October 2021
By Aaron Thigpen, Gamespeed
You gotta be wondering, I play a land based sport, why would he be talking about pool workouts? Well pool workouts are valuable to all athletes. For most athletes, you don’t even need to have an Olympic size pool. There are a variety of exercises that can be performed to give you the perfect workout for your sport.
Benefits of Pool Workouts
- General overall conditioning – aerobic, anaerobic, strength.
- Non weight bearing in nature reduces wear and tear on joints.
- Water provides enough resistance for motor learning and patterning for those recovering from injury.
- Builds connective tissue strength.
- Active recovery & regeneration.
- Variety- Can use implements such as dumbbells, resistance cords, medicine ball, kettlebells
- Can apply some sport specific movements. (swinging a bat, throwing, dribbling).
Try this shallow water workout
Three minute easy swim mixed strokes or dog paddle (warmup)
3-4 Sets of:
Rest 30-60 sec between exercises and 2-3 min between sets.
30 sec Hi Knee Run
20 x Alt Arm Raise Side/Front
20 x Tuck Jump
30 sec Wall scissor kick
40 x Running Arm Swing
20 x Split Jumps
Three minute easy swim mixed strokes or dog paddle (warm down)
Not just for H2O athletes, mix in some water workouts weekly to add variety, challenge and fun to your workout regiment.
