How to build your own water-resistance workout?
Water creates natural resistance that will make your muscles work, while reducing stress on your joints. Let’s dive in and find out what pool-based exercises are right for you.
Build lean muscle and Burn Fat
Pool workouts are good for you and have many benefits like burning calories, strengthening muscles, improving your cardiovascular and mental health without impact. Exercising in the water are less taxing on your joints because the water displaces the load of your body weight. That is why pool exercises are the perfect option for people with joint aches and pains, as well as, it challenges your muscles in an unique way in order to overcome the extra resistance of the water.
8 Pool Exercises for Full-Body Workout
Swimmer Arms - sit on a kickboard or small floating device and extend your arms in front of you then sweep arms to the side (as if doing the breast stroke) Do it for 30 seconds. Then switch directions + sweep arms forward in front of you for 30 seconds
Swimmer’s arms for pool workout
2. Back Kicks - either holding the kickboard in front of you or holding the side of the pool. Try kicking as hard as you can for 1 minute. If you are using the kickboard, propel yourself to reach the opposite side of the pool.
Back kicks
Holding the side of the pool, kick with tight legs as hard as you can for 1 minute
** Ab work : hold onto the side of the pool facing outward and push knees out/in
** Upper Body Strength: add 3#dumbbells or empty liter water bottles to your workout.
Add strength to your upper body workout
3. Running in place - stay in the shallow end of the pool, pump your arms forward while you run as fast as you can for 30 seconds.
4. Squat jumps - stand in shallow end of the pool with your feet shoulder width apart, and squat down in the water (sitting back into your hips and heels) then jump up as high as you can in the air. Perform for 30 seconds.
5. Side shuffling - stand in the shallow end of the pool and side shuffle from one to the other. Submerge and move your arms with your legs to make this exercise harder.
6. Jumping Jacks - Stand in the pool with your head above water and feet together, Then open your legs out to both sides as you raise your arms overhead.
Jumping jacks
7. Starfish - Stand in the middle of pool with your head above water and body curled up into a tucked position. Then power up by putting feet on the pool floor and jumping out of the water.
8. Russian kicks - Stand in the middle of the pool with your head above water and feet together. Alternate straight-leg kicks forward with opposite arm reach to the toes. Perform for 30 seconds.
