Water exercise can help improve endurance and overall fitness while being gentle on the joints. Two introductory water exercises described are the heel touch and soccer kick, performing each exercise in chest deep water 10 times per side for 3 sets to work on balance, flexibility and strength. While water exercise provides benefits from buoyancy and resistance, it has limits and is not intended to build large muscles, but can ease pain and foster fitness, especially for those with low fitness levels or joint issues.
10. STEVE VANTREESE | The Sun
An instructor leads a water exercise
class at Energy Fitness Midtown in
Paducah. Water exercise can help im-
prove endurance and overall fitness.
Head to the pool
Gail Wagner, an Energy Fitness Mid-Town acquatics in-
structor, suggests a couple exercises to get you started.
Perform each exercise in chest deep water to improve your
balance, flexibility and strength.
Heel touch
■ Stand flat-footed in the pool and keep your arms level with
the water’s surface
■ Lower your right hand, raise your left ankle and try to touch
them.
■ Keep your shoulders back, your chest out and your stom-
ach in.
■ Repeat 10 times per side, for three sets of 10 repetitions
Soccer kick
■ Stand flat-footed in the pool.
■ Pretend to kick something with the inside part of your
foot.
■ Keep the foot you’re standing on flat and maintain good
posture.
■ Repeat 10 times per side, for three sets of 10 repetitions
Points to remember
■ People will feel more water resistance the faster they move in water.
■ Exercise at a moderate pace, 15 minutes of exercising in the pool
equals 30 minutes of exercise on land.
■ Wagner said people who are sore should return to the pool and
stretch their muscles.
BY MICHAEL
DE LOS REYES
mdelosreyes@paducahsun.com
E
xercising in water is an excellent way to overcome
arthritis, back or joint pain, and obesity, western
Kentucky therapists say.
“You don’t have to know how to swim to get
great results,” said Tony Bohannon, clinical
manager of the Baptist Re-
hab Center in Paducah, in an
e-mail interview.
Water has three benefits.
Its buoyancy will decompress
joints caused by a person’s
weight, it will prevent a person
from falling, and its light pressure
along a person’s body can alleviate body
pains.
“Water is great for people with a low level
of physical fitness,” said Tara Hutto, a di-
rector of physical therapy at Rehab Associ-
ates Physical Therapy in Paducah.
A person standing in chest high water
will weigh 90 percent less than on land,
said Jerome Hoard, a physical therapist at
Lourdes hospital.
A 200-pound person, for example, stand-
ing in water can exercise their bones and
muscles using only 20 pounds of body
weight. That offers an ideal situation for a
person with leg, pelvis or spinal problems, Hoard said.
“That means there is a lot less stress on the joints,”
Hoard said. He can increase the weight, by lowering the
water depth to the patient’s waist, as the person becomes
stronger.
Bohannon said a person can also control exercise inten-
sity by moving faster through the water. “The faster people
move through the water, the more resistance they will
feel.”
A person can get a full-body workout by simply walking
through chest-high water, Bohannon said. And people with
balance problems can practice walking in water without
the fear of falling and injuring themselves.
Gail Wagner, an Energy Fitness Mid-Town aquatics in-
structor, said good posture is an important part of exercis-
ing in the water..
“Good posture will make it easier to breathe, perform
any exercise and go through the day,” Wagner said.
The therapists said water exercises have a few limits.
“It’s easy to overdo water exercises
because they feel so good in the water,”
Bohannon said. But the next day the person
will be fatigued.
Hoard described fatigue as feeling ex-
hausted, lethargic or weary. “A person will
feel tired before they feel fatigued,” Hoard
said.
People with congestive heart problems or
kidney disease should consider the effects
of water pressure on their body.
Any exercise could further strain their
heart and pulmonary systems, Bohannon
said. Also, people with open wounds or in-
continence should not exercise in water.
People with multiple sclerosis or similar
neurological diseases need to know the
water’s temperature before exercising in
it. Warm water can aggravate symptoms
or overheat their bodies. Multiple sclerosis
patients have problems regulating body
temperature.
No one can develop large muscles or bulk up or body
build by exercising in water, Hoard said. Heavy weightlift-
ing, on land, is the only way to develop a bodybuilder’s
physique.
“Water exercises are excellent but they are not the only
way to achieve a health goal,” Hoard said.
Bohannon said a person’s selecting exercise goals allows
for development of an exercise program.
Contact Michael de los Reyes, a Paducah Sun staff
writer, at 270-575-8652.
10 | May 2010 House Call May 2010 | 11
“You don’t have
to know how to
swim to get great
results.”
Tony Bohannon
Clinical manager, Baptist
Rehab Center
Water workoutscan ease pain, foster fitness
Low-impact exercise is great
for those with low fitness level
“Water is great
for people with
a low level of
physical fitness.”
Tara Hutto
Director of physical
therapy, Rehab Associates
Physical Therapy
MICHAEL DE LOS REYES | The Sun
Gail Wagner, an Energy Fitness Mid-Town aquatics instructor, demon-
strates the heel touch exercise. Performing exercises in chest deep water
can improve your balance, flexibility and strength.
