By healthiergang writer , swimming instructor and student in sports science.
The Benefits of Aquafitness and Swimming
In the world of fitness and sports in general, the opinion circulates that swimming is the "sport that is good for you". Even today it is indicated by doctors to children in the prepubertal phase or with particular paramorphisms (hyperkyphotic and hyperlordotic attitude) to correct posture by strengthening the muscles of the trunk and back.
However, swimming is not an activity suitable only for children and teenagers. More and more adults are approaching the pools and the various activities that take place there. Let's see the 2 main ones.
Acquafitness: The Benefits
In recent years, many disciplines have developed that bring the world of "gymnasium" fitness closer to the aquatic world. Various courses were born, ranging from free-body water gymnastics to gymnastics with tools and even bikes and treadmills.
The goal of water gymnastics or fitness is to do activities in total safety for the joints, in the absence of gravity. The benefits are many:
- Exercise the joint mobility and increase muscle tone.
- Exercises carried out in partial immersion (generally at the level of the torso) that they create a combination of two types of resistance, that of air and that water, more difficult to counter.
- Increase in endurance, strength, coordination.
- Important involvement of balance, and proprioceptive abilities (position of the body in the aquatic space).
- Pleasant training that does not make you perceive excessive fatigue or suffering.
- Relaxing effect, remedy for fatigue and stress.
- Work with low-stress muscles in other sports.
- Very important : active involvement of the abdominal "core" to maintain correct posture and avoid overloading the back. If we think that we are immersed in water, and we must be able to keep ourselves "still" despite the currents that are also created in the pool (perhaps in the lane alongside there are swimming lessons ..) we can imagine how demanding and highly remunerative work is for our abdominal corset.
Specifically for women:
- Aesthetic improvement of cellulite blemishes: the water massage in itself promotes a lymphatic drainage action.
- Stimulation of blood and lymphatic vessels : circulation and drainage of body fluids (effective against water retention). Not surprisingly, after participating in an hour-long water fitness session, you feel the need to pee.
People who are overweight or with joint or circulatory problems can move easily, having fun. These lessons are held to the rhythm of music in large classes, engaging from a social and relational point of view.
Acquafitness: Exercises and Tools
Bodyweight work consists of a sequence of exercises for the upper and / or lower limbs applied to water from the terrestrial fitness. Then we will have jumps, running back and forth, skip with high knees, quick sprints on the spot, adductions and abductions of the legs, single or together, sliding the soles of the feet on the bottom of the pool. Push and pull arm exercises, using water resistance as a virtual "weight". In this way we will work biceps, triceps, deltoids and pectorals. If we move into high water (where it is not touched) the exercise will be made even more complex and stimulating by floating.
To bodyweight work, you can add small tools borrowed from swimming, such as pull-buoys and tablets, or specific "weights" for fitness in the water, anklets, belts especially for doing suspension exercises (facilitating floating and helping to focus on the movement to be made) in high water. There are also water steps that are placed on the bottom of the pool, or small trampolines.
From small tools we pass alla bike o al treadmill. The bike is similar to a spinning bike, in which the flywheel is replaced by a series of hydrodynamic resistances that can be adjusted according to your training level. The treadmill is structured like a gym treadmill but can be used in water allowing you to run or walk safely without straining the joints. With the bike, we combine the difficulty of maintaining a pedal stroke to the rhythm of music with the execution of exercises with the upper limbs (always pushing and pulling). With the treadmill you perform exercises similar to those of the hydrobike always to the rhythm of music, combining movements for the upper limbs coordinated with those of the lower limbs.
The training protocols are the same applied to the world of terrestrial fitness, i.e. aerobic, resistance or strength conditioning with the use of circuits or interval work sequences, such as fartlek (especially in biking).
Swimming: The Benefits
Swimming as a sport can be summarized inexecution of the 4 styles and in the relative path of learning and improvement of the technique of the same. An optimal technique is the good prerequisite for training effectively, avoiding the consolidation of incorrect motor patterns that lead to an expensive and tiring swim.
There are different ways to train in swimming, from free swimming to participation in courses (with various levels, from beginner to the most advanced and sporty) up to the attendance of the so-called "masters", ie competitive athletes in all respects who participate in swimming competitions. dedicated to them.
In any case, the basis for a good swimming training consists of:
- Good aquaticity (buoyancy).
- Mastery of styles (although not all 4, at least freestyle and backstroke).
Swimming improves the functioning of the cardio-respiratory system, bringing benefits to everyday life. Helps to lose weight as it is an activity (except for speed specialists) that mainly uses the aerobic energy substrate, allows to drain excess fluids reducing water retention and hypertension, but also gives a great sense of relaxation helping us to disconnect from everyday problems because we are "forced" to concentrate on swimming and breathing.
However, the ideal training is not that of “ringing” laps after laps indefinitely without ever stopping. In this way, after an initial period of fatigue, our body will adapt to the movement that is always the same and never varied, inserting the "automatic pilot", and nullifying any kind of improvement.
In order to see the desired progress (maybe do 100 but freestyle always in less time) you have to train following specific training schedules for our level or our goal. We can ask for advice from the staff at the pool, or consult online resources such as www.nuotomania.com.
We always vary our training, and do not let ourselves be attracted by the various aids on the poolside: we try to use them pull-buoy, board, paddles and fins only when our work program foresees it and not all together and / or always.
Conclusion
When we enter the pool, whether we swim on our own or participate in an aquafitness course, we pay attention to the positive sensations that the contact of our skin with the water gives us. Surely the experience in the pool will be a positive and relaxing moment for everyone.
