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Whether you're enjoying time outdoors during the summer or looking for a way to stay active during the winter, spending time in the pool is a popular hobby all year long. While swimming laps has long been a go-to cardio activity, it's far from the only way to utlize the pool for exercise.
The water offers a natural resistance that allows you to work your muscles without dumbbells. Plus, it's a low-impact workout that is a great option for those recovering from an injury or experiencing joint pain.
If you're in need of a low-impact workout option or simply looking to squeeze in a workout while enjoying the warm weather, try these pool exercises to get your heart rate up, build strength and tone your entire body.
One of the best things about pool exercises is that they provide a low-impact way to get in strength training and cardio exercise. The buoyancy of the water also supports your body weight, putting less pressure on your joints. This makes pool workouts a great option for people with arthritis or joint pain, and those recovering from an injury or dealing with excess body weight.
Pool workouts allow you to perform strength-training exercises without any equipment, since the water creates a natural resistance. Finally, you can expect similar benefits to regular exercise by working out in the pool: better cardiovascular health, strengthening and toning your muscles and reducing stress.
Like any form of exercise, pool exercises can lead to weight loss. In fact, when I was on my own weight-loss journey almost 20 years ago, I added in pool exercises (mostly swimming laps) to help with my weight loss (and it did!). Whether you’re focusing on cardio endurance by swimming laps, walking or running in the pool, or doing resistance exercises, you can tighten and tone the body while burning calories.
If you want to incoporate pool workouts into your routine consistantly, aim to complete each exercise for a total of 10 reps and repeat the circuit 3 times. I also like to just causally throw in an exercise here and there when I’m enjoying a pool day!
Rest your arms and back against the side of the pool. Bring your legs out in front of you hip width apart. Point your toes and kick your legs up and down as quickly as you can going in opposite directions, when the right leg is up then the left leg is down and vise versa. Repeat for 30 kicks.
Begin in the shallow end of the pool with legs shoulder-width apart and toes rotated out. Push your hips back like you are sitting in a chair and then using your legs push yourself back into a standing position until your body comes partially out of the water. Allow yourself to land back on your feet in the starting position. Jump 10 times.
Stand in the shallow end of the pool, facing the opposite side of the shallow end. Then walk forward toward the other side of the pool. Turn around and walk back to the starting position. Pump your arms as if you’re walking outside.
Start at one end of shallow side of the pool. Instead of stepping as you would when walking in the pool, try to run and get a little bit of air (water!) underneath each step. Act like you’re running toward the other end of the pool and pump your arms.
Note: When you pump your arms under the water, you’re also working your shoulders and arm muscles. When you pump your arms above the water (if the water is only waist deep instead of chest deep) it’s less of a workout on the arms.
Rest your arms and back against the side of the pool. Bring your legs up in front of you and spread them out to the sides until they make a V shape. Next bring them back in towards each other and allow them to cross over each other (ex. right leg over the left leg) and then push them back out into the V shape before bringing them back together with the left leg on top this time. Repeat 30 times.
Rest your arms and back against the side of the pool. Then pretend like you’re riding a bike as you reach one knee up toward the top of the water and then press it down and forward back into the water. Keep alternating legs, first bringing the knee up and in and then kicking the leg straight out. This is a cardio move that will get your heart rate up, but it’s also a lower body strength training exercise!
Facing the wall, rest your head on your hands or hold onto the side of the wall or a noodle. Pull your legs in, bending your knees out to the sides (into a frogger position). Then, kick them straight out on a diagonal to each side and bring them back in toward center for a frog kick. Repeat.
Holding your arms down at your sides, open your palms and squeeze your fingers together. Then bend the elbows and curl your forearms up so that your hands press up toward your shoulders. Return your arms down to your sides and repeat. Do this in chest-deep water for more resistance.
Stand up straight and hug both elbows in toward your sides. Bend your elbows at 90 degrees so that your hands are out in front of you and your forearms are parallel with the bottom of the pool. Press your arms up and back through the water to straighten your arms behind you, squeezing your triceps. Return to bent elbows and repeat.
Stand straight and reach your arms straight out to your sides underneath the water. Open the palms and press the fingers together. Then, keeping the arms straight, bring your fingers together in front of you as if you are hugging your arms around a tree. For a bonus, flip the palms so that they face the reverse position when bringing them back out to the sides. Repeat.
Stand with your feet a few feet away from the wall of the pool and your hands on the edge of the pool as wide as your shoulders. Bend your elbows out to the sides lowering into a pushup. Straighten your arms to return to start. Repeat.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
