Deep Water Aerobic Routines

As you submerge yourself into the deep end of a pool for a water fitness workout your body becomes nearly weightless, giving you a new kind of workout challenge.

While deep water aerobics has a low impact on your joints, it has a high impact on your cardiovascular system, improving your overall health and fitness and aiding weight loss and maintenance. You may wear a flotation belt for support in the deep water, or rely on your own ability to float as you perform deep water aerobic routines.

Combine exercises based on number of counts into rhythmic routines. Each movement represents a count. For example, one count when you jog is equal to every time your leg extends as if to put your foot on the ground.

A sample set of a choreographed routine is to perform 16 counts of jogging forward, 16 counts of wide-knee jogging to the right, 16 counts of cross-country skiing, which involves your legs swinging forward and backward at opposite times, and 16 counts of a high-knee jog. After one set, you would perform another set moving to the left with the wide-knee jog.

Read more: Aquacise Exercises

Moving forward, backward or sideways through deep water is challenging and increases the intensity of the exercises. Perform leaps, as if you were jumping over a large rock in the water to the front or to the side.

Jog around in a large circle to create a current, then switch directions to work against the current. Change your swimming style to incorporate swimming skills such as a side stroke or breast stroke to increase the workout for your upper body.

Foam noodles offer a workout variation in deep water aerobics. Sit on the noodle as if it were a bicycle and pedal forward or backward, adding arm movements as you reach forward and pull your arms back to help propel yourself through the water.

Then, move forward and backward using only your arms and let the legs hang free. For a more intense exercise, ask a partner to sit on a noodle and hold onto the end of your noodle as you pedal, propelling both noodles and your passenger across the pool.

Use one exercise and add variations on it for your deep water workouts. To perform a jumping jack, start from a neutral position with your straight legs under your hips and your arms at your sides, then open your legs out to the sides and lift your arms to the water's surface. To close the jack, bring your feet together and your arms to your sides.

After you complete 16 jumping jacks, perform a crossover jack. For the crossover jack, instead of closing your feet together, cross one foot over the opposite ankle. Another variation is a hip-hop jack in which you tuck your knees in to your chest instead of closing your legs together.

Read more: Water Aerobics Benefits