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Best aqua exercises that can help you get in shape

Taking your fitness routine from dry land to the swimming pool and you can too experience a drastic shift in your physique. Aqua aerobics has been strongly recommended due to a variety of reasons. With the buoyancy and natural resistance offered by water to movements, you stretch more muscle fibers with the added benefit of low stress. Because of the high calories burnt in basic water exercises and the low-impact on bones and joints, these are greatly recommended for best results.

  1. Warm up with a water walk

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To start your workout routine, it is essential that your body has warmed up to burn calories. When doing this in water, a warm up exercise can be as simple as walking in the pool with your feet flat on the floor. Begin with short steps and at a slow stride in waist-high water and swing your arms as you walk back and forth in the pool. Gradually increase your pace and length of each step and finish off with a water job for cardio.

  1. Kick and Punch

Ideal to increase your heart rate, this is a basic exercise that takes advantage of the natural resistance of water. By finding a place where your body is submerged in water from the level of your arms lift your right knee and kick forward in the water along with a punch with your left arm. Alternate between both sides and keep your abdomen tight throughout the exercise. You can begin with 30 sec reps with breaks in between and gradually increase to 45 or 60 seconds. Although water provides enough resistance for the muscles, some people use foam water weights for additional resistance.

  1. Wave Makers

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This exercise targets the lower body, abs, back, legs, and hips. Move to chest-deep water and stand facing the pool wall. Hold the edge with your left hand and place your right hand at the pool wall below the water surface with fingers pointing downwards. Extend your legs straight behind to the water level keeping the knees and feet together. Just like a dolphin flaps its tail, start kicking your legs up and down in the water for about 30 seconds. You can also begin with light flutter kicks with legs separated and slowly ease into the hard kicking.

  1. Pike Scull

Stand in the shallow end of the pool and begin sitting back into the water while lifting both the legs upwards together. Folding at the hip, your body will be shaped in a V, with your head and toes above the water surface. All this while, keep the hands by the hips to tread water and propel yourself forward in the water. Stay in the position for 30 seconds and hold your abdomen tight during each rep.

If you canโ€™t keep your toes above water, widen the angle at your hips and tighten your abdomen. This aerobic exercise can be a great way to tone your arms, hips, and abs and is much like one of the physical poses involved in Aqua Yoga.

  1. K-Tread

This is one of the many water aerobic exercises that target multiple regions for effectively toning the body. In the deep end of the pool, stand straight and tread water by making circles with cupped hands. Lift the right leg straight upwards at hip level, while stretching the toes of the left leg straight towards the bottom of the pool. Hold this pose for 5 seconds, swiftly switch between the legs, lifting the left leg upwards and holding again for 5 seconds. Keep alternating for 30 seconds for getting great results. The exercise targets the arms, back, chest, abs, and butt.

Aerobic workouts have found less painful and more productive applications in water. Water aerobics can be practiced by people suffering from arthritis, lower back pain, and joint pains for getting a full workout with minimum stress on the bones. The elderly are benefited from this form of workout.

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