Why Aquatic Training Doesn’t Get the Credit it Deserves
Here are a few of my thoughts.
1st: The aquatic environment still has the stigma for many of being a place where old ladies in flowered bathing caps jump up and down with a noodle.
2nd: The water is looked upon as the last option for training. When clients/athletes are injured or in too much pain or are too overweight and cannot tolerate the gravitational influences of land based training then they should go into the pool.
3rd: Aquatic training is just land based training but performed in the water. Right?
Wrong!
The Water is a Buoyant, Three- Dimensional, Holistic, Non-Momentum Environment That is the Opposite of the Weighted, One-Dimensional, Momentum-Prone Environment Found on Land. You must think outside the box to create an appropriate results driven aquatic program.
A Few Quick Points about Waters Benefits
The water is the great equalizer — the harder you push in the water, the harder the water pushes back. Water provides an accommodating resistance. So no matter what fitness level you train, as long you they are working their hardest, the water will give them a great workout.
The water does not discriminate
No matter what age or fitness level your clients or athletes are, the water will provide maximum benefit to help overall health and/or performance.
Train in 3-D
Most land-based programs are usually performed in one plane of motion. However, we move in 3 planes of motion. More multi-planar training programs are being developed but tend to be somewhat complicated/difficult to perform. Water provides three-dimensional resistance inherently, so the muscular and neurological systems receive a more comprehensive training effect than land.
I know we live on the land but if we can integrate aquatic training into our programs then we would have a health revolution. I like to compare water and land to Peanut Butter and Jelly. Separate they are good but when they are combined they are great!
Let’s get more people using the water to improve overall health and performance.
