Five Water Workouts Anyone Can Benefit From

Water workouts are perfect for anyone who does not exercise and wants to get started.  They are also ideal for elite athletes who need a new challenge.  Reason being: water provides up to 15 times more resistance than air, so the body has to work a little harder to complete each movement.  The result is a workout that improves cardiovascular fitness, builds strength and develops flexibility – while you feel like you are barely breaking a sweat.

Here are five water workouts that will inspire you to stay fit and cool for the summer:

Swimming –

Swimming is one of the best water workouts around, working all the major muscle groups as the repetitive motion of gliding through the water puts you in a state of zen.  Focus on being long and relaxed in the water.  Form is more important than speed.

Swim 100-meter laps, alternating between a front stroke, like the crawl, and a backstroke.  Aim to swim at least 20 laps, with a 15-second rest between each lap.  Twolengths of the pool, from one side to the other and back again, counts as a lap.  As you become more proficient add more laps and fewer rests.  Swimming works shoulders, triceps, biceps and abdominals.

Benefit: Burn up to 563 calories in a one-hour workout.

Water Aerobics Classes –

Aqua aerobics isn’t just for senior citizens in rubber bathing caps.  These low-impact fitness classes offer a variety of effective, all over workouts.  Most fitness centers that have pools offer water aerobics and fitness classes, in addition to their lap lanes.  One of the biggest benefits of aqua aerobics is having someone else design the workout; all you have to do is play follow-the-leader.

Water aerobics is a great starting point for someone who’s new to working out in the pool.  The instructor can offer suggestions to make the movements easier or more challenging, so you can tailor the workout to your fitness level.

Benefit: Burn about 285 calories per hour.

Use a Kick board –

Belly flops off the diving board aside, falling into the water is painless, so it’s a great place to work on balance; all you need is akick board.  Warm up by holding the kick board out in front of you and use flutter kicks to swim five laps.  Then, sit on the kick board with your legs dangling over the side.  Kick your legs and flutter your arms to propel yourself around the pool.  Continue for one minute, then rest for 15 seconds.  Do three reps.  This exercise works arms, chest, back, abs and legs.

Next, hold the kick board under the water and place your feet on opposite ends, as if you were surfing.  Slowly stand up, extending your arms to your sides to tread water.  Bring your legs toward your chest, and then lower them again.  Do 10 reps.  Benefits include improved balance and stronger abs.

Benefit: Burn as much as 246 calories per hour.

Deep water Jogging -

When the pavement is hot enough to cook an egg, an afternoon run is out of the question.  Instead, get in the pool and use the same running motion as if you were road running.  Exaggerate the high knees and drive your arms forward to keep you above the water.

Thirty minutes of jogging may not seem like a great workout, especially if you are used to hours on a treadmill, but it’s long enough to get almost a total body workout.  Start with a five-minutewarm up , walking in place in the shallow end of the pool.  Then move to the deeper end of the pool, with or without a buoyancy belt, and proceed to jog in place.  Set a goal for 30 + minutes, followed by a five-minute cool down in the shallow water.

Benefit: Deep water Jogging burns about 340 calories per hour, 100 calories more than jogging on land.

Increase to Muscle Building -

To look even better for the summer, go with a cross training workout that builds muscle and burns calories.

Here is a 60 minute cross training workout, which is fairly challenging, even for great athletes.  Begin by walking in place for five-minutes in shallow water.  Next, move to the deep end of the pool and alternate between five-minutes of treading water with five-minutes of jogging, for a total of 20 minutes.  At the edge of the pool place palms flat on the deck, now push yourself upward as high as possible.  Now lower yourself until your arms are at a 90 degree angle.  Do 20 reps of this exercise.  Now, back in shallow water, stand with feet shoulder width apart.  Squat low enough to submerge yourshoulders in the after .  Then jump straight up, bringing your legs together to the top of the jump, and then returning to the beginning position.  Do 20 reps of this exercise.

Benefit: Burn an average of 520 calories per session.