Full Body Water Workouts – Pool workouts to shape up and cool down!
Is it really any surprise that swimming is one of the best exercises for you? It’s low impact, engages all of your muscle groups, can build lean muscle and burn fat. And because water has built-in resistance, it will tone your muscles as it’s more difficult to move through the water than through the air. This is perfect for building endurance and strength!
Swimming in your backyard oasis is also incredibly fun, especially when the kids or grandkids join in, and provides you with much better scenery than the local gym that’s filled with sweaty people and yucky germs!
While it’s extremely important to exercise multiple times per week, you won’t notice optimal results unless it’s combined with clean eating, adequate rest, and prioritizing relaxation. It’s also incredibly important to stay hydrated when you’re following a swimming pool exercise regimen as you do lose water through perspiration in the pool, even though you may not feel like you’re sweating! The average adult should drink around 8 glasses of water per day. Plus, you should always have a water bottle within reach while you’re exercising in the pool.
There are also numerous health benefits that can come from exercising in your swimming pool. Like running on the treadmill or using the elliptical machine, swimming can help you improve or gain cardiovascular stamina. Swimming laps or performing some aquatic exercises can also be really great for weight loss as both burn tons of calories. Also, water-based exercising can improve circulation, flexibility and rehabilitate muscles that are healing from an injury.
So, to help you begin your pool workout journey today, I have listed some easy and basic pool exercises you can try below:
- Swimming Laps
This is always a great way to warm up upon jumping in the pool. Simply swim back and forth until you feel like you’re warmed up and ready to tackle some exercises. Swimming styles like breaststroke and flutter kick with a kickboard will engage your entire body.
2. Tricep Dips
Push your back against the side of the pool and grab the edge of the pool behind you with both hands. Lift your entire body up and then slowly lower it back down. This will tone your triceps and shoulders.
3. Jumping Jacks
This exercise will get your heart rate up!
4. Squat Jumps
Try shooting up into a straight leg jump after you’ve lowered yourself down into a squatting position.
5. Scissor Kicks
Stand with your back against the wall and hold onto the pool edge with both arms extended beside you. Float your legs up and tighten your abdominal muscles before kicking your legs. This exercise will work your inner and outer thighs, glutes, and core muscles.
6. Knee Lifts
If you’ve been dreaming about defined oblique muscles, this is the exercise for you! Stand in the center of your pool with your hands interlocked behind your head. Make sure your feet are hip-width apart, then bend and lift your knee up to the side as if you were going to touch it to your elbow. Then repeat on the other side.
7. Water Walking or Jogging
If you’re healing an injury, it’s best to take it easy in the pool until you’re feeling completely better. Instead of walking or jogging around the neighborhood, walk or jog around your pool as the water will take some of the impact off of your joints.
8. Side Steps
This is another easy exercise for people rehabilitating an injury or healing from surgery. Simply step side to side in the pool.
9. Stretches
Wind down your pool exercise session with some relaxing stretches like the standing hamstring stretch or a standing quad stretch.
If the above exercises are too easy for you, and you are ready to kick it up a notch like Emeril (BAM!) then feel free to click on this link below. This video shows about 10 AMAZING pool exercises that are a total body workout, helping you burn more calories:
Do you LOVE exercising in the pool already?! We’d love to hear from you…tell us which pool exercises are your favorites!!
0 comments