Many people coming to the pool for the first time are amazed to see the participants wearing aquatic mitts in the water. “Why do you need them?” is the first question we get, and the answer is simple. Aquatic Mitts can assist every participant get the best out of their water workout.
Using the arms properly to support balance and posture can provide effective training for all exercise goals whether cardiovascular, strengthening, stretching, agility, coordination and so on. Learning to utilize the hands properly will allow each client to become successful and go home fitter.
In any fitness environment, safety for the participants should be the number one priority especially in the water. The Aquatic mitt is primarily a safety feature, worn to assist the wearer with balance and stability. On land, the air mass around participants is unlikely to knock anyone over, whereas in the pool, water mass surrounds the participant and exerts buoyancy and water currents created with every movement . This combination will lift and move the body and can unexpectedly sweep the participant off their feet if they are not sufficiently skilled to maintain balance. The extra surface area of a mitt helps to maximize vertical balance in water for good postural training. Correct sculling techniques with the mitt stabilize body alignment, whether at rest or in motion. The mitt can assists travel to provide efficient movement. In other words: the mitt helps to maintain posture, balance and stability (which is fundamental to any aquatic fitness class).
Sculling should be the first skill trained in the pool to show how the extra surface area provides water support. Using the regular flat figure eight scull to push the palm of the hand against buoyancy the participant will feel the buoyancy push back. Mitts help a client to secure lower body stability. To train balance, stand on one foot and scull the arms. Feel the weight aligning over the supporting hip. To progress balance training, lift both feet off the bottom. Participants will need to have good sculling skills and comfort in water to suspend or have both feet off the pool bottom. This is key for non impact training with or without a belt or noodle. Working non bottom contact allows the client to achieve more core strength as well as less vertical stress on the joints.
Another arm pattern that needs to be trained is a propeller type of scull. This movement is important to assist travel through the water. This hand technique uses the hands in a “thumbs up” or supinated wrist position as the back of the hand of the lead hand and the palm of the trail hand to push against the water. Pushing left provides travel and assistance to the right. To intensify the workload (or conversely in a reversed push-pull pattern) , push left and travel left to resist or add work into the travel movement.
Mitts can be used in a warm up to assist with basic movement and prepare the muscles and joints for the upcoming workout. For example when walking forward using the “serve the platter” movement to open up the chest and set-up the shoulder area for good posture. Use backward shoulder rolls to assist scooping for backward travel. When walking to the side, pull the arms down to the sides to feel buoyancy or introduce the propeller scull to warm up the wrist and forearms.
Additionally, the mitt can be used to resistance-train specific muscle groups in the upper body by alternately “webbing” towards the target muscles and “slicing” to rest on the return phase of the movement.
Example of Progression for Strengthening Upper Body Musculature
All clients should master the movement with a slicing hand positions, then progress to fisting and finally to webbed mitt position. Travel and working positions may then be added.
