Water Aerobics: Fun and Effective Way to Level up Your Fitness Game

Water aerobics is a form of exercise that's done in a swimming pool. It’s categorized as a low-impact cardiovascular exercise, and a major focus of water aerobics on improving muscle strength, fitness, and flexibility.

In water aerobics, water resistance is used to strengthen the muscles, but at the same time, the buoyancy of water is beneficial for reducing stress in joints and bones. Therefore, it’s a great form of exercise for anyone experiencing bone or joint pain.

Usually, water aerobics is a group exercise that's led by a certified instructor. The exercises are done along with the music. However, the same exercises can be done by an individual, as long as they have access to a swimming pool.

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Water aerobics exercises

Swimming (Photo via Unsplash/Brian Matangelo)

The following are some of the water exercises you can add to the routine to experience this workout method:

Jogging

You need to jog in place by lifting your knees high while making large, sweeping movements with your arms.

Jumping jack

Follow the same movements as in jumping jacks, but the arms should enter the water every time you bring them to the sides.

Arm raise

To do it, your arms must be inside the water as you stand straight. The idea is that the arms should break through the surface of the water as you raise them.

Leg lift

Keep your legs shoulder-width apart as you stand in the water. Lift one leg in front of you while balancing with the other. Bring it back down before repeating with the other leg.

Treading water

Use your arms and legs to stay afloat while you tread water in the same place.

Pool push-up

Stand towards the shallow end of the pool, and place your hands on the edge, while your feet are in the water. Use water as resistance as you begin to do push-ups.

Pool lunge

Stand straight with your legs shoulder-width apart, and take one step forward. Lower your body to go into a lunge position. From there, push yourself up before doing the next rep. Repeat on the other leg.

Squat

This is the same as normal squats, but you will only go as far as possible till you attain a position of sitting on a chair. From there, push yourself back up.

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Benefits of water exercise

Diving (Photo via Unsplash/Arisa Chattasa)

Now that you know the different types of exercises in water aerobics, it will benefit you to understand how water aerobics can help with your health and fitness goals.

Improves cardiovascular health

Water workouts are great cardiovascular exercise. They focus on increasing heart rate and improving your overall blood circulation.

Improves flexibility

The water’s resistance helps with significantly improving range of motion and flexibility.

Improves mood

When you’re focusing on well-being, you must consider your mental health too. Water aerobics is a fun social activity that can boost your mood and improve mental well-being by reducing stress.

Helps with weight loss

As water exercising requires energy and effort, your body will burn the stored calories to generate the required energy for the exercises done during water aerobics. As a result, it’ll help with weight loss!

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Different types of water workouts

While water aerobics is a water workout, there are other types of water exercising that have similar benefits for health. Here are some of them:

• Aqua jogging
• Aqua yoga
• Swimming
• Pool running
• Water polo

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For anyone looking for a low-impact yet fun exercise, water workouts are a great option and should be a part of your fitness routine. It’s beneficial to have other options in your routine, such as going to the gym, going for a run, or other classes such as Zumba workouts and aerobics too.

These variations will help you break monotony, which often leads to demotivation. Moreover, variation allows the muscles to not get used to any particular movement and hit a plateau.