Aquatic activity classes are common place on many group fitness schedules, and for good reason.  The pool is an amazing environment for all populations to reap the rewards of a low-impact environment that offers built in resistance for working the muscles from all angles.  The buoyancy of water reduces a person’s weight by about 90%, so stress on weight-bearing joints, bones and muscles decreases as well, making this environment a dream scenario for personal trainers and physical therapists.  PTs can help their clients reach their goals in new and innovative ways. Hydrostatic pressure aids aching joints, which makes aquatic exercise more beneficial to those who suffer from inflammatory diseases.

The water’s density is approximately 800 TIMES that of air, so the energy cost of aquatic exercise goes up (participants burn an average of 9.8 calories per minute) during deep water exercise, which is equivalent to walking or running at a pace of 10- 11 minute miles.  This “wonder” exercise markedly reduces systolic and mean arterial blood pressure in patients with hypertension while having positive effects on mental health and well-being.

When you and your family are looking for something new and different to do this summer, why not take your fit family to the pool for some fun and fitness.   This summer, I challenge YOU to make the pool a workout zone… why not make an obstacle course, interval training stations, swimming competitions, and have fun with fitness.  Here at Soul meets Body Coach, we are going to be taking this challenge, too.  Each month, we will be creating a NEW, INNOVATIVE WORKOUT ZONE for the pool on our website blogs.  Keep your eyes open for these fun fitness finds and why not send us some of your workout zone creations?  soulmeetsbodycoach@gmail.com