Good Food or Good Exercise: What Really Burns the Weight Off?

PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooryi recently said in this CNNMoney.com article that “if all consumers exercised … obesity wouldn’t exist.” I find that to be an incredibly naive statement. But if your paycheck came from selling the rhetorical Kool-Aid, you’d probably say the same thing.

Almost two-thirds of American are overweight or obese. That number is set to grow: If a child between 10-12 years old is currently overweight, they have a 70% chance of turning into an obese adult, and I’ve written about here. That’s why I love what Jaime Oliver is doing right now with his Food Revolution.

So, is it all about proper exercise to lose weight? Or is it about what you eat? Most diet (for  lack of a better word) books I pick up — at least written by the most respectable sources — always seem to focus on a food plan before delving into an exercise plan.

One of the major reasons is because there is only so much weight that can be lost through exercise. In fact, according to the Editor-in-Chief of Men’s Health, David Zinczenko, only 15 to 20% of your calorie burn can come through movement or exercise. Between 60 and 80% of calorie burn comes from doing nothing. We call this your basal or resting metabolism. The remainder or 10 to 30% of calories is burned through digestion. So it is vital you are eating well. That you can control.

So no, Mrs. Nooryi, I don’t think the answer is if all consumers exercised obesity wouldn’t exist. But I do think if they stopped drinking all your high-fructose corn syrup they’d have a fighting chance. It’s hard to support your better products like Naked Juice when you peddle liquid killers and blame the rat for drinking the poison you so ostentatiously supply. I’m not without my own sins, but at least I won’t be forced to drink this stuff everyday in purgatory. Warm.

Exercise needs to be in the mix, of course. Here’s a recent plug from Dr. Oz. In this month’s issue of AARP Magazine, he has an excellent article about getting healthy in six months. Dr. Oz said that if you cannot walk a quarter mile in 5 minutes, you have a 25% chance of dying within the next six years. He then made a connection how these numbers mean you are more likely to die from not being able to walk than from cancer. Dr. Oz presents his stats with spice!

Now here is my water plug: Get in the pool and walk it out. You’ll burn between 100-150 more calories than walking on land. And if you are looking to lose weight, the water is a supportive medium that will  be kind to your body issues, making you feel light and thus definitely inspired to stay in. I guarantee it. I have a student right now who has lost more than 30 pounds in the past 3 months through diet and working out in water. Simple movements, like scissor legs, which is flutter kicking in the water, is a great start. An of all the exercises Dr. Oz could have chosen in his article, scissors kick was the only one he pushed. I get it space was limited, and he only had room for one — but nevertheless, this was the one.

It really isn’t more expense to eat whole or healthier foods than cheaper processed foods, and this Being Frugal post backs the claim up. I can as well: ever since we started exclusively eating whole foods (I define as farmer’s market produce, organic brands, and nothing packaged) we eat less. Yes, I pay more for a cut of meat or a bunch of carrots, but we get full faster and consume less and also spread the meals out into 6 versus 3 to stop stuffing our bellies. Because the skill of budgeting is practiced, I’ve become very aware of my internal grocery finances and I know now when I’ve spent my mark. Once you stop eating a lot of red meat and switch to softer proteins like fish, you get mental about the idea of digesting steak. And you know what? Another perk is less dishes to clean. Our food is not so complicated to make. And my taste buds are renewing themselves. I already knew I was a tomato snob, and now I know why: Because tomatoes taste best when they are in season. Farmer’s market’s teach about eating seasonal food.

One more great article I will stick you with is this Wise Bread entry about the 9 Habits of the World’s Healthiest People. These people get to drink red wine, take lots of vacations and hang out with friends too much. I want to be one of them! Go ahead and leave a comment … Jaime. Jennifer. I know you’re reading!

12 Excuses to Hold a Potential Water Aerobics Fanatic Back

If you read my previous post, you know I’m focusing on exercise motivation and getting you into the pool. Water is an amazing property and the answer for so many, including injured or otherwise challenged folks, all wanting to get a decent workout on because it is low-impact. This means no pounding pavement — you’re dealing with the laws of buoyancy, not gravity.

I want you take the 6 Great Excuses I used for lap swimmers and add on the following when it comes to water aerobics.I promise you if you try it (with a decent instructor), you’ll be back for more and wonder why you didn’t do this sooner.

Great Excuse #7: I won’t get a decent workout. Hogwash. Water is three-dimensional and 830-times thicker than air equating to 12-times the resistance. It’s isokinestic. There is a tremendous amount of weight training or muscle lengthening going on. Although traditional cardiovascular activities burn a lot of calories really fast, weight training is the way to go to burn away fat the longest with a 48-hour after burn available just for fighting against water’s natural resistance.

Great Excuse #8: I’ve got injuries or limitations. I bet you everyone else in the water does to. I get people in my H2O class that have hip replacements, blown-out knees, teared rotating cuffs (located in mid-back shoulder area), bad arthritis and recovering from having a baby. Just simply listen to your body (and doctor) when making movements.

Great Excuse #9: I cannot get my target heart rate. Don’t use this as a measure you aren’t working hard enough. Water provides a supportive medium which makes you expend less energy as this Weight Watcher expert says. To further back up the point, I’ve had several water aerobic trainers tell me heart rate checks are non-existent for water. Instead, focus on perceived exertion: when you are out of breath, you have done your job, which is advice from the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America.

Great Excuse #10: It’s too fast and confusing. I do everything I can to nurture my newbies. I know they are going to feel overwhelmed upon first class. We go forward, we go back, we pull with arms and then kick with legs — all at a moments notice. But it’s because it is proven quicker intervals, sets or circuits (with 10-12 reps) switching from high-intensity or pulsing movements (ie. water running or flutter kicking) to more weight training (ie. cross-country legs in place)  delivers a better workout.

Great Excuse #11: I sink too much. This is very true of thinner bodies and newbies. Why? They have the same thing in common: both suffer from too much muscle. The slim-jim cannot help it but the beginner is a little tense due to performance nerves, which makes the muscles tighten and become heavy. Heavy sinks. All sinkers who ask for my advice in being more buoyant are almost always beginners. I tell them to breath deeper, keep showing up to class, and come back to me with the issue after attending 10 sessions. The problem take care of itself through experience.

Great Excuse #12: The water won’t do as much for me as land. Then wrap your brain around these stats: Deep water walking burns 264 calories versus land walking at 135 calories. Deep water jogging burns 340 calories as opposed the the same land exercise for just 240 calories. That’s a 100 calories difference right there! Of course it is all subjective to how hard you are working and your weight (and whether or not calories counting itself is an accurate way to measure exercise), but a point is being made about the benefits of conducting exercise in the water.

Creating a Water Aerobics Workout, Part 3: Your First Routine

We discussed important water aerobics vocabulary. Then we talked about the actual movements you can perform in the water. Once you have both familiarized yourself with the terminology and practiced the movements in the water, you are ready to perform (and ultimately create) your own water workout routine.

Below I have created a typical water aerobics routine. It is designed to last 1/2 hour. But as we’re learning with water workouts, we can modify and make it into something else — like a 1-hour. We can do the routine faster; we can do it slower; we can more reps of the sets; do a different exercise if one suggested isn’t working.

WATER AEROBICS ROUTINE #1 — BEGINNER LEVEL

*Goal for Student/Routine: Use all muscle groups in the shortest period of time

:05-:07 minute Warm-Up.

• Sitting Breast Stroke. Travel back-and-forth across the pool length-wise using both arms and legs. Give care to alignment. Full range of motion approach. Benefit: Loosen up upper body (biceps, pectorals, trapezius, deltoids); loosen up lower body (hip flexors, hip abductors); loosen up core (abs). REPEAT 4x or 4 laps.
• Sitting Elementary Backstroke. Travel backwards, back-and-forth across pool, using just arms as you maintain a sitting position and give care to alignment, full range of motion. Benefit: Loosen up upper body (shoulder muscles and ball and socket joint in shoulder; triceps). REPEAT 4x or 4 laps.
• In-place modified jogging, two positions. #1: “Marching”: Bring right leg up in front, then left leg up in front, full range of motion. Gentle scull with arms. Benefit: Stretch legs (quads); stretch butt (gluteus maximus). #2: “Kickback”: stand tall at 6 o’clock. Gentle scull to stabilize. Now bring right leg back so heel comes behind and draw close to butt; drop back down and do left leg. Benefit: Stretch legs (hamstrings). DO POSITION #1 and #2 both 10-12 x. REPEAT SO YOU DO 4 SETS.

:15-:20 minute Conditioning Phase.

1st set or routine — 3 moves, all in-place. DO EACH MOVE 10-12x. REPEAT SO YOU DO SET 3-4x.

1. Jumping Jack at 4 o’clock angle. Use arms (scull). Start slow, work to cardio intensity. Change 4 o’clock position to a 3 o’clock and drop down to a 6 o’clock; keep bringing up and down to modify.
2. Jog in place. No arms. Start slow, work to cardio intensity. Try both knees up, both down or “sumo wrestler” to modify.
3. ThighMaster. In a sitting position with proper alignment, bring knees together and arms/hands together. Now push legs and arms out wide. Bring together again, squeezing water between legs and pushing water between arms and hands. Start slow, work to cardio intensity. Try doing one arm and one leg at a time — or opposite knee to opposite elbow to modify.

Benefits: Increase in heart rate; abs; hip abductors; gluteus maximus; quads; pectorals; trapezius; hinge joint in elbow.

2nd set or routine –2 moves, bike and jog combo, traveling across length of pool. REPEAT EACH MOVE 3-4X or laps. REPEAT SET 3-4x.

1. Bike, no arms. With arms extended in front “grabbing handles,” pedal with legs and “dig” into water with heel. Start with cardio intensity, work down to slower speed.
2. Jog, no arms. With arms behind back, lean forward and jog, up-down motion (as opposed to bike’s circular motion). Start with cardio intensity, work down to slower speed.

Benefits: Increase in heart rate; abs; hip abductors; ham strings; gluteus maximus; quads; pectorals; trapezius.

3rd set or routine — traveling cross county front, back and sides. Traveling across length of pool. REPEAT EACH MOVE 1x or lap. REPEAT SET 3-4x.

1. Cross country, face forward. Proper alignment, meeting place with feet at 6 o’clock or directly below. Now pull forward using breast stroke arms.
2. Cross country, backwards. Same alignment as above. Now reach back and use elementary backstroke arms to travel backwards.
3. Cross country, sideways. Same alignment. Now reach out the the side with arms and pull water to you as you travel length of pool sideways (do not turn this into a side stroke!). Switch and pull other sides.

Benefits: Increase in heart rate; all abs (oblique, intercostal, lower and upper); hip abductors; ham strings; gluteus maximus; quads; pectorals; trapezius.

:03-:05 minute Cool-Down.

• Traveling side stroke. Use scissors kick with legs. Arms are doing a breast stoke motion on side.
• In-place treading. Use “Egg Beaters” with legs and sculling with arms. Slow, gentle and full-range approach.

Print out routine and laminate so it doesn’t get wet by the pool.

It’s also important to understand we water exercise professionals each sell our own brand or style of water exercise. What I suggest might not be used by another instructor. Yes, I base my routines and movements upon what I’ve learned off other professionals; but mainly my routines are designed by what my students tell me they love and what works for them. I personally feel quick reps; a strong mix of full-range to muscle-building to cardio with the movements; and alas but not least good music with a challenging beat, makes for a beneficial — and repeatable — water routine. Ultimately, you’ve got to do what works for you to get yourself back into the water over and over again!

Creating a Water Aerobics Workout, Part 2: Mastering the Movements

In our previous post about creating a water aerobics or water workout routines, we talked about vocabulary. With this entry, we will be discussing the different moves or movements you can use in the water.

Understanding and mastering the moves requires a working use of the previous vocabulary. For example, you’ll be learning the cross country movement but performing it in full-range-of-motion (for stretching) and cardio style (for increasing heart rate) while keeping proper alignment. Or taking the jogging movement and hitting it hard forward, cardio style; or even running backwards and really using the arms to make it a muscle-building exercise instead. Sounds creative? Yes, water aerobics can be very creative and adaptable to your needs and limitations. Think of using the vocabulary and movements as wise and beneficial rules to wrap your creativity in.

One piece of information crucial to understand the secret to water aerobics or water workouts is that there are only a few basic moves — it’s just that the basic moves can be modified in endless ways. You can alternate movements for a right-then-left effect; isolate one arm or leg at a time; do both legs as the same time; go fast; slow down; do it at an angle or a 3 o’clock position; do it backwards; forwards; on the side. You get the picture.

Once again, you can print this out and laminate it — so now you have water aerobics vocabulary on one side and water aerobics movements on the other.

MAIN WATER WORKOUT/AEROBIC MOVEMENTS TO KNOW & USE

*It is important to keep in mind all movements can be modified or altered in a way to fit and challenge all bodies, regardless of levels, abilities and injuries.

**It is equally important to listen to your body when performing movements — pain is wrong. Straining or arching creates pain.

• Cross-County: Can have full-range, muscle-building, and cardio effects. Description: Using proper alignment, legs meet directly at a 6 o’clock below and then swing in opposite directions (right forward, left back). Arms also swing forward and back. Example of use: Can be used to stay in place or travel, depending on how you modify it as well as use the arms. If you wanted to use it for muscle-building, you would add breast stroke arms. If you wanted a cardio effect, bring legs up to a 4 o’clock position and flutter kick fast with your back to the direction you are heading.

• Jumping Jacks: Can have full-range, muscle-building, and cardio effects. Description: Proper alignment, legs extend out in an upside down “V” while extended arms come in together clapping below waist level. (On land we know this as legs and arms out-together, in-together; but in water arms are out while legs come in and visa verse. This prevents dunking yourself.) Example of use: Bring it up to a 4 o’clock position and push in and out, sculling with arms. Stay in place.

• Treading: Can have full-range, muscle-building, and cardio effects — great for joint strength but not recommended for knee injuries. Description: In a sitting position with knees up and still achieving proper alignment, rotate lower legs at knee in circular motion (also called Egg Beaters). Example of use: Lift arms up and work legs only for a great quad workout, trying to get your shoulders out for 10 seconds straight.

• Jogging: Can have full-range, muscle-building, and cardio effects. Description: Easiest movement to understand and entire water aerobic classes are built on water jogging. Mimic running as you do on land, leaning forward, bringing knees right-then-left close to chest and pushing down on heels; pull out with right-left arms. Example in use: To use jogging in place, modify by bring both knees up to the chest and then down (like a Sumo wrestler — this works the abs).

• Biking: Can have full-range, muscle-building, and cardio effects. Description: Extending upper body or arms out “grasping” bike handles; make circular motions with right-left legs, digging with heels. Example of use: Modify the bike by having pedals in front; modify by having pedals underneath and “stand”; modify by having pedals behind and “race.” You can get more cardio by imagining you are “spinning” with very fast, out-of-control steel wheels.

• Sculling: Can have full-range and muscle-building effects. Description: This is an upper body (arms) movement. Using a fingers-together paddle, make a “smoothing” or “figure-8” motion under water, directly on each side at mid-waist. Works biceps and deltoids. Great for stabilizing alignment when working on lower body movements. When in doubt with what to do with your upper body — scull.

Are there more? You bet. Additional water movements include: Crunches; Sitting Breast Stroke; Sitting Elementary Backstroke; Rowing; Side-Stroke; Hurdling.

Next entry on water workouts? I’ll actually put a typical one-hour routine together, using vocabulary and movements with modifications to make it fun, interesting and suitable to your body. So yes, you will have additional sheets to print out and laminate so you can also have “Routine #1” and so on to use.

Creating a Water Aerobics Workout, Part I: Learning the Vocabulary

There’s a lot to tackle or wrap your grey matter around when it comes to water workouts or more commonly known as water aerobics. There’s posture, vocabulary, movements, repetitions and speeds, all the while dealing with the buoyancy issue versus gravity issue. It can be a lot to put together to create a meaningful water routine. Plus there’s what your own body can accept and master, as not all bodies move the same and definitely have different needs due to different issues.

But don’t let me discourage you. Let me educate and inspire you by starting with water workout terms. What will be useful to you is if you print these water workout terms out and laminate the page so you can have them near the water. Tomorrow I will post Part II which will be about water workout movements, so you can have a two-sided instructional sheet.

WATER WORKOUT/AEROBIC TERMS TO KNOW & USE

• Alignment: Refers to a straight posture, or “ears-to-shoulder, and shoulder-to-hip” all lined up with tailbone pointed to bottom of pool. Think also of a book being balanced on your head and a cape flowing off your shoulders. Abdominal (or stomach muscles) pulled in and up, as well as contracted (as if you are preparing to be punched in the gut). Sometimes I refer to your body position as being “hands on a clock” (ie. at six o’clock, you’d be standing tall with both your legs meeting directly below you; at 3 o-clock, you’d be close to a 90-degree angle with your legs stuck out in front). Better alignment translates to being in a better position to work the correct muscles and therefore your number one concern throughout your workout.

• Buoyancy: How well you are able to float and/or control a “moving” workout without compromising alignment. In either deep or shallow waters, you want the water level to be chest to shoulders deep. If you struggle to achieve buoyancy, you want to put on a flotation device.

• Core: Refers to your torso, as well as hips and chest (sometimes upper legs and shoulders). Core therefore encompasses a number of muscles: abs (upper, lower, and side); gluteus maximus (or butt); pectorals (chest); deltoids (shoulders); quads (front upper legs); hamstrings (back upper legs); and hip muscles (hip flexors; hip abductors; and the psoasis which wraps around your pelvis). Water aerobics helps develop a strong core, and a strong core gives you a strong back. A strong core also gives you a “sense of stability” in the water as you deal with the buoyancy issue.

• Full Range-of-Motion: Refers to your biggest and deepest movements at your slowest speed. Done during a warm-up or cool down. Purpose is to actively stretch the muscles and joints.

• Muscle-Building: Movements done at a slightly smaller but still wide or challenging extension. Purpose is to squeeze, push or pull against the water with leg and/or arm movements. Think of yourself in a weight room with water being your “weight” — water is 830 times thicker than air with a 3-D resistance.

• Cardio: Movements done at muscle-building range or extension, but done with as much intensity as possible. Meaning a huge increase in the number of movements and performed much faster so you sweat and/or breath quicker. Purpose it to get the heart rate up. Work to your “perceived exertion,” which is a fancy term for when you are so out of breath you cannot hold a conversation. An instructor can be the driving force, but you are the master of your own intensity!

• Pulse or Sprint: Take a movement and make it go fast while still achieving a challenging extension. Purpose is for cardio.

• Repetitions: The number of times you do a movement. “Reps” of 10-12 movements are most entertaining and engaging. For example, the mind wanders when tasked to perform 100 sit-ups or crunches in the water. You’re more apt to complete the 100 if you break the crunches down into 8 different positions or movements and do each 10-12 times.

• Modification: This is when you take a movement and slightly change the position to either suit your body needs and/or change up the routine. This also refers to alternating a movement (ie. doing on leg at a time).

Flotation Belt: A Water Fitness Investment Worth Making

Newcomers to deep-water aerobics class — fit newcomers — often think they don’t need a great flotation belt. The thinking is, they don’t want anything to hold them back or take away from getting a tough workout.

If this is you, I have to say you couldn’t be more wrong about your attitude with flotation belts. These belts that strap about the waist come in a variety of sizes and qualities, and are all you really need for an excellent water workout (I’ll speak later regarding my distresses with other types of water equipment).

Here’s why investing in a flotation belt is the best water fitness investment you can make:

• Belts assist in proper body alignment. You have the correct posture, you can do the right exercises and thus work the right muscles — it’s that simple. Without a belt, you struggle to stay afloat and those sculling and treading movements take your body and brainpower away from what’s important or what you’re supposed to be learning.
• The less body fat and more muscle you have, the harder it is to stay afloat. It’s a theory that in my experience is true 98% of the time. If you are pretty petite or toned, I would think about getting a float belt with more float.
• Swimsuits fall apart 10 times quicker than a flotation belt. Quit dropping your budget on swim products made of lycra and spandex. I like WaterGym belts the most because they last the longest, hold bodies up the best, and are priced fairly at $31.
• Belt support keeps you in your workout longer. Because you are being supported, you will feel more energy and thought to create a better workout using a variety of moves such as: jogging, jumping jacks, cross-county skiing, treading, flutter kicking, sitting breast stroke, sitting elementary backstroke, and crunches.
• Other water equipment can be downright dangerous. If you aren’t completely comfortable with understanding or controlling buoyancy and resistance dynamics, products like noodles, float barbells and gloves can hyper-extend your shoulders and cause injury.
• The belt can be used for a variety of different water situations. When I teach, I always wear a flotation belt so I can assist my students better; therefore it gives you stamina when you swim with your kids. Wear one if you do laps or strokes. Take it swimming in a lake.

A lot of what I see in the pool, from dangerous outfits (recently a lady in a pool I teach came to walk shallow end laps in chest-high Cabella waders, I kid you not) to using unnecessary equipment wrong, makes me cringe at the pain or uselessness. Keep it simple and put your safety first.

Squidkid: 20,000-Plus Hits Strong

Since Squidkid’s inception in January 2008, I’ve received over 20,000 hits. I am now garnering an average of about 100+ unique visits a day! Thank you! Thank you! The purpose of Squidkid is to offer expert swim advice you’d have to pay for anywhere else. Here are some of Squidkid’s all-time most popular entries:

• How To Swim Freestyle Laps Correctly. Top post at over 3,000 hits, I break down how to swim across the pool without looking like a fool.
• Lap Swimming Fundamentals. Right behind is an exercise for first-time freelance swimmers.
• Water Aerobics For Very Smart Dummies. A quick crash course in taking a water aerobic class: what to expect, what to focus most on.
• Swimming Lessons Lower Drowning Risk for Toddlers. Actually, this is a recent LA Times article, but I thought you’d enjoy it so I added it.

How To Get Your $2.99 Workout On

One of my favorite blogs, Wisebread, has a post today about frugal fitness. The author, Myscha Theriault, really did an extensive job in offering twenty-five and a half ways to eat and get fit for very few dollars. It’s really quite complete, from detox teas to free outdoor activities.

She mentioned water aerobics, of course, because we all know as the author points out:

There are many reasons I enjoy this particular fitness activity. First, I get resistance training at the same time I do my cardio workout which saves me time. Second, if I’ve ignored the whole physical activity thing for a while like I have this year, the support of the water lets me really work out harder than I would if doing aerobics out of water.

Myscha also mentioned basic pool noodles as a great and cheap — as little as $2.99 — water exercise equipment. Thanks, Myscha, for this link to exercises found here. I’ll add some of my own $2.99 water noodle exercises:

• Quad pushes. In chest-deep water, place the noodle under one foot. Push down. Repeat, reps of 25. Do other leg.
• Modified triceps curl. Chest deep water, one foot forward and one back (for stability). Hold the noddle with one hand on the side, push down. Repeat. Do other arm.
• Crunches. Deep water. Put the noodle behind your back with arms hanging over it. Get in a crunch position (horizontal with toes peeking out of water). Come in and out like a hinge, head moving with spin. Vary this by going side-to-side, or legs wider apart and one leg coming in toward chest (both work side obliques).

How to Deal with the Dislikes of Water Exercise

Be it injury or inexperience, I hear valid concerns about why water exercise doesn’t might not meet everyone’s needs. Here are some top issues followed up with some modifications you can make to create a more comfortable water workout.

• You can’t do all the exercises the instructor teaches. I’d say about 70% of the people in any of my classes have some kind of body limitation, be it a surgery, injury, or just simply aches and pains. Focus on what you can do, and don’t worry about what you can’t.
  

• Water aerobics requires access to a pool. Yes, it’s true, and now you have one more monthly expense to cover. But I bet you can offset the cost by taking showers and using the bath products provided at the gym or pool you sign up for. You now belong to a network of motivators who might also be accountants, shop owners or masseurs — people who can help you save in other ways.

• Costs of a water aerobics class can vary. It may be included with pool membership at some facilities or as an additional separate fee. Keep in mind if exercise is prescribed for health reasons, some insurance companies will cover the costs.

• You don’t like getting your head wet. No sweat — slap a float belt on and your head is above water the entire time. Never, ever do I require a student to go under water. Water aerobic exercises aren’t designed to dunk you underwater — it is absolutely 100% possible to keep your head dry.

• You don’t like the way you look in a bathing suit. I don’t know many people who do! There are special water shirts and pants you can buy. And you realize you’re not going to be the only one in a suit, right? It takes a while to get used to being seen in your suit, but I promise you’ll get over it the stigma if you try— and see results.

• Water is a liquid weight, but just not as heavy as land weights. You won’t burn as many calories as weight-bearing land exercise when done for the same amount of time. But stick to water cardio or aerobic exercise, and you’ll burn more calories than you could on land.

Advantages of Water Verse Land Exercise

Water is an amazing healer. Water has distinctive features that create a safer and more productive exercise environment than similar land-based programs.

• Water provides support for your body through the laws of buoyancy. Water supports 50-80% of your body weight. That means you are only responsible for keeping steady anywhere from half to a small percentage of your total weight.

• No pounding, no aching. Land is a high-intensity workout. Joints and muscles have little cushion when they land over and over again on solid ground. Water is low-intensity. If supported with a float bely, you don’t touch a bottom at all.

• Water is a natural liquid weight. Resistance promotes muscular endurance and tone. You will see quicker results when exercising in the water, compared with the same exercise routine on land.

• Water aids in increased flexibility. Without gravity, you can hold poises you could never do on land. You have a wider or full range of motion (the size of the movement).

• You’re more comfortable in water. It supports us, it cools us down. I teach in both a 80-degree and 90-degree pool. While the warmer seems nicer, you do end up overheating very easily.

• Water is creative, adding an entertainment factor to workouts. Water allows you to move your body in ways you could never do at land. That means working muscles you never knew you had. Play some great music and keep things flowing from one exercise to the next, and you’ll not just be thoroughly worked out — you’ll have a smile on your face from the fun.

Tomorrow? Valid complaints I know exist about water workouts — and how to manage them.