The summer months are an annual occasion to take a vacation and enjoy the beaches and pools, as nothing is more refreshing than a dip in the water to escape the hot weather, its fatigue and stress. However, many people don’t realize the importance of turning fun time in the water into a golden opportunity to practice natural resistance exercises and “get their benefits for the whole body and all family members,” says the certified personal trainer. Stephanie Mansoor.

According to certified swimming coach Dan Daly, swimming pool exercises differ in that “water is 800 times denser than air,” providing 12 to 14 times more resistance than exercising on land, without weights or equipment. As buoyancy provides extra support to muscles and joints, there is less stress on the joints, and a feeling of weightlessness.It calls water exercise “a great way to increase your heart rate, strengthen muscles, reduce stress and tone your entire body, and is ideal for pregnant women, those recovering from injury or those with joint pain.”

Pool exercises are great for agility

The good news — according to Coach Mansoor — is that exercising in water (focusing on resistance exercises, or swimming, walking, or running in the water) “can help you lose weight, tone and tone your body, along with burning calories.” .

Therefore, trainer Don Daly recommends trying these exercises, which “don’t require much swimming, and can burn major calories and help build muscle mass that contributes to burning fat and achieving desired fitness goals.”

Daly recommends training twice a week, completing each of the eight exercises for 30 seconds or 10 breaths, then doing it 3 times, resting for two minutes between rounds, and increasing the frequency, duration and intensity of the exercise as the exercise progresses. is progressing.

First: Warm Up Exercises (Cardio)

• Walk in the pool

It targets the arms, torso and lower body, standing at the edge of the pool, submerging up to the chest, then moving the arms as if walking on the floor advancing to the other side of the pool, then turning around, returning to the starting point, and repeating, walking back and forth while moving between these postures. , 5 to 10 minutes, high resistance and warm-up.

• Running in the pool

It starts from one end of the shallow side of the pool and tries to run to the other side, making sure that the shoulders are back, the stomach is tight, the legs are straight at the waist, and then the arms move. Legs in normal running to further warm up the muscles of the shoulders and arms.

Second: lower body exercises

Standing in the shallow end of the pool (so the squat position doesn’t flood the head), feet shoulder-width apart, toes slightly out.

Begin by squatting with your hips and heels flat, then straighten your hips, knees and ankles, jump your legs as high as you can, and repeat quickly for more resistance.

It combines cardio and body-strengthening resistance to get your heart rate up, leaning against the wall of the pool with your hands and back, alternating push-offs with your back legs, similar to riding a bicycle.

Knees reach the top of the water before squeezing it, then kick the leg straight out and repeat.

And it rests on the edge of the pool with the elbows and head, legs straight back, knees bent to the sides (like a proper frog), and then repeat.

Third: Upper body exercises

• Biceps extension

This is an exercise preferred to be done in deeper water for greater resistance, and it involves placing the arms at the sides, opening the palms of the hands and pressing them together, combined with bending the elbows and forearms upwards. The pressure is on the shoulders, then turn the arms to the sides, and repeat.

• Triceps extension

Stand straight with both elbows out to the sides and bent at a 90-degree angle, arms forward and forearms parallel to the bottom of the hips. Then press the arms in the water up and back to load the triceps muscle, then repeat and return to the starting point.

• Full body pressure on pelvic edge

Stand a few feet away from the pool wall, hands shoulder-width apart at the side of the pool, elbows bent at the sides, straighten your arms and push your body up, then lower and repeat.