Water Aerobics

[berry99]

I am excited about Cathe's new workouts, but I think that I might have to put them on the backburner for awhile. I am having some knee problems and am going to try to make doctor's appt on Monday. I am just keeping my fingers crossed that I haven't torn my ACL, but I seem to be a classic case of it from what I have read on the internet.

I guess I am planning for after diagnosis workouts, but my rec center has water aerobics classes (both deep and shallow water). I was wondering if anyone has taken these classes and what they are like (A-Jock, please help). Do you wear a flotation vest for the deep end water aerobics? I am assuming that no matter what I did to my knee I will have to take it easy impact wise for awhile. This might be a good alternative. Any insight would be appreciated.

TIA,

Karin

 

[Aquajock]

Hi, Karin! I too am keeping my fingers crossed that your knee problem is minor and temporary.

With water aerobics, how the class is conducted is certainly dependent on the individual instructor. With deep water classes, often a flotation vest like the Aqua Jogger brand is used; however, sometimes they use noodles as the flotation device (you kind of ride it like a hobby horse), or they even have ankle cuffs that are used as combination floats to keep your head above water and resistance for long-lever leg work.

For shallow water work, keep in mind that the more deeply your body is submerged, the lower the impact forces. When you are navel depth you "weigh" about 50% of what you weigh on land in terms of impact forces; when you are at a depth where the water is just underneath the breastline (usually the depth at which shallow water classes are done) you "weigh" about 30% of what you weigh on land, and when you are neck deep you "weight" about 10% of what you weigh on land. The deeper you are, however, the trickier it is to control your movements in a vertical position.

When considering aqua aerobics, not only should you consider the reduced impact forces and how they affect the knee joint, but also the knee flexion / extension against the greater surrounding resistance of the water and how THAT affects the knee joint.

I'd suggest you view a deep water and a shallow water class on land, comparing what you see to what seems to be aggravating your knee at this point, before you take a class. Or, if you want to take one right off the bat, get in a pool a few minutes before class and play around with the depth to find your comfort level.

HTH -


A-Jock

 

[berry99]

Thanks so much for taking the time to respond A-Jock. I think next Monday I am going to go take a look at the deep water class and see how it looks. It is kind of exciting, you know a different type of workout to add to the bunch. It is definitely like nothing I have done before.

Karin