fitness instructor from 1997-2007, and have continued to rely on the pool as an integral part of my fitness practice to the present day. I agree in part with Cathe's comments, especially the recommendation to alternate water workouts with land training. Unless there is an orthopedic reason, one should never rely exclusively on water training for their fitness practice, because weight-bearing activities are vital to bone density, and weighted muscle conditioning is vital to muscle strength building.
However, I have an alternate viewpoint, based on 23 years of experience in the water environment, about the intensity available in a water workout, especially water workouts performed in the deep end of the pool where your feet never hit the ground. You won't see that in commonplace aqua aerobics classes, which are typically geared to more deconditioned participants. But if my own experience is any example, developing deep water workouts that are equal in intensity to land workouts is possible and highly recommended for those who want to maintain aggressive land workouts without pummeling their bodies into the ground throughout their later years.
The only pieces of equipment you need for a productive deep water workout are a pair of resistance gloves (Speedo neoprene/lycra gloves are the best), and an Aquajogger or other float device that buckles around the torso, to keep your head above water. You may have seen runners aquajogging in the deep end of the pool, as cross-training for their running practice. Aquajogging, which is simply a high-knee run with arms pumping brought to the water environment, is in itself a great mid-intensity-range pool workout. You have to keep your core strong so that your torso is in a strict vertical position, avoiding hinging forward at the hips, and you have to keep your upper body joints in a fixed position so the muscles are driving the upper body running motion without the wrists and elbows getting all floppy. And you have to run HARD. Don't expect the water to do the work for you. You have to push, and your body will tell you when you are doing so.
However, there are scores of other drills that you can do while wearing an Aquajogger:
Long-leg / long arm "skis" in the water, keeping your limbs straight and joints firm (picture being on a cross-country ski machine)
Long-leg skis while performing a combination pec flye / rear delt flye with arms at the surface
Long-leg skis while performing a lateral delt raise / lower (putting equal force on the up-phase and down-phase of the movement)
High-knee runs while performing fast-paced biceps curls with your elbows anchored at your sides and your palms flat to increase the resistance
High-knee runs while performing fast-paces triceps extensions with your elbows moderately behind the torso, again keeping palms flat
Vertical flutter kicks performing any of the above upper body drills, or keeping the arms extended straight up overhead and the core braced and vertical
Alternating "butt kicks" with your body in a strict vertical position, again with the upper body movements mentioned above, OR with the arms out of the water
Long-leg skis with the arms out of the water
This is only a small sample of the drills you can do; they work all of the muscle groups, and what is great is that you can muscle conditioning for multiple upper AND lower body groups while at the same time getting an equally intense cardio component that is seldom true in land workouts; usually cardio and muscle conditioning have to switch emphases in land circuit training.
AND . . . after you've mastered these and other drills using your knowledge of specific muscles and their functions, and getting used to performing them against the constant, swirling resistance of the water environment, you can . . . TAKE THE AQUAJOGGER OFF AND DO YOUR DRILLS USING YOUR OWN EXERTION TO KEEP YOUR HEAD ABOVE WATER.
Trust me on this one - most certified aqua instructors and other professionals would shoot me if I said this to them. They believe you cannot perfect your movement form without the supportive float device, and your core stability will be compromised. Well . . . that's why I no longer instruct for pay. As a matter of fact, you CAN perform these deep water drills (and hundreds of others not written here, given the human body's limitless variety of human movement potential) without a supportive device, and it is a whole new ballgame, exertion-wise, when you do so.
In addition to the myriad drills you can do in the vertical position, there are also great leg-focused drills you can do with your hands anchored on the wall of the pool:
Prone long-leg kicks, keeping knees and ankles straight and strict, using equal force on the downward phase as the up-phase;
Prone flutter kicks, body flush at the waterline
Prone whip kicks, body flush at the waterline
Seated long-leg kicks with your arms placed fully on the wall and your body in a V-sit position
Supine bicycles, with your arms placed fully on the wall and the body flush at the waterline
Vertical long-leg kicks with one arm on the wall, paying attention to using equal force on the down phase and the up phase
Vertical alternating butt kicks, either with the thighs / knees together or legs / knees abducted
Prone alternating butt kicks, body flush at the waterline, keeping the making sure to break the surface of the water to max out its resistance
And so on.
What I've detailed above is not for the beginning exerciser. It is for already well-conditioned exercisers who have a baseline of strength in all muscle groups including / especially the core, and who have good cardio capacity. And, again, it is only a small sample of what you can do.
Regarding water workouts promoting hunger: it is true to a point that the water environment, which usually is cooler and has a cooling effect, promotes the appetite. However, if you do a targeted muscle-focused workout with the collateral cardio component as I've described, you will absolutely build up heat in the muscles, and that can offset the cooling effect of the water and the appetite stimulation. But yes, I will acknowledge that I'm less hungry after a hot, sweaty-mess land workout than a cool, splashy water workout.
There are many YouTube clips you can search for using "deep water workouts" as your keyword search, to get ideas on what you can do when you "go off the deep end". I've relied on this mode as at least 40% of my time spent working out for over 12 years now, and it absolutely enables me to stay fit while giving my joints a needed break; I am able to do extreme high-intensity and high-impact land workouts because of this, and have maintained a very, very healthy body composition ratio as I push (or splash) toward age 59.
Anyway. I hope this has been of some value to some of you. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Love,
A-Jock
