Water gymnastics (aquafitness) includes gymnastic exercises and is practiced in normal swimming pools and also in non-swimmer pools. It is suitable for children, adults and seniors. Even obese people can benefit from aqua gymnastics because fat burning is stimulated.
The buoyancy of the water makes it possible to do endurance and strength exercises with less stress, especially with regard to joints. The human body weight in water is only about 20 percent of its total weight. Thus bones, tendons and joints are substantially relieved.
Due to the high water resistance, certain movement sequences are often more strenuous than on land and thus increase a muscle-building effect. Water gymnastics is also used in connection with rehabilitation measures after operations or accidents in physiotherapy. Especially people with spinal column injuries benefit from water buoyancy, as it relieves the intervertebral discs and involved structures, thus enabling training despite a lower load capacity.
1. “jogging on the spot” This exercise trains the pelvic floor muscles and promotes body tension. In the exercise bath you jog on the spot.
You can vary the exercise by pulling the game leg higher. In addition, you can use a “noodle” to move your arms rhythmically under water. Pay attention to a fluid breathing rhythm and keep a certain body tension.
2. squat without swearing Especially the abdominal muscles are trained gently during this exercise. You stand in the exercise bath; your feet are close together. With both hands you hold a noodle crosswise in front of the body on the water surface.
Now you pull both legs together and briefly reach a position similar to squatting, then you stretch your legs again and touch the bottom of the pool with your feet. 3rd “under water sirtaki” Very good exercise to train the oblique abdominal muscles. They stand in a circle in the exercise pool and hold each other by the hands.
Now they start to dance rhythmically a “Sirtaki” by moving alternately the left and right leg stretched diagonally upwards. In between they step to the left side. The circle should now turn clockwise.
As soon as you are back at the place where you started, make the side step to the right. The circle should now turn to the right. 4. noodle push A training of the chest and shoulder muscles can be realized very easy and effective.
While standing you take a short noodle under water with both hands in front of your upper body. Now push and pull the noodles under water alternately to the chest and away from the chest. Vary the exercise by pushing and pulling the noodles parallel, alternately and sideways.
It is important that the noodles are always moved under water, otherwise there is too little resistance to achieve an adequate training effect. 1st “Toes and Heels” An exercise that strengthens the lower leg muscles very well is the following. When standing, bend your knees so that your head is still above water.
Then they just stand with their heels. Finally, they stand on their toes and stretch their legs through. This exercise works best when they stand in a circle and hold each other by the hands.
With a noodle in both hands it is more stable. Repeat the exercise depending on your constitution to adjust the training to your individual needs. 2. small and big steps” This training promotes coordination and muscles.
You go in a circle through the exercise bath. At first you take very small steps and gradually increase the pace. After about 2 minutes you take very big steps, slowly and concentrated for 2 minutes, then again small steps, fast and rhythmically.
Pay attention to your leg axes and your balance when taking these steps. If you are unbalanced, reduce the pace. 3rd “ballet” Here the thigh muscles are trained very intensively.
You stand in a circle in the exercise pool and hold each other by the hands. Now they move alternately the left and the right leg stretched out for 20 seconds in rhythm forwards and backwards. Take a break (10 seconds).
Now let the right leg circle for 20 seconds. Take a break (10 sec.). Let the left leg circle for 20 seconds in a stretched position.
Take a break (10 sec.). 4. hurdle run This exercise from the water gymnastics is very demanding and should only be done if you are able to handle the load/move.The students stand in a row with their backs to the edge of the pool. Each holds a pole under water at knee height.
Now one participant walks with the pole overhead through the water and has to cross the poles like hurdles. Once he has passed the course, he stands at the end of the row and in turn holds the pole under water as a hurdle. Then the next participant walks over the course.
Do this exercise only if you already have enough movement in your knee joint to cross the hurdles without pain. You can find exercises from the physiotherapy on land on the page Physiotherapy exercises knee. 1st “closed chain” In a standing position you bend your knees until your head is still above water.
Then slowly stretch your legs. Finally they stand on tiptoe and keep this position for a short time. This exercise works best when they stand in a circle and hold each other by the hands.
Repeat the exercise depending on your constitution to adjust the training individually. 2nd “sideways” In this exercise the tensor fasciae latae (lateral thigh) is activated for lateral pelvic stability. While standing, hold a noodle on the water surface with both hands.
Now you alternately move the right and left leg sideways away from the body. The leg is stretched and moved without a rotation in the hip joint. An increase is possible by walking sideways through the pelvis.
Please make small lateral steps to avoid a too strong adduction in the hip joint. 3. “foot cuffs” abdominal muscles, thigh and lower leg muscles are strengthened during this water gymnastics.
You lean with your back against the edge of the pelvis, your hands hold on to the edge of the pelvis. There is no ground contact with the feet. Around the feet they have buoyancy bodies.
You now ride a bicycle with your legs in the water. It is important to keep the trunk tension so that the legs do not touch the ground. 4th “Support in the water” To improve the support function, this exercise is suitable.
When standing under water you hold a short noodle in the right and in the left hand. Now stretch both arms forward in front of your body. The noodles touch each other.
Then turn your arms inwards and move them backwards and downwards, as if you wanted to stand up from an armchair and support yourself. Repeat the exercise depending on your constitution. In the article Hip-TEP Exercises, exercises after an artificial hip joint on land are described.
1) “There and back” This training mainly strengthens the trunk muscles without straining the spine. You clamp a noodle under your armpits and move into a supine position. The arms are spread out to the sides of the body.
Now they pull both legs towards the body and then stretch the legs away from the body. Next, they spread the stretched legs and then bring them back together. Finally they pull the legs back towards the body and stretch them away from the body.
If they do not have enough buoyancy, they can also put two noodles under the armpits. 2. belly and back” As the name suggests, this is an intensive exercise for the lower belly and back muscles. You clamp two noodles under your armpits and stand in the water.
The arms are spread out to the sides of the body. Now they pull both legs towards the body, lie on their backs for a short time and then stretch the legs forward away from the body. In the second step, they pull the legs back towards the body, go briefly into prone position and then stretch them backwards away from the body.
The legs should always be moved parallel and closed during this exercise. 3rd “Torque” Torque is a simple exercise to strengthen the chest, shoulder and lateral back muscles. Take a swimming board in each hand and clamp it between your forearm and armpit.
Stretch your arms sideways away from your body underwater. Now turn your upper body alternately to the right and left with arms spread apart. If the exercise is too hard for you, you can alternatively take a water dumbbell in each hand.
4. jumping jack you stand in the water and have a short noodle in each hand. The arms are spread out to the sides, the noodles are at the level of the water surface. Now they spread their legs at the same time and at the same moment pull the stretched out arms to the body.
Next, they spread the arms sideways again and pull the legs together. To increase the exercise you can also integrate a small jump before spreading the legs into the exercise. Exercises on land after a herniated disc you will find on the page Exercises herniated disc.The statutory health insurance companies are not only obliged to pay for courses for disabled or chronically ill people to learn medically indicated functional gymnastics.
They also have to bear the costs of later refresher courses, since errors can creep in when doing the exercises correctly during self-training. Ask your health insurance whether there are courses or groups in your area for Bekhterev, rheumatism, osteoporosis or similar diseases that fit your symptoms and are subsidized. Cost units are health insurance companies, employment agencies, pension insurance and accident insurance.
Rehab sports are sports and sports games, but also – depending on the participants – coordinated movement therapeutic exercises. A wide variety of sports and exercises are possible, depending on the previous illnesses, diseases and disabilities of the course participants. The aim is to integrate disabled people or people at risk of disability into working life in the long term and to enable them to live in the social community.
Rehab sport always takes place in groups on fixed dates, as it is also about the exchange of experiences between patients, positive group experiences and self-help. As rehabilitation sport, water gymnastics is classically offered after accidents and operations such as hip TEPs, knee TEPs or shoulder TEPs. Especially this target group is especially suitable for water gymnastics, because the joint-gentle effect of the water buoyancy and the muscle-building effect of the water resistance after an operation is ideal to implement rehabilitation measures without risk of injury.
Meanwhile there is an ever increasing use of training devices in the water gymnastics. To these devices belong for example the underwater trampoline, the wall bars, the treadmill, the stepper and the bicycle trainer. With the help of these devices, a very specific training plan can be implemented that is tailored to the individual patient.