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Staying Healthy With Geriatric Pool Exercises

by | Dec 18, 2017 | Health

It’s no surprise that health plays a major role in everyone’s life in today’s day and age. From old to young, parents and teenagers, exercises, in one form or another, are essential. Not everyone gets the proper amount of exercise they should for their age, unfortunately. One form of exercise that can be beneficial to everyone of all ages is swimming. No surprise there! Swimming is best suited for the elderly and those who fall under the umbrella of geriatrics. Today, we are covering topics on staying healthy with geriatric pool exercises.

Geriatric Swimming: Comfort And Ease

The biggest benefit of swimming is how easy it is on the human body. Unlike many more popular workout regimens, swimming is comfortable. There’s no need for specialized equipment. There’s no steep learning curve. Consider your past as a reference. Most children take swimming lessons at a young age. Most people already have a swimsuit and goggles. You don’t need dumbbells or heavy machinery; you just need your body, swimsuit, and goggles.

Swimming is one of the lowest-impact exercises available to people. Unlike running, lifting weights, biking, or weightlifting, swimming can be performed even by people with joint issues. Many medical conditions prevent people from performing those high-impact exercises. Swimming is routinely recommended for those who need the exercise but cannot safely participate in other exercises. The resistance in water is steady and allows for greater flexibility. Water has virtually no pressure on the body on the surface. Of course, go down for a dive and the pressure increases exponentially. However, on the surface, your body weight is the only resistance.

The Best Water Activities

The beauty of swimming and water exercises is that it can relieve arthritis, osteoarthritis, and joint pain. Seniors may not think that moving would help lessen the pain, but it does. Keeping the joints active prevents them from locking up and the pain from increasing.

Water Polo is a popular group activity to play for sport and for fun. The constant moving is what is key. If you prefer solo exercises you can do at your own pace, there is plenty to do including cardio-based water exercises. Combine a few water weights (very light free weights around 2.5 to 5 pounds) with your water movements. Arm curls are perfect to perform to keep your arms toned. Simply hold one weight in each hand with your palms facing up. Keeping your wrists locked, bend your elbows toward your body and lightly squeeze once they’re in close to your torso.

Leg lifts is an exercise that uses only your body and helps keep the blood circulating and the heart pumping. You can hold onto the pool’s edge and lift one leg to the side, then switch legs. You can also change things up by lifting your legs straight in front of you and bringing them back.

Flutter Kicking is another great exercise to keep in your water routine. As soon as you hear “flutter kicking,” you get a visual of what you’ll be doing. Flutter kicking can be performed with or without a kickboard (think boogie board). Simply lean on top of the board over the surface and kick your legs to push yourself around the pool. Additionally, flutter kicking can increase your stability and strengthen your core.

Standing water push-ups are another exercise for your upper body and torso. Simply lean against the edge of the pool with your arms extended and bend your elbows to bring your body to the edge and push off. Find your rhythm; don’t go too slow or too fast. You want to create the right amount of tension and go until you’re fatigued and rest.

Our recommendation for water exercises is to perform them at least three times a week. The benefits, as mentioned before, are relief from joint pain and arthritis. Additionally, your body will experience greater flexibility, an increase in bone density and an increase in cardiovascular activity.

Our Stomping Grounds Are Yours, Too

We cater to the Bradenton, Sarasota, Lakewood Ranch, and the Ellenton areas of Florida’s Gulf coast. Residential and commercial pools far and wide get plenty of tender loving care from our team. However, some important pools don’t receive the TLC from Erik’s Aquatic Care. These pools are the local health club pools such as the YMCA, East Bradenton Aquatics Center, G.T. Bray Aquatic Center, and more.

We will be writing a more in-depth overview of popular pools in an upcoming blog. Stay tuned to learn about more places in our local area to swim for exercise, throw birthday parties, group events or a mixture of all three. Most importantly, when you visit those public pools, be sure it’s safe and clean to enter. Read up on our other blogs that cover chemicals, cleaning, and potential hazards.

Erik’s Aquatic Care is always here to answer questions you may have as a current or future pool owner. Cheers!

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