Accept the Challenge of Embracing Water Workouts

by Melinda Burris Willms

When many hear the phrase water workout, their mind immediately flashes to a dull swim routine or the standard water aerobics class offered at your local YMCA. While these classes certainly have value, as this article will show, experts agree that aquatic workouts have much to offer competitive athletes including the chance to find new ways of challenging and improving key elements such as strength, flexibility, and range of motion.

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BENEFITS OF WATER WORKOUTS

Gretchen Spiridopoulos, an expert aquatic exercise trainer who is certified by multiple nationally recognized fitness organizations including the Athletics and Fitness Association of America, the Aquatic Exercise Association, and the National Exercise Trainers Association among others, confirms that water workouts offer numerous benefits such as improved flexibility, posture, and balance, as well as increased range of motion.¹ These are all important skills for hurdlers.

Spiridopoulos takes her argument advancing the benefits of water workouts further by enumerating how water workouts differ from traditional exercise:

1. When you perform aerobic activity in water, you are presented with the additional challenge of resisting the weight of the water; hence, you work harder even though you are doing the same exercise, therefore increasing your workout payoff.¹
2. The moment you enter a body of water, your posture instantly improves because the water assists in keeping you upright.¹
3. The density of the water provides an environment that exerts much less pressure on your joints, offering a great opportunity for a low-impact workout with a minimized risk of injury.¹
4. If you’re thinking water workouts will involve buying a new wardrobe specifically for the water, think again: since most workout apparel these days is made using quick-dry fabrics, you can wear your normal workout wear for both traditional and water workouts.²
5. Looking for a more time efficient workout? If so, choosing a water workout makes perfect sense! As Hutsick explains, due to the lack of gravitational forces, “water is 12 percent more resistant than air.”³ This means that working out for 30 minutes in the water will render comparable results to a 2-hour workout completed on land.³

SHAKE YOUR NORMAL WORKOUT UP IN A SAFE ENVIRONMENT

Fitness experts and enthusiasts agree, you can adapt many of your basic gym exercises for execution in the water where you are presented with the opportunity to challenge yourself by adapting to a new environment and improving your balance as you relearn how to perform old moves while maintaining your form despite the water’s motion.² The change of atmosphere and facing new obstacles could be just what you need to kickstart a training routine that has gotten stale.

Maria Hutsick is the Director of Sports Medicine at Boston University and a trainer for the USA Women’s Olympic ice hockey team. She is also a strong proponent of water workouts:

“We have all heard about (and many of us use) aquatic therapy for rehab, but have you considered applying the same ideas to training healthy athletes? If you are looking for a way to design intense workouts that don’t lead to soreness or risk injury, then water workouts are a great idea.”³

Hutsick argues, quite rightly, that when an athlete is hurt, the first recommendation sports physicians make is that the injured player begin their post-injury workouts in water to avoid high-impact exercise that could exacerbate the injury. Hutsick points out that not only cardio but weight training can be done in the water, offering a safe and adaptable environment that healthy athletes can take advantage of, too. Standard exercises can be performed on their own or with the assistance of water weights, ropes, and sport-specific equipment.³

CARDIOVASCULAR WARMUPS:

As with any form of exercise, it is important to properly do warmups before beginning your water workout regimen.

1. Jog the length of the pool while keeping your arms still. Do not use them to aid you at all. Jog forward, then backward.¹
2. Jog the length of the pool while moving your arms in the breaststroke swimming motion, continuously moving them forward and backward.¹

WATER WORKOUT EXERCISES

The following is a list of common exercises with instructions for modifying traditional techniques for proper execution in the water.

1. Hamstring curls: Stand, balancing your weight on one leg while completing a hamstring curl using your other leg. Remain standing still as you take turns, left leg, right leg, and so on. Once you master the hamstring curls, advance the exercise by doing forward walking, then backward walking in addition to the original movement.³
2. Lunge with front kick: Stand on one leg, then lunge back on the opposite leg, then bring that leg forward and kick. Do these 4 times and then switch to your other leg and repeat the same motion 4 times on that side. Use your arms to aid in maintaining your balance, pushing the water in front of you when you lunge backward. Conversely, when you are kicking forward, use your arms to push the water behind you.³
3. Curls: Place your arms at your sides and keep your elbows bent. Then push down with one arm while simultaneously pulling the other up. Your palms can face up or down depending on which position is most comfortable for you.³

WATER WORKOUTS COOL DOWNS

As when performing any type of exercise, it is important to cool down properly once your main workout is completed. Below is a list of water workout cool downs:

1. Plank: Grasp a pair of water weights together with your hands on top, keeping your arms straight in front of you at shoulder height, with your toes grasping the pool floor. Contract the core as you slowly stand up, keeping your body straight. Do these 3 times.¹
2. Do a back float. Hold the water weights out at shoulder level, pull your knees to your chest, and then move both knees over to the right while turning your head to gaze over the left shoulder. Hold for a count of eight. Repeat the exercise, this time on your right.¹
3. Remember to stretch thoroughly.¹

Conclusion

So, change up your routine and see if water workouts reenergize or add just the right supplement to your existing training regimen. At the very least, it will give you a chance to cool off a bit while you maintain your workout schedule this summer!

References

1.J. Schildhouse. (2018, Sept. 14). Cardio and Resistance Training: Water Workout.

2.B. Marston. (2017, May 24). How to Take Your Workout Outdoors: A Pool Session Can be More Than Just Swimming Laps.

3. M. Hutsick. (2015, Jan. 25). Hydro Power.

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