Summer is almost always synonymous with swimming. From a beach vacation to a dip at your local neighborhood pool, cooling off in the water is refreshing way to beat the heat. This season, as you grab your inflatable tube and make your way to your own blue oasis, consider mixing some fitness into your relaxing float. Not only are water-based exercises low impact on your joints, they also can increase your lung capacity, help you burn calories, whittle your waist and tone your limbs.
So what are we waiting for? Let’s dive in.
Swimming Laps
Ok, so this was an obvious one. But did you know that an easy swim can burn 500-700 calories per hour? Swimming is a great muscle toner, especially since the resistance from the water challenges each movement. Also, swimming is the gentlest cardio exercise for your joints available, since water renders you weightless in the pool. Swimming can also increase your flexibility, lung capacity and endurance.
Treading Water
Treading water may seem less graceful than measured laps down a pool’s lane, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be beneficial to your body. Treading water is moving to stay afloat, usually done in deeper water. Unsure if you have the right technique? Check out this instructional video. Treading water can easily burn 200 calories or more, depending on how vigorously you pump the water.
Water Aerobics
Do you love group fitness classes but are tired of sweating in a small room at your gym? Break free and try water aerobics! Better yet, do it at an outside pool. Water aerobics can be lead by an instructor or done on your own. If you’re going solo, try starting with a light jog followed by jumping jacks. Tone your legs by holding on to the side of the pool while doing flutter kicks and frog kicks. Incorporate water weights in order to increase the drag in the water, further challenging your workout.
Games
Who says that you can’t still enjoy the pool like you once did as a child? Sharks and Minnows (essentially tag played in the water) and Marco Polo (essentially hide-and-go-seek) are classic games. Try to do a handstand and enjoy the weightlessness the water gives you. Grab a kickboard and race a partner to the other side of the pool. Play catch with a water Frisbee or dive for weighted rings. The important thing is to keep moving and enjoy the water.
Mix up your workout and add some water activities into your summer routine. It’s a great way to cool off while toning up. Do you have a favorite water workout? What exercises will you be trying?