equipment: Use webbed gloves, water exercise bells, or paddles.
Muscle Focus: this move exercises the top and outside of your shoulder and the side of your torso, under your arms.
Starting Position: perform this exercise in chest- to shoulder-deep water. Stand with one foot in front of the other at a comfortable and stable distance apart. Keep your arms at your sides, and contract your abdominal and buttocks muscles to brace your spine in the neutral position and stabilize your torso. Keep your chest lifted and your shoulder blades down and back.
Action:
1. Slowly lift both arms out to your sides, with your palms up, toward the surface of the water.
2. Slowly press both arms down to your sides, with your palms down. 3. repeat 8 to 16 times.
variation: Lift both arms out to your sides and press them down behind your buttocks instead of pressing them down to your sides. Imagine that you are squeez- ing a beach ball behind your back. Safety Tips: Keep your hands under-
water throughout the entire exercise. For greater stability, perform the move with one arm at a time while you are holding on to the pool edge, with your side toward the pool wall. If you have neck pain, minimize this exercise by reducing speed and repetitions.
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equipment: Use webbed gloves, water exercise bells, paddles, plastic plates, or Frisbees.
Muscle Focus: this move exercises the front and back of your upper arms. Starting Position: perform this exercise in upper chest- to shoulder-deep water. Stand with one foot in front of the other at a comfortable and stable distance apart. Contract your abdominal and buttocks muscles to brace your spine in the neutral position and stabilize your torso. Keep your chest lifted and your shoulder blades down and back. Bring both arms behind you, and turn your palms to face forward. Keep your elbows behind your waist for this exercise.
Action:
1. Bend your elbows (figure a). Keeping your upper arms motionless, press your palms upward toward your shoulders in an arc. avoid lifting your hands out of the water.
2. turn your palms toward the pool bottom, and press down and back (figure b).
3. repeat 8 to 16 times.
Safety Tips: Keep a slight bend in your elbow when you extend in order to protect your elbow joint. If you are using water exercise bells or paddles, you don’t need to turn your hand around between steps 1 and 2. For greater stability, perform the move at poolside, using one arm at a time while you are holding on to the pool edge.
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Abs
The exercises that follow enable you to employ the resistive qualities of water to create a healthier body core through stronger abdominal muscles that do a better job in stabilizing your body core. Use the mental images described here to improve muscle and movement control, positioning, and breathing during this stimulating progression of highly effective abdominal exercises. Before you begin, familiarize yourself with the actual muscles you are working (refer to figure 3.2 on page 48 in chapter 3) and focus your exertion on using those muscles during each exercise. Then review the “Exercise Precautions” on page 48.
Before you begin each abdominal exercise sequence, use this body aware- ness preparation to help you develop stronger abdominal control: Place your palms over the bottom half of both sides of your rib cage and contract the muscles over your rib cage. Use the imagery of closing an accordion or a fireplace bellows. Inhale and imagine that you can fill your abdominal cavity with air. Then contract your abdominals—the muscles above and below your navel and over your rib cage from your breastbone to your pelvis—and press your navel toward your spine as you exhale. At the same time, contract your buttocks somewhat to brace your spine in the neutral position. Place your hands over your abdomen to feel the muscles contract.
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equipment: after you have mastered the basic exercise without equipment, add the use of buoyancy resistance by hugging a flotation belt, exercise ball, long barbell, kickboard, water ball, or pair of gallon jugs to your chest to increase resistance. the flotation exercise ball works best. Keep your shoulder blades down and back.
Starting Position: Move to chest-deep water and put your back to the pool wall. Slide a few inches down into a semiseated position and adopt the neutral posi- tion: place your feet shoulder-width apart, with your knees bent, your abdominals firm, your chest lifted, and your shoulders back. Make sure that your knees are directly over your heels and that your knees are bent at 90 degrees or greater (figure a). You may need to move your feet to a position a bit farther from or closer to the pool wall.
Action:
1. Identify the upper and lower ends of the rectus abdominus muscle—at your breastbone and just above your pelvis. Become aware of the muscles that surround your rib cage, the external and internal obliques.
2. Shorten this distance between the two ends of your abdominals—your breastbone and your pelvis—as though you were closing an accordion. Contract the muscles over your rib cage while you compress your abdomi- nals and obliques toward the midline at your navel (figure b). Strive to create a “rock belly” contraction by bringing the bottom of your rib cage closer to your hip bones as you “close the accordion.”
3. release the contraction slowly. Between repetitions, maintain a slight contraction in order to protect your back, by keeping your pelvis in a braced neutral position, and to work your abdominal muscle group more effectively.
4. exhale on the contraction (close the accordion); inhale on the release. refocus your attention on contracting your abdominal muscles while you execute proper breathing.
5. repeat the sequence 8 to 32 times.
variation: advanced fitness enthusiasts are delighted with the results of perform- ing the Wall-Sit Crunch with flotation equipment for resistance; it is a sequence that uses the buoyancy of water to duplicate the effects of weight training. Once your abdominal muscles are strong, challenge your torso by performing the exercise standing at midpool, away from the wall, using buoyant resistance equipment. You can reproduce the resistive qualities of a weight training machine by pressing against the flotation resistance of the buoys while contracting your abdominals.
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hug the buoyancy equipment to your body, with your palms open and your fingers over the top. Walk to a depth where the equipment is slightly submerged. Continue with the abdominal crunch sequence and note the increased muscle energy required to partially submerge the equipment using the strength of the abdominals. Move the equipment to the left side of your rib cage and contract the muscles around the left side of your rib cage, the obliques. repeat on the right side. Increase the number of repetitions as you become more proficient. For variety, use a count of 4 to move the body through abdominal contractions at four ranges of motion (imagine an elevator stopping at four floors), or hold contractions for 4 seconds and release.
If you use the reversed flotation belt, put both hands on top of the belt and perform the abdominal crunch. to focus on the muscles over your rib cage, put your left hand on the middle of your left thigh, with your right hand on the top of the belt. Squeeze your abdominal muscles to bring your torso slightly forward and to the right. Continue for several repetitions. repeat the squeeze to the left. Safety Tips: avoid arching or hyperextending the lumbar spine during the release of the contraction. Check your alignment to be sure that the position of your pelvis is appropriate. Your pelvis should be in a neutral position, not tipped forward or backward, and braced firmly between an abdominal and buttocks contraction. avoid moving up and down in a sitting motion, which can defeat the purpose of the exercise. Give yourself a few weeks or months to master each progressively more challenging stage of this exercise.
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equipment: a flotation belt or cuffs, or even a pair of plastic gallon jugs, can enhance this exercise for beginning, intermediate, and advanced exercisers. Starting Position: Stand with your back to the pool wall, outstretch your arms, and place your palms on the wall behind you or put on the flotation belt or cuffs. Lie back, extending your body so that you are floating face up on your back. extend your legs out in front of you just below the surface of the water (figure a). Keep your knees slightly bent and avoid bringing your knees toward your chest: the action is all in the shortening of your abdominal muscles; not much movement occurs. Action:
1. Contract your abdominals while you are exhaling. Using your abdominal muscles, shorten the distance between your breastbone and pelvis; think about pressing your navel toward your backbone (figure b). If this is the first time you have performed this kind of exercise, you may not notice any movement at all until your muscles get stronger.
2. extend your body. avoid arching your back each time that you extend your body to a straightened position.
3. exhale as you contract your abdominal muscles and then inhale as you release them.
a b
variation: place a long-handled flotation barbell beneath your knees or ankles to add greater challenge to the flotation curl or to assist you in keeping your legs floating if they tend to sink.
the Oblique Floating Curl helps work the external and internal oblique muscles (the muscles on your sides and rib cage) and increases the water resistance against your abdominal muscles. here’s how to do it:
1. place the sole of your left foot against your right thigh or shin. Bend your right leg.
2. Contract the muscles of your abdomen to bring the left side of your rib cage and your breastbone closer to your left hip bone. avoid rolling your shoulder forward; keep your shoulder blades down and back.
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3. repeat the move 4 to 8 times and then switch the position to work the opposite side for 4 to 8 repetitions. Over time, when your torso muscles feel stronger, gradually add more repetitions: Intersperse 2 or 3 sets of 8 repetitions throughout your abdominal workout.
For a more challenging and torso-strengthening variation of the Oblique Float- ing Curl, use two long-handled flotation barbells. Float on your back, extend your arms overhead with both hands clasped on the barbell, and place your ankles on a second barbell, about shoulder-width apart. Slowly contract the muscles of your sides to form a sideways jackknife with your body by squeezing the muscles on your left side; slowly return your body to a straight line position. Keep your abdominal muscles firmly contracted throughout the exercise. perform 4 to 8 repetitions and then repeat on the other side. the Oblique Floating Curl challenges your torso and creates a stronger core that is more resilient to back pain and injuries.
Safety Tip: Focus on the muscle energy of shortening the distance between your breastbone and pelvis while you are contracting your abdominals to isolate the abdominal muscles.
SITTIng v
equipment: a flotation belt, cuffs, or empty plastic gallon jugs can enhance this experience for beginning, intermediate, and advanced exercisers.
Starting Position: While holding on to the pool wall or using a flotation device, lie back, extending your body so that you are floating faceup on your back. Action:
1. Bring your legs out to the sides (open the V). at the same time, contract (squeeze) your abdominal muscles to bring your torso into a partially seated position, with your legs extended to either side. 2. Lie back, bring your legs to-
gether, and relax your abdo- minals.
3. perform 8 to 16 repetitions.
Proper Breathing: exhale as you contract your abdominal muscles and inhale as you release them.
variation: as you get stronger, add 16 more repetitions with a “double beat” contraction at the fully abducted (open V) and adducted (closed V) positions. Use the added beat count to sustain a longer abdominal contraction.
Safety Tip: perform this exercise only after you have mastered the other abdominal exercises and thereby strengthened your abdominals. If your abdominals are weak, you may find it difficult to avoid the excessive arch of your lower back (anterior pelvic tilt and corresponding spinal hyperextension) that can cause back injury.
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equipment: perform the plank against the pool wall, or, for an intensified chal- lenge, use two noodles held horizontally. For a highly advanced workout, use one noodle. another way to increase the challenge is to use a kickboard; one with handles on each end works best.
Muscle Focus: this move strengthens your abdominal and torso-stabilizing muscles.
Starting Position: Stand facing the pool wall or with your hands on either side of the kickboard. place your hands on the pool ledge at shoulder-width apart. Walk your feet back until your body forms a straight line. place your feet somewhere between shoulder-width apart (beginner) or close together (advanced), with your toes on the pool floor, and flex at your ankle (figure a).
Action:
1. Contract the muscles of your torso, including your abdominals and buttocks, while keeping your lower spine in the neutral position. Keep your shoulder blades down and back (figure b).
2. relax the contraction and repeat. 3. repeat 8 to 16 times.
variations:
• For variety, raise your hips to form a “V” with your body and then lower them again while contracting the stabilizing muscles of your torso.
• to increase the challenge of the plank, lift one foot up off the pool floor, with a straight leg, and hold the contraction for several seconds. repeat with the other leg. avoid performing this exercise using a kickboard until you have very strong torso muscles that are ready for an advanced challenge. Safety Tip: avoid arching your lower back.
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