Water Exercise Program - How to create a water exercise program for yourself




Create an effective Water Exercise Program for yourself with these sample Beginners and Advanced Water Exercise Programs and tips on how to create a personalized one for you.

Water aerobics has become a popular and healthy way to get fit. Almost everybody likes to swim and to vary your workout you should incorporate different types of exercising. Swimming laps to get fit is a great full body workout, but sometimes swimming can become a little redundant.

There are still exercises you can do in the pool that will have the same effect as being out of the pool. Water gives you resistance and allows you to work muscles in a semi-weightless environment.

If you’re not a great swimmer then swimming laps might require some lessons or an instructor to teach you proper breathing techniques. Water aerobics can be performed by anyone and at any age. Kids usually get their exercise learning how to swim and climbing the ladder to the super slide, for parents we require a little less from our bodies in the pool, but we still need to keep fit.

A swimming pool is a perfect place to workout. The water is usually warm and it helps to relax our muscles while we workout. You are not exposed to the dangers of workout machines and you can workout barefoot, it’s a safe place to get fit.
 

Beginners Water Exercise Tips

If you are starting a workout that involves water you’ll want to treat it like a regular workout, every other day and just for an hour or thirty minutes each time. Your muscles will feel the difference the first time you workout.

Make sure you stretch before you begin a water exercise program, your muscles can tense up and you don’t want cramps too soon. Many pools have different depths, find a comfortable place in the pool and let your body adjust to the water.

Since you can’t take weights into the pool you’ll need to find some water workout balls. These balls usually have handles and are filled with sand; they are the same weight in water as on land so your workout won’t be compromised. You don’t need weights but if you want to buy some it will add strength to your workout.

After you have found a place in the pool that allows the top of your shoulders to barely touch the surface you’ll want start with walking in place, you can march also, that will get your knees up and your heart rate too.

You can do jumping jacks and even try balancing yourself on one leg, this will require all those stabilizer muscles to act so that you workout every part of your lower body. Remember to breathe and do at least four sets, the first set should be 20 repetitions, then 15, then 10, then do as many as you can. You can vary your workout to meet your goals.

If you want to trim your waist you can do a great exercise that will use the pool water as your resistance. Place your back against the pool wall, lift your legs and move them from side to side, this is equal to a side crunch out of the pool. Make sure to keep your back flat against the pool wall. You can also bring your knees up to your stomach for a lower abdominal crunch.
 

Advanced Water Exercise Tips

If you want to tone your arms but don’t want to swim you can use your water ball and curl it, start with your arm extended and hanging at your hip, grab the handle of the water ball and curl it towards yourself, don’t rush the movement of the ball, you don’t want to strain your shoulder.

Do repetitions that give you results, since it’s different for everybody start with a goal and work towards it. Remember to breathe rhythmically, breathe out when curling and breathe in when descending.

Another great exercise is to float, fill your lungs with air and let your body rise to the surface, you’ll feel relaxed and your body will feel lighter. While you loose weight and trim down you’ll find that floating is a great warm down to your water exercising.
 

Other Important Tips

Keep track of your progress, bring a note pad and write down your workout, you’ll see your goals being met and you’ll be able to enjoy the thought of working out. You won’t sweat like a regular workout but you will need to stay hydrated.

Drink plenty of water and take advantage of the pools amenities such as a steam room or hot tub. Although working out in the water negates listening to music on an MP3 player use this time to relax your mind and think about things.

The water has a very calming presence, embrace it and pretend you’re at the beach or the ocean or a calm lake. If you want to extend your workout many pools offer classes with instructors to really challenge you.

Have fun and enjoy working out in the water, you might find it to be the best way to get fit.

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