Clean. Your pool is sparkling and ready for summer. But, are you getting the most you can out of your pool? The kids jump in occasionally. You swim the odd lap and lounge around with a drink on the weekend. This is a good start, but there are some more incredible benefits your pool offers. Your own backyard pool can give you a fantastic full-body workout beyond simply swimming laps. You can cycle, run, jump and float your way to better health and fitness all in your pool at home.
When leveraged with some pretty cool exercise equipment for the pool, the pool water can generate a high-intensity workout without the usual soreness to muscles and joints you experience on land.
From powerful aqua bikes to yoga-style floating mats, we’ve pulled together the best pool exercise options to help you to get the most out of your pool this summer.
Pool Workouts You Can Do at Home
Pool Cycling on an Aqua Bike
Aqua cycling, popularly known as underwater spinning or water cycling, is a water-based exercise that uses a purpose-built Aqua Bike called a Hydrorider that is specifically designed for pool use. It is just like riding a spin bike, but it is only done underwater. This training equipment is submerged in 1.2-1.6m of water.
As water is about 800x denser than air, cycling on an Aqua Bike offers more resistance compared to cycling on land. Enjoy the benefits of high-intensity exercise without next day soreness of the muscles and joints and in the comfort of your home.
Benefits of Cycling Underwater
Young or old, beginner or an athlete, aqua spinning can be enjoyed by anyone.
As a low-impact aerobic aquatic exercise, the benefits of spinning underwater are:
- A fun and enjoyable workout
- Burns up to 800 kcal per hour
- Strengthens cardiovascular endurance
- Improves muscle strength and coordination
- Tones major muscle group – core, arms, legs, and chest muscles
- It is kind on the joints and muscles
- It is a helpful rehabilitative exercise
- It is a good recovery workout
- Reduces stress and improves sleep quality
- Improves blood flow
- Reduces cellulite
If you love cycling or spinning, you will love aqua cycling.
Pool Running on an Aqua Treadmill
Escape the next-day soreness by taking your traditional run to the pool. That way, you can prevent injury and soreness even after major workouts as you increase cardio endurance.
Aqua treadmills, also called water treadmills, hydrotherapy treadmills, or underwater treadmills, are simply immersed in water. Running on an aqua treadmill in a pool reduces the risk of common land injuries. How? Water minimizes the impact at the same time improves balance and increases blood circulation.
Benefits of running on a treadmill underwater
The benefits of running underwater are:
- Burn up to 700kcal per hour
- Faster recovery from sore muscles
- Less impact on the joints and risk of injury
- Strengthens core muscles resulting in better balance, flexibility, and mobility
- Improve sports performance
Pool Strength Training with Aqua Bands
Strength training is also possible to do in the pool and doesn’t require a large or expensive fit-out. How? A pool resistance band called the RiderBand.
Aqua bands or pool resistance bands are stretchable exercise bands used in the pool to create external force in muscle strength building. This exercise is best for creating strong, lean muscles.
Benefits of pool strength training with aqua bands
The benefits of using aqua bands for pool strength training are:
- Strengthens and tones the muscles
- Aids in muscle recovery for specific muscle groups
- Stretches and improves mobility
- Improves muscle stability
- Protects and strengthens bones and joints
Underwater Trampolining with an Aqua Trampoline
Underwater trampoline or aqua trampoline is simply a small trampoline that is used underwater. The exciting fact about leaping underwater is that water resistance makes it more challenging for you to jump higher as it absorbs the pressure of your body as you push it down.
Benefits of underwater trampolining
We all know that it is fun to jump on a trampoline. The same goes with doing it in a swimming pool. The water resistance provides safety while allowing you to do the workout and leap to a higher level. The benefits of trampolining underwater are:
- A fun way to burn calories
- Increase cardio capacity
- Strengthens lower back, hips, ankles, and knees
- Boost coordination and agility
- Improves blood circulation
- Restores joint flexibility
Floating Fitness with a Floating Fit Mat
Challenge yourself by getting on board a floating fitness mat in your pool called FOW (For on Water).
Who said you can’t do yoga or pilates in your backyard pool? A floating fitness mat enables you to do these exercises on the pool’s surface. With a floating fitness mat and the unstable nature of water, you can intensify the level of these exercises as part of your floating fitness routine.
Benefits of Floating Fitness
These are the attractive benefits you’ll get from floating fitness:
- Boosts metabolic rate and burns calories
- Improves balance and posture
- Strengthens and stabilizes core muscles
- Improves concentration and focus
Build Your Own Fitness Center in Your Backyard Pool
Transform your home swimming pool into your own personal fitness centre and enjoy the refreshing and invigorating benefits of all these great exercises with the added intensity from water resistance without muscle soreness or injury.
Mix up your exercise routine with a Hydrorider aqua spin bike, an aqua treadmill, RiderBand aqua resistance band, a Diamond AquaJump aquatic underwater trampoline, or a For on Water floating fitness mat from My Pool My Gym. Exercise in your own time, at your own pace with specialised pool equipment that’s easy to move, use and store.
