FUN WATER EXERCISES
When I was pregnant with my first child, I had the worst case of sciatica that had bedridden me for the last 7 weeks of my pregnancy. I could not move a muscle and the pain was unbearable. During this time the doctors couldn’t X-Ray to see what had happened nor give me any pain killers. After birth, I had an MRI scan to see exactly what was wrong.
It turned out that the pain I had, was not only from the sciatica but also from the fact that I had a completely bulged disk that caused my vertebra to rub on each other. The doctors were in a rush to operate on my back where the chances of a successful operation are 50/50. This meant that either I will be able to walk again or sit in a wheelchair for the rest of my life.
I believe in the power of will and nature so I decided to find a different solution to my back problem and if nothing worked, I would have had no choice but to operate. I turned to acupuncture and low impact exercises which eventually saved me from laying on the operating table.
the acupuncture completely dissolved the bulge disk in the body, therefore my pain slowly went away and the water exercises enabled me to strength the muscles in my lower back and eventually in my whole body.
I started walking and swimming up and down the lane in a swimming pool which didn’t excite me, coupled with some other exercises that unmotivated me. I assume this is the reason why so many different methods of water exercises have been developed.
So I moved to Yoga in the water which was perfect for me at the time and a lot more interesting. As I became a bit stronger I moved to aqua-aerobics, deep water exercises etc… I enjoyed them all but still felt I was pushing myself to do them, they didn’t completely grab me. I had to keep exercising, stopping was not an option if I wanted to do things with my new first baby (Needless to say that by then I was slowly getting better and already knew that I won’t be having a back operation).
That’s when I discovered cycling in the water with a Water Bike or Aqua Bike at the Des-Renford pool in Maroubra, Sydney.
It was the best thing for me because, not only I had found something totally different, I had also found something that is SO MUCH FUN. I couldn’t get enough of it and I have become addicted to water bike classes. A short while after I started the Aqua bike lessons, I was able to roll on the floor with my 1 year old for the first time. The Aqua bike had pushed me to fitness levels I never thought was possible for me.
This is how it works: You sit on a stationary bike in the pool (Water waist high) and start peddling according to the fitness instructor. After warm-up, he adds the arm exercises which are also in the water. Some of the different varieties of exercises are very challenging, yet so much fun. It strengths all your major and small supporting muscles; legs, buttocks, abs, arms and chest.
Case study shows aquatic exercises are gentle on your joints and muscles as opposed to land based exercises due to the water properties. The “Aqua Bike” or “Water Bike” exercises are also well known as excellent exercises for cardiovascular fitness. This doesn’t mean that land based exercises are not good for you, it just means that water based exercises are better for you whether you are a fit person trying to keep healthy and in shape or a weak muscle toned person trying to get fit and improve strength
It has been 6 years since I started the “Aqua bike” classes and I certainly believe that Low impact exercises are the safest way to exercise in order to lose weight, get fit and tone your muscles; with saying that, you need to have fun and be motivated while exercising. Thankfully, in my opinion I have found the most fun fitness program of all times (Land or Water).
It turns out that the “Aqua bike” and “Aqua treadmill” classes are also excellent for hydrotherapy. It certainly is more fun than walking up and down a swimming pool lane.
Here are other Aquatic Fitness Centres around Australia that have this wonderful program; I truly believe that if it’s near you, you should try this.
Enjoy!
