It’s pretty easy to figure out the one difference between losing weight using traditional land-based exercise methods and losing weight with aqua aerobics: water. It’s also no secret that in order to lose weight, your overall caloric intake must be less than your overall caloric output. So how does one lose weight with aqua aerobics? Get moving…in the pool!
Aqua aerobics is easy on your joints
Aqua aerobics is simply engaging in exercise in the water. But the great thing about water-based exercise is the added boost you get from water’s resistance against muscle movements. For example, a simple jumping jack on the land is pretty much a piece of cake. But do that same move in chest-high water and you have an entirely different type of exercise! In fact, due to water’s resistance, caloric expenditure per unit of time is higher in the water than on land. Another bonus for joints: gravity’s landing and loading forces are reduced because of buoyancy.
If you enjoy being in the pool, want to lose weight, and are looking for an exhilarating and relaxing form of exercise, aqua aerobics may be just the thing for you. Check out these links for even more ideas about how to lose weight in the pool.
- 8 Pool Exercises That Burn Fat Fast
- Water Aerobics and Water Fitness Exercises
- Free Water Aerobics Routines
So how do you get moving in the pool and keep moving long enough to sustain a heart rate that burns fat and encourages weight loss?
Follow any of the exercises below. Some include hand-held or ankle weights, which add resistance and increase muscle tone. Others use things like a kickboard.
Try different exercises to find the combination that is right for you.
Jumping Jacks
This tried and true total body move packs even more punch when performed in the water. Standing in chest high water, do as many jumping jacks as you can without losing your balance. Rest for 30 seconds and repeat.
Kickboard Laps
Not only will you get your heart pumping by doing laps with a kickboard, but you can adjust the challenge to your upper body by the position in which you hold the board. To begin, stand in the shallow end of the pool in waist-high water. To increase the challenge to your upper body, especially upper back and shoulders, hold the kickboard further away, with your arms extended. For less of a challenge to your upper body, hold the board in close to your chest. Push off with one foot and propel yourself across the pool by kicking as slowly or vigorously as you wish. Aim for five laps, but if you are able, continue until you need a rest.
Lower Body Line Jump
This exercise can be done in the shallow end, with or without ankle weights. Standing with feet together, jump forward, as if you are jumping over an imaginary line. Jump for one minute, then rest for 10 seconds. If one minute is easy, increase to two minutes. Do the same thing from side to side. Repeat.
Water jogging
Water jogging is done in the deep end of a pool, with the use of a buoyancy belt. Use your natural land-running form. If you do not have a buoyancy belt, or you prefer to stay in the shallow end, aqua walking will provide the same heart-pumping benefit as jogging, especially if you are wearing ankle weights. Remember to sustain your jogging or walking for at least twenty minutes. If you need a rest before twenty minutes are up, slow down as much as you need to, but try to keep moving.
Don’t forget, in addition to these simple aqua aerobics exercises, good old-fashioned swimming is yet another way to lose weight in the water!
Thanks for stopping by Willy B Mum.
Kaitlin Gardner started An Apple Per Day to explore her passion for a green living lifestyle, and healthy family living. She and her husband have just moved to rural Pennsylvania, where they enjoy exploring the countryside to discover interesting and out of the way places. She is also learning how to paint watercolors.
**For image credits, please click on photos to take you to the web source