USE YOUR AQUA FITNESS BUOYANT EQUIPMENT CORRECTLY
WHY ADD EQUIPMENT?
Adding equipment to your workout can be a great benefit to your participants. Equipment provides an opportunity to add variety to your program to challenge the workout, or to allow participants to enjoy the workout with a child’s enthusiasm, and it can be used as a means to attract new participants to your class. However having equipment at poolside does not mean that it is suitable for all participants and all classes.
Most aquatic classes contain a variety of participants of varying age groups, skill levels and personal goals. Instructors must choose appropriate movements to target the intended purpose and goals of the clientele. Making sure that you have a good balanced program is as important in water as it is on land. It is also essential that you do not just “drop” land movements into the pool. All movements should be evaluated for safety, effectiveness and exercise objective. The components of your program (Buoyancy warm -up, CV Warm up, cardiovascular conditioning, muscular conditioning, and warm down,) should promote a healthy, injury free body that works all the components of fitness.
Physical fitness incorporates a combination of flexibility, cardio respiratory endurance, muscular strength and endurance, agility, balance and coordination. Well-conditioned muscles allow movement that will improve aerobic capacity. Improved aerobic conditioning allows people more efficient mobility for daily activities. In water, it is normal for the upper body muscles to fatigue quicker than those in the legs, especially in the untrained person. A participant with a strong cardiovascular system on land may not have sufficient muscular strength for sustained muscular activity in the water making it difficult to get good cardiovascular training. The multidirectional resistance of water makes it simple to train for strength throughout a workout. As the muscles become stronger overload, using equipment, can be added to the program to develop every component of fitness.
Therefore it is important to train participants the correct movement both for basic cardio movement and muscle targeting and stretching prior to adding equipment to a program, and most importantly pace themselves through this learning process and throughout a total workout
