How to Build Strength with Water Exercise
If you want low impact, this is it. Build your strength with water exercise and protect yourself from injury while having some fun.
Up next in Water & Pool Fitness (8 videos)
Swimming is great exercise, but so is pool-lates, water aerobics, and other activities you can incorporate into your exercise regimen.
You Will Need
- Kickboard
- Hand floats
- Aerobics class
- Fun
Steps
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Step 1
Tighten your butt and thighs
Tighten your butt, thighs, legs and abs with kickboard sprints, by holding the board with fully extended arms and kicking fast. Keep your legs almost completely straight, bending a little at the knee. Rest for seconds and repeat without completely tiring yourself out.
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Step 2
Kick at the side
Hold the pool side and lie straight out, kicking toward the edge and pushing yourself back against the pressure. Build strength with this water exercise in your arms, legs, abs, and thighs.
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Step 3
Tread water
Tread water for 30 seconds, raising your arms over your head to make it tougher and to increase the burn.
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Swimming is not the best exercise for weight loss. Water draws heat away from the body, not allowing the metabolism to increase.
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Step 4
Do laterals with floats
Do lateral raises, standing in hip-deep water. Hold hand floats under water at the sides for several seconds. Bend the elbows and raise the floats to the hips and push back down again, repeating 15 times, to enhance the shoulders.
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Step 5
Make figure eights
Stand in chest-deep water and hold one float down with both hands in front. Make clockwise and counterclockwise motions, in a figure eight, to strengthen your arms, legs, shoulders, and thighs.
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Hydrate yourself regularly when working out. Just because you're in water doesn't mean you have enough in your body.
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Step 6
Enroll in water aerobics
Enroll in a water aerobics class, even if only to do some water walking, which will burn twice the calories the same effort on land would. The added advantage is that you cushion your joints, since in water you are only 10 to 15 percent of your normal weight.
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Step 7
Jog in the deep
Condition yourself in the pool by jogging in the deep end underwater to build the legs and get the heart rate up. Build a routine, have fun safely, and improve your health all at the same time.
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Water provides 12 times the resistance that air does -- making exercise more challenging in water than outside the pool.
