The Power of Water Exercise

If you think water workouts are just for seniors, guess again. Water exercise is tough! A good water class will challenge your cardiovascular system and your muscles just as effectively if not more so than a land exercise class. This means more than jogging in place in the water. This means that by effectively moving the body through various exercises, you can get great results with less chance of injury and in potentially less time. Why? Because water weighs more than air. When you move your arms at your sides, air doesn’t put up much resistance. However, when your arms are submerged in water, you have to push and pull the water in order to swing your arms. Your arms and your whole body are virtually surrounded by “weights”, the weight of the water. This forces the muscles to contract where they wouldn’t under similar circumstances on land. We know that the more muscles you incorporate, the more the body works as a fat burning machine. Take this into consideration. If you walk on land you’ll burn an average of 240 calories per hour. If you take your walk in the water, you can burn up to 525 calories! It simply takes more energy (calories are energy) to push through the water than it does on land. Cool huh?

Water exercise can be safer. This is because we typically weigh only 10% of our body weight when we are in the water. This means 90% less compression force (weight) on our joints. You can still get hurt in the water if you don’t respect joint movement, but generally you’re much better off. This also means that water can be a great place to rehabilitate after an injury (get your doctors approval first though).

You don’t notice the sweat. Some folks just don’t like to be sweaty. Yep, you still sweat, but you don’t notice it because you’re surrounded by water to begin with.

Water exercise can be a confidence booster. Because you are submerged, it allows more of a sense of freedom to go at your own pace. Unlike a land exercise class, nobody can see whether or not you are keeping up. Therefore, it may feel like a more comfortable environment for some. There is privacy in submersion.

Water exercise is possible for some when land exercise is not. This goes back to the fact that you are lighter in the water. You can probably do jump tucks like a cheerleader in the pool when it may be a bit trickier (if not impossible) to do them on land.

It promotes muscle balance. Think about it. If I bring both of my arms across the front of my body to work my pectoralis muscles, the weight of the water causes me to contract my mid-trapezius muscles when I open my arms back up, assuming I am going the same speed. That doesn’t “just happen” when you are using weights on the land.

There’s more but I think that’s enough for now. Hopefully you’re curious. Go check it out and feel it for yourself.