Is your monotonous workout routine making you drown in boredom? Fear not. Switch to water workouts and use the power of water to tone your whole body. Water workouts may look effortless, and you may feel you’re not working as hard as you might while exercising on land, but in reality, you most definitely are.
Water exercise offers a deluge of benefits. Have a look at some of them:
1. Easy to sculpt muscles: When you are working out in water, the weight of water offers resistance to your entire body making it a harder and more effective workout. You can easily work on muscles that are harder to target on land, as you are increasing the intensity of your workouts.
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2. Helps build strong lungs: The pressure of water forces your lungs to work harder than they would normally do on land and this gives your lungs an effective workout. Water workouts are known to increase flexibility too.
3. Suitable for all ages: Water work-outs have low-impact and can be easily customized to suit an individual’s fitness levels. They are beneficial for the overweight and obese, for people having conditions such as osteoporosis, arthritis, joint pain or injury and for the elderly.
4. Reduces the risk of overheating and hurting muscles: Many of us, workout to reduce body fat, improve our core strength, stamina and flexibility. Water-based workouts help you achieve target weight, increase strength and stamina, but at the same time ensure that your goals are achieved in a gentle way.
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5. Much more fun than traditional workouts: Most people find water workouts more enjoyable than working out on land. In hot summer months, water exercises are an ideal choice as water helps your body cool down naturally.
But before jumping in, you need to pay attention to some important caveats as below:
1. Swimming in natural water bodies like lake or ocean is the best. But if you aren’t as lucky to have an option to swim in a natural water body, choose to go to a swimming pool that is free of algae and bacteria. But swimming pools contain chlorine, which is considered harmful as its presence is linked to skin allergies, increased risk of asthma and other respiratory problems.
2. Children should especially be taught by their parents to avoid urinating in water to maintain hygiene.
3. Choose your water workout wear wisely and use caution in the water to reduce your chances of getting hurt.
4. Eat something extremely light before your workout.
5. Hit the shower before stepping in the pool. This will reduce your chances of making the water dirty and eventually prevent you from getting ill.
6. Stretch yourself to prepare your muscles ready before starting your workout.
Various types of water exercises:
a) Swim the old-fashioned style – horizontally or vertically across the pool, water yoga, aqua aerobics, water zumba, water polo etc.
b) You may use aqua dumbbells during your water workouts too. They not only help build arm muscles but also help improve cardiovascular strength.
c) Kickboards, Jog belts, and water noodles are other popular toys used for water workouts.
Water workout is just what you may be looking for to rekindle your enthusiasm towards fitness. Give it a try!
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