There are so many different water aerobics routines out there because there are so many creative instructors! Today, I'm going to talk about executing a water aerobics routine simulating deep water aerobics but in a shallower pool. That means you will need a noodle and keep your feet off the floor. You can do very similar deep water exercises on the noodle simulating a deep water workout.
I throw in this kind of workout every now and then to keep things fresh. It is also an excellent joint friendly water aerobics routine.
I like to start out sitting on the noodle like a horse, noodle between your legs. Just bicycle your legs forward with hands holding on to the noodle or hold hands up, so it's all leg work. Then peddle or bicycle your legs backwards, this move does take some concentration to execute. The bicycling forward and backward is a good warm up to get people comfortable sitting on the noodle with movement.
I start to increase the heart rate by having the members hold their arms out to the side and do arm circles, one way, then the other way while legs are bicycling. We may then go into jumping jacks, or even cross country ski, legs off the floor. This shows them that these moves can be done suspended. We may alternate the jacks with the ski/ 4 corners to get things moving.
Another little exercise which is good for neuro-muscular activity is have the legs cross country skiing, back and forth, then swing the arms side to side in front of the noodle, opening up the fingers gives you more resistance. Or, you could do jumping jack legs, arms are out in front, swing the arms back and forth. These are also good exercises for toning the arms.
My very favorite suspended exercise for the legs is using 1 leg. Start with the right leg in front, foot flexed and bend the knee. Left leg is behind you, not doing anything but hanging out. Use the right leg and dig your heel into the water and travel forward. Don't use your hands so hold onto the noodle and let the 1 leg do all the work. You can really feel the hamstrings and the quadriceps working. Travel forward to a destination, then turn around and use the left leg, while the right leg hangs out not doing anything. That left heel digs into the water and travel forward.
If you find that this is too hard for your class, here's an alternative for you which is much easier. Start with the right heel digging into the water, and propel yourself around in a circle. Go around in your circle 2 times, then switch legs. The left heel digs into the water propelling yourself around in a circle going the other way. Don't use your hands!
As your class becomes more advanced, you can travel back and forth alternating legs a couple of times, then finish with the circles. These moves will get the heart rate pumping!
Another heart pumper you can add to any of your water aerobics routines, is doing fast jogs or fast bicycles. We do this sitting on our noodles, and we do fast jogs suspended for:15 seconds. We take a:15 second break and stretch out the legs. Add another round of:15 second fast jogs and a:15 second recovery.
When I see everyone is fatigued, that's when I give them a break and roll over onto our backs and start doing abdominal exercises with the noodle or other body part exercises while remaining suspended. When we recover, we once again do another round of cardio activity sitting on our noodles. Then eventually, we put our feet on the floor and cool things down. The hour goes by quickly! My class members are now requesting to do a suspended workout.
So as you can see, there is variety you can use with suspended water aerobics routines. None of my water aerobics routines are ever the same, so the class does not get burned out and neither do I.
Go ahead and work this routine into your classes and always have fun!!
No comments:
Post a Comment