The benefits of water aerobics for weight loss: is it more effective than fitness?

How does water aerobics help you lose weight?

Water aerobics really helps you lose weight, 45 min. classes are equivalent to 3 hours of running. During training, 400-600 kcal are burned. The effect is simply amazing.

It is absolutely safe, eliminating the possibility of joint sprains, dislocations or other injuries. A set of exercises helps you lose weight, strengthen muscles, recover after childbirth, make your figure slimmer and more graceful, and also speed up your metabolism. With the help of training, you can correct any area of ​​the body.

Thanks to the hydromassage effect, you can get rid of cellulite.

The benefits of water aerobics are not only in losing weight, but also in improving physical and emotional health. Classes are held to the music, after training your mood improves. When losing weight in water, a person does not feel as tired as when working out in the gym.

What is the secret of water aerobics for weight loss? Efficiency is achieved due to the following factors:

• High density of water, higher than air. To perform exercises in water, you need to spend more effort than in the gym, but a person does not feel the stress because the body is relaxed.
• Difference between water and body temperature. This helps burn calories.
• Exercise speeds up metabolism and increases stress resistance.
• Lactic acid is not deposited, resulting in no pain.

Water aerobics is useful because all muscle groups are trained in water, even those that are difficult to pump up in the gym. The shoulders, arms, chest, waist, buttocks and hips work the most.

Pros of the gym

For some, there is no dilemma - water aerobics or the gym; they have already fallen in love with the latter option. And all because working out in the gym has a number of attractive advantages over any other type of training:

• team spirit makes you work hard;
• if the gym membership has already been paid for, then there is unlikely to be a desire to skip workouts;
• mirrors in the gym are a great motivator, help you evaluate your figure and increase your own efforts;
• most people who started going to the gym gradually came to a healthy diet and a healthy lifestyle without alcohol and cigarettes;
• absolutely all gym goers have positive thinking and do not suffer from depression;
• thanks to training in the gym, self-esteem increases, this effect appears after the first classes;
• the correct integrated approach to training allows you to develop volumetric muscles of the whole body;
• training in a rocking chair forms a person’s overall discipline, improving willpower and determination;
• Most people dream of a flat stomach; in the gym you can quickly get your abs in order;
• exercising on exercise equipment in the fitness room improves sleep, strengthens the nervous system, and heals the entire body;
• girls in the gym get strong buttocks, firm breasts, gorgeous legs, athletic arms and a thin waist;
• men in the gym get broad shoulders, beautiful sculpted arms, strong legs and all the other attributes of an athlete.

How are classes conducted, what equipment is needed?

Water aerobics for weight loss is carried out collectively for 20-25 people. Groups are formed taking into account physical fitness and swimming ability.

If someone losing weight has any illnesses, then they need to inform the trainer about it. He will select an individual lesson program.

Water fitness takes place in 3 stages:

• Preparation. It takes up to 10 minutes. All those losing weight are located around the pool area at a distance of more than 1 m, so as not to interfere with each other during the exercise process. Warm-up is done - walking, dancing, jumping, turning the head, circular rotations with the arms. Effectively use any exercise to warm up the muscles of the shoulders, arms and legs. The warm-up is rhythmic.
• Main part. The exercises are performed to music, so it's fun to practice. Musical accompaniment improves your emotional state and helps you lose weight faster by affecting the central nervous system. The trainer stands on the side of the pool and shows the movements that those losing weight should repeat, always keeping in time with the music. The purpose of the exercises is to pump up the muscles, burn extra calories, and strengthen the respiratory and cardiovascular systems.
• Final part. Its goal is to normalize pulse and breathing. The intensity of the load is reduced, breathing exercises, swimming and walking are performed.

To get even greater benefits, those losing weight use additional training devices. They increase efficiency and safety. The following equipment is used:

• dumbbells – additional cardio exercise;
• balls;
• noodles – sticks over 1 m in length that increase resistance;
• aqua belts – used to maintain balance;
• hand weights;
• special shoes - weights to strengthen the muscles of the legs;
• webbed gloves – used to increase resistance;
• expanders – suitable for strengthening the muscles of the chest, back and abs;
• step platforms – reduce slipping and are used for training the legs and abdominals.

Sometimes water bikes are used.

When working out in a pool without knowing how to swim, it is impossible to drown, since the depth is shallow, but you can still additionally use special belts around the neck. They keep their heads above the surface of the water.

To achieve a slim figure, you must adhere to the following recommendations:

• It is better to exercise in water with a temperature of up to 25 ° C;
• before and after training, you should not eat for 1.5-2 hours;
• for classes, purchase a one-piece swimsuit and a rubber cap;
• do not skip workouts, attend water aerobics at least 3-4 times a week, exercise for 30-40 minutes.

Aerobics or water aerobics?

What to choose to lose weight?

Aerobics: training can be very effective if you don’t just shuffle in place, but move at a fast pace, actively working with your arms and body.
In this case, according to the calculations of the American Mayo Clinic, a person weighing 73 kg will spend 530 kcal per hour. Whereas with low intensity exercise - only 360 kcal. Water aerobics: energy consumption is lower here - with the same 73 kg, a maximum of 400 kcal per hour. However, overweight people are often advised to start with water aerobics. The body loses approximately 40% of its weight in water, which reduces the load on the spine and joints and makes it easier to move. And psychologically, overweight people often feel more comfortable in the pool: figure flaws and clumsy movements are not so noticeable.

Choice: water aerobics for very overweight and unathletic people, aerobics for everyone else.

What strengthens muscles better?

Aerobics: “Walking in place, various steps and jumps - these movements, typical of classical aerobics, perfectly strengthen the muscles of the lower body. But you won’t be able to pump up your arms or back well with aerobics, says Elena Palaguta, instructor of group programs at World Class Zhitnaya. “For this you need exercise machines or dumbbells.”

aerobics: water resistance is 12 times greater than air. And you have to overcome it with every movement. If on land we make an effort only when we raise an arm or leg, and on the way back we actually allow gravity to do all the work, then in water we work constantly, so the muscles become more toned.

Choice: water aerobics.

Which develops coordination and balance better?

Aerobics: Great for developing these skills. This is confirmed by a joint study conducted by scientists from Japan, South Korea and the United States. Its participants - elderly ladies - regularly went to dance aerobics, practicing for an hour three times a week. And after just 12 weeks, they became significantly better at balancing while standing on one leg with their eyes closed.

Water aerobics: does not involve complex movements and ligaments, and it is easier to maintain balance in the water. A person with poor coordination and balance will find water aerobics quite comfortable. On the other hand, he will not be able to develop these qualities.

Choice: aerobics.

What should an expectant mother choose?

Aerobics: “The doctor may allow a pregnant woman to do aerobics, but with a lot of restrictions,” says Elena Palaguta. - You cannot move at a fast pace, jump, raise your arms above your head, make any jerking movements, swing your legs, twist your body. In addition, expectant mothers often develop varicose veins, which is why doctors also do not advise jumping and doing step aerobics.”

Water aerobics: one of the best fitness disciplines for pregnant women. Due to the fact that the body practically hangs in the water, the back and legs receive minimal stress. In addition, studies, the results of which were published in the journal Reproductive Health, showed that women who went to water aerobics during pregnancy tolerated childbirth better and required less painkillers.

Choice: water aerobics.

What is healthier for the musculoskeletal system?

Aerobics: Aerobics increases bone density and reduces the risk of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women, according to The Cochrane Library. On the other hand, by overestimating your strength and/or choosing the wrong shoes, you can easily get injured.

Water aerobics: has neither the pros nor cons of aerobics. It does not fight osteoporosis, but is as harmless as possible for joints.

Choice: Combat Draw.

Contraindications

Water aerobics for weight loss is contraindicated in the following cases:

• colds or viral diseases that are accompanied by chills and fever;
• cystitis;
• severe kidney pathologies;
• infectious and inflammatory diseases of the reproductive system;
• severe heart disease;
• seizures, epilepsy;
• muscle inflammation during an exacerbation;
• rheumatism, inflammatory diseases of the joints and spine;
• asthma;
• weak vestibular apparatus;
• allergy to bleach;
• damage to the skin.

To avoid getting sick in the water, you need to take a cold shower before training. Enter the pool gradually, otherwise you may experience a cramp or heart disease.

Which workout to choose

A simple conclusion can be drawn. Water aerobics gives an effect similar to exhausting cardio training and burns a lot of calories. The pool helps normalize body weight due to high-quality fat burning, and at the same time increases endurance and improves the cardiovascular system. Exercising in the gym gives a different effect. With the help of training on simulators or with your own weight, you can not only tone your muscles, but also increase your relief and tighten your entire body.

In fact, it is difficult to choose between two worthy types of physical activity, but we at least speculated on this topic. What's also confusing is that there are so many other workout options on offer, such as dance, Pilates, yoga and stretching. To make an unmistakable choice, you need to start from your preferences - just do what you like. You can quickly decide on your fitness choice by analyzing your lifestyle and goals.

The smartest step is to consult a good trainer. A sports expert will be able to instantly assess your figure and health status, create the right diet and individually determine training parameters.

Source

Exercises for correcting different parts of the body

They start training after warming up. The following exercises are suitable for losing weight in your legs and strengthening your muscles:

• Lie down on the water, holding the edge of the pool with your hands. Spread and close your legs, imitating swimming. The exercise helps to remove the inner thigh.
• Stand straight, feet shoulder-width apart, arms in front of you. Make swings, trying to touch the tips of the toes of the opposite hand. Do 15 times in 2 approaches.

To strengthen the buttocks and reduce the volume of the hips, the following exercise is suitable: take steps in the water, raising your bent knees high. Also, the gluteal muscle will become more elastic if you perform the “bicycle” exercise. To do this, you need to lie on your back and place an inflatable pillow under your head.

Exercises for the abs:

• Go into the water up to your shoulders, then sharply pull both legs bent at the knees towards your stomach. Next, lower them to the bottom. Do it 20 times.
• Grasp the side of the pool with your hands, keep your legs together, bend your knees slightly. Try to tuck your knees to your chest, then move them left and right. You need to do 10 repetitions in each direction.

The full set of exercises is selected by the trainer based on sports training.

Tips for doing exercises on your own

Water aerobics will help you lose weight, even if you do it without a trainer. But before you start studying, you need to decide what goal you are pursuing. The frequency and intensity of classes will depend on this. So, if you want to lose a few kilograms, you can exercise 2-3 times a week at medium loads. But if you need a more tangible result, you will have to work hard. In order for the training to be as effective as possible, you must not forget about the following nuances:

1. The pulse must be constantly in a certain range. From the value of 220 you need to subtract your age, 50-80% of this value will be the optimal heart rate when performing physical exercises. For example: if you are 36 years old, then this value will be considered 92-147 beats per minute. Long-term excess levels can adversely affect the heart.
2. Don't go too deep. The water level should be chest-deep and your feet should touch the bottom. This is the optimal location for studying.
3. Drink water during your workout. It will help restore strength and balance.
4. Always start your session with a warm-up. 10-15 minutes will allow you to warm up your muscles and prepare your body for physical activity. You will avoid possible injuries and increase the effectiveness of your workout.
5. Increase the load and training time gradually. This will allow you to develop endurance without negative consequences and will prepare you for more intense activities.
6. Change your training program. Regularly changing the set of exercises will not allow the body to get used to it and will allow you to achieve better results in getting rid of extra pounds.

Nutritional recommendations to enhance the effect

Diet is an important component of losing weight when doing water aerobics. Principles of dietary nutrition:

• eat up to 5-6 times a day, in small portions;
• minimize the consumption of sweets, eat sweets only in the first half of the day;
• give up alcohol, fatty and fried foods, sausages, smoked meats, fast food and flour;
• Breakfast and lunch should account for about 75% of food, dinner – 25%;
• eat fresh vegetables and fruits, be sure to include protein foods in your diet to strengthen muscle mass (meat, eggs, fish, nuts, low-fat dairy products);
• drink at least 1.5 liters of clean water per day.

If you stick to a balanced diet, your workouts will be more effective.

What is better - fitness or exercise in water?

Is it possible to lose weight through water aerobics, and is it as effective as exercising in the gym? You can lose weight and tone your body in the pool, but you can build muscles only by working out in the gym.

Excess weight can make working out in the gym difficult, since if you are overweight, running on the treadmill and using equipment can be dangerous. And doing exercises in the pool is much easier and safer, since the risk of injury is significantly lower.

After exercising in water, your muscles will never ache like after classic physical exercise.

Muscle pain appears after intense training the next day. This is due to lactic acid, which accumulates as a result of physical activity. This does not happen when doing water aerobics, so people feel a surge of strength and vigor.

You can exercise in the pool on your own, but in the gym it is better to listen to an instructor who will draw up a training program and show you how to do the exercises correctly so as not to get injured.

It is not possible to give a universal answer to the question of which is better, fitness or water aerobics. The ideal option is to combine sports on land and in water. This set of workouts will allow you to diversify your leisure time and achieve an ideal figure, achieving muscle definition.

Unlike fat, muscles use up energy. Therefore, when they increase, even consuming the same amount of calories as before, the weight will go away by itself.

What is more effective - water aerobics or fitness?

Essentially, water aerobics is fitness in the water, but which is better? According to reviews from those who have lost weight, both types of training are effective. Fitness and water aerobics are good for strengthening muscles, burning fat and improving well-being, but exercise in water has many benefits.

The advantages are:

• water aerobics strengthens the body and strengthens the immune system;
• burns more calories than during fitness;
• There is no feeling of muscle fatigue in the water;
• helps cope with cellulite.

A significant advantage of water aerobics is a huge amount of positive emotions and good mood.

Aerobics in water is suitable for improving the health of the soul and body. This is why this technique is so popular.

Author: Oksana Belokur, especially for Mama66.ru

What to choose?

Based on everything described, we can draw a simple conclusion: both fitness and water aerobics help you get in great shape, only they use different mechanisms. The effect of aqua fitness:

1. powerful cardio workout;
2. burning calories;
3. increasing endurance;
4. normalization of the cardiovascular system;
5. massage of the spine and muscles.

Fitness effect:

1. increased muscle tone;
2. fat burning;
3. building muscle mass;
4. creating a relief body.

As you can see, both options are capable of creating the necessary physical activity. You should choose a suitable sport taking into account what you might like more: an active rhythm of training with strict nutrition control and iron discipline, or a leisurely, even relaxing rhythm with a gradual (not immediately noticeable) restoration of shape.

Water aerobics for weight loss

Water aerobics is a good way not only to improve the general condition of the body, but also to lose excess weight. In one workout, you can spend about 300-600 calories, depending on the intensity of the workout, metabolism and individual characteristics of the trainee.

Photo: istockphoto.com

The effectiveness of such exercises can be explained by the natural property of water - to resist everything that moves in it. To overcome it, the body is forced to use all muscle groups, which burns more calories. In addition, the massage movements of water stimulate muscles, tone the skin and “accelerate” metabolism.

In addition, the water temperature in the pool is usually 5-10 degrees lower than body temperature. You will use extra energy to stay warm.

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Water aerobics: who should pay attention to fitness in the pool

The main advantage of swimming in confined water is the absence of the possibility of injury. While swimming, it is almost impossible to twist a limb or dislocate a joint, and to get a sprain, you either need to try hard or not be able to use additional devices such as shoulder blades or webbed gloves.

The body spends much more energy in the pool than when performing exercises on land. Water contributes to this: firstly, it creates additional resistance to movement, and secondly, it removes heat much more strongly, so the body has to additionally heat itself. All this means that you can’t think of a better way to fight extra pounds.

Water exercise can also be a bridge to more effective weight loss programs. For example, if you want to do cardio, CrossFit or Tabata, but your body weight is still too high, serious exercise on land is contraindicated. If you are overweight, you can’t run, otherwise your joints won’t hold up, and you can’t do intense interval training – your heart will suffer. The best way to lose weight to an acceptable level is to sign up for water aerobics.

Most pools offer visitors these areas along with swimming sections. These are different types of physical activity, for example, swimming is considered more of a sport, and water aerobics is a type of fitness. Technically, aerobics in water is not much different from aerobics on land, so you can start training in the pool with absolutely any level of training.

Such exercises - jumping, twisting, turning - do not create excessive stress on the joints and spine. At the same time, the physical properties of water (or rather, Archimedes’ law) contribute to a natural reduction in the load on the back. In contrast to “land” aerobics, the pool improves the condition of the cardiovascular system if there are problems with it and with excess weight.

An additional benefit of water aerobics is improved blood flow due to relaxation of the body muscles. This way, the internal organs begin to receive more oxygen, which, as is known, is a necessary condition for burning (oxidizing) fat.

As a rule, fitness classes in water are conducted by professional swimmers who will closely monitor you. So, you don’t even need to know how to swim to start attending water aerobics. Most likely, in the process you will even learn to float on the water on your own, since you will quickly get used to it and feel natural in it. The instructor will select a load for you, which will rapidly increase as classes continue.

The advantage of fitness in the pool is its impact not only on coordination, body weight, endurance and strength, but also on overall tone. Little-studied laws of nature apply here: being in water has a positive effect on a person’s mood, fatigue, stress and depression go away. This is why many people swim in the morning - the water itself charges you with positive emotions, and in combination with a gentle exercise, the effect lasts until the end of the day.

Other positive aspects of water aerobics:

• increasing immunity and hardening the body
• a combination of exposure to different temperatures - coolness in the water, hot air in the sauna
• a significant waste of calories to warm the body: by and large, just by being in the water you are already using up energy
• There is no age limit at all; you can learn to swim earlier than you can walk.
• water aerobics is suitable for both pregnant women and young mothers as a means of restoring the body, even after difficult childbirth and caesarean sections.
• after training, you feel pleasantly tired and there are no “recoveries” - pain in the muscles
• you don’t sweat in the usual sense: the skin loses moisture, but there are no aesthetically unpleasant sensations

However, there are also contraindications for exercising in the pool: a history of a heart attack, epilepsy, asthma, damage to the eardrums (due to possible disturbances in the sense of balance), an allergy to the composition of the water (chlorine and other disinfectants), chronic rheumatism. Contact lenses are easily washed out even from splashes, so if you have poor vision, you need to carefully choose comfortable swimming goggles.

Your trainer will most likely already have everything you need for water aerobics. If not, then you will have to purchase fins, special gloves with membranes, foam rods/dumbbells/pole, and weights. The instructor will certainly clarify this question and recommend specific models.

You can also study on your own. Learn the rules of behavior in the pool and safety precautions. Start with the simplest, so as not to overload the body: squats, swinging your arms and legs under water, twisting. There are no restrictions on the set of exercises; you can use regular aerobics techniques on land.

Adjust the load based on your own feelings of fatigue: there should be no feeling of physical powerlessness, only pleasant fatigue and tone throughout the body. With tone in mind, we are talking about feelings of vigor, improved mood and the desire to spend the day or evening with maximum benefit. The muscles should not be clogged or cramped, you should not do several different exercises in a row just for the legs, change the focus on different limbs and sections.

Keep a bottle of water or isotonic water at the side; swimming and water aerobics are the same loss of moisture as running. Try not to dive or swim on the paths if you decide to do aerobics in the water, this way you will not disturb other athletes, and they will not disturb you and will not swim into your fitness corner.

Unpopular times for visiting (early morning or midday) guarantee you a relaxing independent activity when you have the entire pool to yourself. However, make sure that there are people nearby, at least personnel, since an unforeseen situation can arise at any moment, even if you are “floundering in shallow water.”

Learn simple safety rules, buy a nice swimming cap and feel free to start training!