Water is a medium that has always inspired people, whether for recreational swimming or specifically to maintain health and fitness. Water exercise is many centuries old. The Greeks applied water to reduce fevers. Other cultures also attributed healing properties to the medium.
What is water exercise?
Water gymnastics is a special exercise training with gymnastic exercises in chest-high heated water, which many swimming pools offer. Water gymnastics is a special exercise training with gymnastic exercises in chest-high, heated water, which many swimming pools offer. The modern form of classical water gymnastics is called aquafitness and trains the whole body with the support of the properties of water. Aquafitness, unlike classical water gymnastics, guarantees the participant a lot of fun. Offered courses such as aqua tap, aqua jogging and others take place in swimming pools at water temperatures between 27 degrees Celsius and 35 degrees Celsius. The aim of the exercises is to train fitness, joints, muscles and tendons. Although exercises are easier to perform in dry conditions than in water, water gymnastics more than compensates for this disadvantage with many advantages. The exercises can be performed in the swimming pool or by excellent swimmers in the lake or sea. The latter is a challenge in terms of skill and coordination. Beginners are ideally content with the swimming pool.
Function, effect and objectives
Water gymnastics is suitable for almost all people. Children and people who are not able to swim independently perform the gymnastic exercises in the non-swimmer pool. People who for many years have refused any sporting activity and for health reasons have changed their minds, can use water gymnastics as an excellent way to get back into sport. In addition, water gymnastics is suitable for babies, whose sense of balance and coordination of the eyes and hands can be trained in this way. Since many exercises do not put much strain on the human body, they are suitable for older people and people with joint diseases. Healthy people are able to increase fitness. Furthermore, with water gymnastics they prevent many civilization diseases such as cardiovascular diseases and overweight. Overweight people are able to lose pounds with proper water gymnastics (water gymnastics can burn up to 400 calories in half an hour). Exercises in water are easy on the joints, as a person’s body weight is about 80 percent lower than in dry conditions. This significantly reduces the strain on muscles and bones. However, water gymnastics can be divided into conditional water gymnastics in leisure time under the guidance of a trainer and functional water gymnastics, which serves therapeutic purposes. The first form of water gymnastics requires a period of acclimatization, after a certain time the exercises can be performed independently. In this way it is possible to train endurance, fitness, strength, coordination and flexibility, as well as all muscles in the arms, legs, abdomen and neck. Functional water gymnastics is performed exclusively under the guidance of an experienced therapist and usually serves to restore the musculoskeletal system through slow movements in a circle. In contrast to functional water gymnastics, conditional water gymnastics specifically uses buoyancy in the water and water resistance to achieve optimal results. Basically, conditional water gymnastics puts more strain on the organism than functional water gymnastics and is mainly aimed at recreational and health athletes. In conditional water gymnastics, various aids such as swimming boards, pool noodles and special belts serve to achieve optimal training results. A special belt can increase or decrease buoyancy in the water. To strengthen the lateral back muscles, the participant grips a pool noodle behind the back at both ends, squeezes it hard, then loosens the grip. Arms and shoulders ideally rest on the noodle and the body lies stretched out on the surface of the water. During the exercise he turns the hips alternately to the left and right. It is important to adapt the exercises of water gymnastics to the individual needs of the course participant. In addition, warming up at the edge of the pool before training is mandatory, as exercises in the water do not exclude injuries.Stretching the muscles and tendons after training is also part of the mandatory program.
Risks, side effects and dangers
Conditional water gymnastics is basically suitable for people with cardiovascular diseases. The prerequisite is prior consultation with the attending physician. It is not suitable for people with cardiac insufficiency, severe cardiac arrhythmia or high blood pressure. In addition, people with chest pain that radiates to the left arm (angina pectoris attacks) are best to avoid this type of exercise. Water exercise is not recommended for people with open wounds. With conditional water gymnastics, participants complete a holistic workout. They strengthen their entire musculoskeletal system and train their cardiovascular system. In addition, the exercises train the sense of balance and stimulate concentration. Basically, the training effect is much higher than with comparable exercises in the dry. Pregnant women benefit in many cases from water gymnastics in the conditional form. The exercises relax and relieve their bodies. The buoyancy of the water relieves the joints, the intervertebral discs as well as the trunk muscles and helps with weight problems that arise due to the increased weight during pregnancy. Individually tailored exercises in the water are less strenuous for pregnant women than exercises on land, strengthen their muscles and stimulate their circulation. In addition, they provide the pregnant woman as well as the baby with better oxygen. Vein reflux can be boosted by the exercises, which reduces the likelihood of developing varicose veins. Cramps during pregnancy are released, and the pelvic floor and uterus provide more space for the baby, as the exercises soften them. Bottom line: water exercise offers pregnant women as much help as pregnancy exercise, if not more.