What's so special about water?
Although various forms of water exercise have been used for centuries, space age research now documents more reasons than ever to take training and recovery programs into the water.
No impact running. Your body weighs about 10% of its land weight when up to your neck in water. If you weigh 200 lbs. when standing on land, you weigh only 20 lbs. in water. With the addition of a buoyancy belt , you can run with your head comfortably out of water, breathe normally, and accomplish most of the same workouts you perform on land. We carry a full line of buoyancy belts.
In the water your musculo-skeletal system is no longer bearing weight, so it can be recovering from all the pounding of your land based programs while you focus your conditioning on the cardio-pulmonary system. No pounding...no impact.
Aerobic and Anaerobic Conditioning. A decade of research by a variety of sources has shown that the training effect of water running can be equal or greater than the same level of effort on land. Improve your cardio-pulmonary conditioning while giving your weight-bearing joints and muscles a day off.
Resistance. Water creates resistance to movement in all directions through a full range of motion. Increase or decrease the intensity by changing the speed of your movements. Being submerged in water is like having an adjustable weight machine surrounding your body.
Massage. Water massages your muscles with every movement of your arms and legs. This action increases circulation, promotes relaxation, and helps remove stress and tension.
Up to your neck. Being up to your neck in water produces physiological changes in your body that help remove metabolic waste, improve cardiac function, lower blood pressure, and assist the body in tissue healing. Start thinking about how you can use these changes to accelerate your recovery from competition, training sessions, and injuries.
Conditioning program. Much of what you know about land-based conditioning and fitness programs applies to water exercise. Learn how to how to transfer your regimen of land-based exercises and conditioning programs into this friendly environment.
Relaxation:
It's very important to relax your muscles before movement takes place. A relaxed muscle moves quicker and with more fluidity than one that is tense. Whether you are on land or in water, controlled flowing movements is your goal. Take advantage of the water medium to relax your muscles before and during movements. The feeling of weightlessness allows you to move freely and quickly. Since your legs aren't bearing any weight, it's easy to relax through the entire running stride. This stress free movement should help you develop a more relaxed and fluid stride on land.
Range of Motion:
Movement through the correct range of motion and in a linear direction is as critical when you're running in the water as it is on land. Your range of motion with your legs can be greater in the water because there is no impact with the ground.
Rhythm:
Once you've mastered relaxation and range of motion, focus on your rhythm which is the result of coordinating the upper and lower extremities as you move through the water. Start slow and get the feel of this rhythm. Once you have it mastered, build up speed. The rhythm should feel much like it does on land. The weightless atmosphere, however, allows movement in slow motion through the complete range of motion and also allows you to focus on one leg at a time. Speed of movement is directly related to effort in the water. The faster you go...the harder you will be working.
Why Prescribe Aquatic Therapy?
Impact Free
The use of warm moving water to rehabilitate or recondition
patients has a long and documented history. In the mid-1980s, water
therapy/fitness took a quantum leap forward with the development of
the AquaJogger® Buoyancy Belt. Sustained, impact-free, deep water
conditioning became practical.
Quicker Recovery, Lower Costs
Much of the medical industry today (including insurance
providers) are recognizing that water therapy is playing a serious
role in rehabilitation, work hardening, and general conditioning
programs. Water conditioning is one of the few means of continuously
rehabilitating the body which is accessible in both medical and
public pool facilities, and may be safely used throughout a
patient's life.
Insurance Coverage
Clinic-based and home/community-based aquatic therapy programs
including AquaJogger have been successfully prescribed at orthopedic
therapy and sports medicine clinics throughout the 1990s and beyond.
Aquatic therapy and the AquaJogger belt are covered by many
insurance carriers.
Note: Insurance billing is not performed by AquaJogger or Excel
Sports Science, Inc.
Specific Physiological Responses
The effect of: water upon the body's systems results in several beneficial responses. Immersion in water reduces pain signal feedback without medication Water buoyancy eliminates the stress gravity places on injured or unfunctioning body systems Water pressure enhances retum of lymphatic fluid and venous blood, stimulating circulation and reducing swelling in injured areas Water viscosity allows a patient to easily regulate movements and avoid pain or over-exercising Water has a high specific heat, a quality which carries heat to injured tissues, further reducing inflammation and stimulating circulation, as well as increasing joint mobility and flexibility Water induces relaxation and provides a feeling of psychological well-being Water pressure increases blood volume per heart stroke, enhancing cardiac conditioning.
Treatment of Specific Conditions
Aquatic therapy has a record of usefulness in treating a wide range of conditions, including but not limited to the following: Lower back injuries Arthritis Spinal cord injuries Post-polio syndrome Shoulder / neck injuries Pelvic injuries Cardiac conditions Post-op ankle, knee and hip surgeries Obesity Multiple sclerosis
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