Water exercise offers a gentle yet challenging way to combine strength training and balance training. Water’s buoyancy and constant resistance offer many advantages, ranging from a perpetual balance-training activity to more well-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.”
Here are some of the other benefits of water exercise:
- It provides a low-intensity cardio workout once you are strong enough to move quickly through the water.
- It provides a degree of flexibility training because of the range of motion required for the moves.
- You are lighter in the water than on land, so there is less stress on the hips, knees, and all joints throughout the body.
- The body’s resistance against water is like weight training: It strengthens your muscles.
- The weightless conditioning of water exercise minimizes stress on the back, and also strengthens the back. And by strengthening the back and hip muscles, the spine becomes healthier.
- 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.
- It is enjoyable for special populations, such as people who have arthritis, because the water can warm the joints.
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