Benefits of Water Exercises
Water's buoyancy virtually eliminates the effects of gravity - supporting 90 percent of the body's weight for reduced impact and greater flexibility. For example, a 140-pound woman weighs only 14 pounds in water. Water acts as a cushion for the body's weight-bearing joints, reducing stress on muscles, tendons and ligaments. As a result, aquatic workouts are low impact and can greatly reduce the injury and strain common to most land based exercises.
Due to viscosity, drag forces and frontal resistance, water provides a resistance which is proportional to the effort exerted against it. Resistance in water ranges between 4 and 42 times greater than in air, depending on the speed of movement. This makes water a natural and instantly adjustable weigh training machine. Unlike most land based exercise, water provides resistance to the movement in all directions which allows all of these directions be used in the strengthening process. Water's resistance can be increased with speed and/or surface area and the resistance is proportional to the effort required to move against it.
The unique properties of water enable your heart to work more efficiently. The hydrostatic pressure of water pushes equally on all body surfaces and helps the heart circulate blood by aiding venous return - blood flow back to the heart. This assistance to the heart accounts for lower blood pressure and heart rates during deep water exercise versus similar exertions on land.
