Fitness From the Pro

Last night in class, we had fun with a “Whirlpool” water aerobics routine. By creating a whirlpool with the participants in class you get plenty of resistance. You can use all the different kinds of exercises in a circle creating this whirlpool. As a resting period have the members face the center of the circle while executing an exercise. This creates a more social environment for the class too.

This is an example of a whirlpool water aerobics routine that can work for you. We started out with a basic jog forward and backward the length of the pool. After feeling the resistance as you change directions, I wanted to create more resistance for the class. We all got in a circle. If the class size is large, make 2 separate circles. I’m just using 1 circle for this explanation. When the circle was formed, we started jogging in a clockwise manner. Wrists were flexed pushing the water away from you. When there was good movement in the water, we jogged backward in counter clockwise motion but still facing forward. The hand position was open fingers, palms in the water pulling the water behind you. Keep alternating directions in your circle. You could add in a variation to this water aerobics routine, by turning your body around and jog forward in the circle, but counter clockwise.

Then have the participants face the center of the circle and Cross Country Ski toward the middle, with the palms facing up toward the ceiling. Travel back with your ski and with fingers open, palms facing away and behind you pulling the water back.

You could also add in a Rocking Horse toward the center of the circle and switch legs as you travel back from the circle. Switch legs and Rocking Horse clockwise in the circle, switching legs and Rocking Horse in the other direction.

After doing this water aerobics routine for about 20-30 minutes, our heart rates were up and we had fun! Believe me with the whirlpool movement, there is plenty of resistance and an excellent cardio workout!