If you have access to a pool, that may be the only gym you need to achieve a higher fitness level. Pool workouts can help you achieve greater health and muscle tone. They have less painful side effects and generally cause less injuries. If you’re already on a workout program, you can seamlessly add pool workouts into your routine for a more complete workout.

To help focus your water workout, it is recommended that you use a buoyancy belt to maintain your location and balance in the water and prevent putting stress on your back during the workouts. Aquatic dumbbells can also be used to perform this function. Aquatic dumbbells can be used in a greater variety of workouts than buoyancy belts, but many people don’t like having their hands tied up during their pool workouts.

You should consult with a physician before beginning any workout. It is also recommended that you work with a specialist in pool workouts to help you develop proper form for your workouts. The following is an overview of some popular pool workouts:

1. Crossover Crunches
Lie across the water on one side with your knees bent in to your chest. Then fold your feet and head towards each other. Repeat on the opposite side.

2. Diamond
Float vertically. Push the soles of your feet together with knees pointing in near opposite directions. Without feet coming apart, lift and lower your feet towards your buttocks.

3. Knee Crunch
Lie back in the water with your hips submerged and knees bent so that your lower legs are floating on the surface of the water. Use your abdominal muscles to curl your body forward until your knees reach your chest hen return to original position.

4. Knee Tuck
Take a deep breath and then lie facing downward in the water and dumbbells out to your sides. Pull your knees in to your chest then go back to your original position.

5. Oblique Twist
Lie back in the water with your legs together and your knees bent. Remain lying in the same position with your legs together while you move your knees down to one side and then back up and down to the other side and then back up.

6. Jack Knifes
Lie back in the water with your hips submerged and your knees bent so that your lower legs are floating on the surface of the water. Use your abdominal muscles to curl your body forward until your chest meets your knees. As you become more advanced, you can lessen the bend in your knees while doing this exercise until you don’t have to bend them at all.

There are other effective ways of become fit; the question is which way is right for you. To learn more about this issue check out these articles about choosing the right weight loss plans especially how to obtain sustainable weight loss and fitness through fast weight loss programs.

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It is recommended to do water aerobics for many reasons. Water exercises can help you to lose weight, prevent weight gain, build lean muscle, lower blood sugar levels, and lower blood pressure and reduce stress.

The typical water aerobics class runs from 45 minutes to an hour in chest deep water. In each class, there is a warm up period where you stretch and loosen up your muscles. The bulk of the class is spent on performing various movements or dances that work the arms, legs and core. The class ends with a cool down period. In this time, you can really burn some calories. It is estimated that the typical session burns between 450-700 calories.

For those that are just starting an exercise program, water aerobics are a perfect start. Doing the exercises in the water strengthens every major muscle group as well as improving your cardiovascular health.

Even the athlete benefits from water exercises. In the water, your lungs and heart work harder then they do standing on the ground. The resistance of the water also complements the other training that a top athlete performs.

Aqua aerobics is great for those who are overweight. Exercises in the water are easier on the joints as the body is more buoyant. This puts less stress on the joints and greatly reduces the chance of injury. For the overweight person trying to get into shape, the cardiovascular aerobic activity is both great for burning fat, but also for strengthening the lungs and heart. The resistance of the water is effective for gaining lean muscle and burning fat too.

Water aerobics are also very popular for those who are rehabbing from surgery or an injury. In fact, many top athletes rehab in the water doing water jogging which gets the muscles in shape with out the stress of heavy contact on the ground. In the water, you can safely get the whole body in shape and also concentrate exercises on the injured part of the body to help speed up recovery.

Senior citizens and those with brittle bones also love aqua aerobics. The exercises in the water greatly reduce the likelihood of injury and also effective at reducing the damages of osteoporosis. Seniors also love that aqua aerobics classes are a group activity and this is a great way to spend some time with friends or to meet some new ones.

Regardless of your fitness level, age and needs there is some kind of water exercise that is right for you. Don’t you think that it is time that you found a water aerobics class at a pool near you?

In the same way that land based aerobics comprise routines performed rhythmically accompanied or unaccompanied by music and reach different levels of intensity, aquatic aerobic exercises can become more advanced in levels and are performed with and without music. As an example, a basic water exercise routine may teach simple beginner leg movements which may or may not progress in intensity, frequency, intricacy and duration for an advanced level of exercise.

Similar to more familiar land based aerobic routines, water aerobics include the phases of warming-up, stretching and cooling down. Organized workout classes usually have duration of one hour or less. As well as a great aerobic workout, water fitness will provide great benefits in strength, flexibility, muscular endurance and balance.

If you are not a strong swimmer, there is still no problem with performing many of these low impact and simple to perform water based exercise routines. They can be performed in waist or chest deep water, though there are deeper water routines which use flotation equipment like buoyancy belts if you prefer.

Higher Weight Loss Than Land-based Aerobic Exercise

Water has a much greater resistance than air, so water exercises use up much more calories, it is not unusual to burn anywhere from 450 to 700 calories each hour. By going into deeper water, there is an even greater resistance and therefore greater calories are burned. Aerobic water exercise provides quicker results than performing the same routine out of water. Flexibility, endurance and muscle tone will also improve much faster than in land-based exercise.

Lower Stress Exercising

Aquatic Aerobics are very relaxing as the weight of your body is supported by the water. Consider the following facts and you will understand this information better:

- waist deep water supports 50% of your total body weight, that means your joints only you carry approximately half of your body weight

- chest deep water supports 85 % of your body weight, you carry only 15% of your body weight

- Neck deep water 90 % of your body weight, you carry only 10% of your body weight

Besides from the fact that hitting the pool on a hot summer day is soothing, many people are hitting the pool for a water aerobics workout. One of the biggest benefits to an aerobic workout in the pool is it almost entirely eliminates any risk of injury. When you add the water buoyancy with the support it provides for your body, you have little risk of injuring joints, bones, or muscles. So how exactly are you getting a workout from standing in shoulder deep water you may wonder?

Despite the feel of a lighter workout, water aerobics present a challenge with the resistance level itself. Because of the increased density the water provides, waters resistance level is 12 times that of air. With the continuous movements and motions you make within your aerobic workout the swaying of the water makes your movements more difficult. This in turn burns calories and tones your muscles.

As mentioned earlier, you do not necessarily have to join a water aerobics class in order to get a good workout in the pool. There are several exercises you can do yourself to stay fit without paying for a class. Many of the aerobics workouts you do on land can be done in the pool as well. For instance, walking or running in the pool is a basic workout that will work all the muscles in your body. In order to get the full workout properly you want to make sure to have your entire foot touch the bottom of the pool.

Another great aerobic workout in the pool can be jumping jacks. This is an exercise that will allow you to work all the muscles in the body while staying relatively in the same spot. A couple other workouts worth mentioning is jumping in skiing motion back and forth, doing lunges in water that is chest deep or a little lower, and making a kick-boxing motion.

Another great thing about water aerobics is that there is no special attire required besides a swimsuit. The only other swimwear you may want to consider purchasing is goggles and/or aqua socks for better traction and to help prevent scraping your feet on the bottom of the pool.

There is no question whether you can get a good hard workout with water aerobics. As with aerobics on land, if you make the workout long enough you will feel the results and see them within a few weeks of continuous training.