Pool workout: opinions please?

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misssmarita
misssmarita Posts: 130
in Fitness and Exercise
I would very much like to pick you guys' brains about pool workouts. Any opinions welcome!! :) And keep in mind that I am quite heavy, VERY unfit, and have absolutely no experience with strength training. I was thinking that starting out in a pool might be a good way to go.

1) Is swimming purely cardio, or also resistance training? If so, how does it work to condition/tone/strengthen the body?

2) Assuming you are standing in waist deep water, would you say that squats and lunges are effective when done in a pool? Or would the water make it too easy to have any real effect?

3) Assuming you are standing in chest deep water, and the pool edge and water level are even, how effective an exercise would it be to hold your palms on the edge of the pool, thrust yourself upwards, hold your weight up, and then slowly lower yourself back into the pool, as sort of a push up?

4) Would you happen to know of any other things/easy strength or cardio training that could spice up a pool workout?

Replies

  • scg17
    scg17 Posts: 88 Member
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    So, I don't have a lot of science to back me up, but I will say I was a competitive swimmer for about 7 years, and I had a major trauma injury in 2008 that required a fair amount of water rehab. So, I can say that there will be resistance and benefits from what you described, but don't overestimate the calorie burn (people tend to drastically overestimate how many calories they burn swimming/water aerobics). I think it's a great start to get you doing some activities until you can transition to doing them on dry land.
    So)
    1) Swimming is both, but resistance is somewhat limited. It uses all the muscles in your body in a low impact manner.
    2) They are effective in the sense they are a stepping stone to doing them on land. Do not count the calories the same way.
    3) This would be roughly like doing pushups on your knees? You are responsible for lifting about half your body weight.
    4) Water aerobics, synchro, incorporating all the standard swimming strokes
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    For ideas..........collagevideo.com

    Pool workout DVDs ......you can watch the video clips for ideas. Maybe youtube has some pool videos too.

    http://www.collagevideo.com/exercise-videos/swimming-pool-exercise-videos-61
  • AllanMisner
    AllanMisner Posts: 4,140 Member
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    Pool workouts can be very effective, particularly for people who have joint or balance issues. Swimming is a great cardio workout and there are things you can do to get some strength training done. Many pools (especially those that have aqua-aerobics classes) have "water weights" that make moving them through the water harder, which allows you to develop a progressive routine.

    Enjoy!

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