Fat-Burning Exercises: Pool Workouts

Splash Your Way Slim

Water workouts aren’t just for synchronized swimmers or grannies in swim caps. These six routines will help you cool off and get toned from head to toe
By Hollis Templeton fitbie
 

Total-Body Toning

If a summer vacation has whisked you far from your gym—and you’re not about to let free weights and exercise bands take up space in your luggage—find a pool and snag a 30-minute toning workout without leaving your hotel. Katz, creator of the Water Exercise Techniques (WET) Workout, shared these moves that target your upper and lower body as well as your core.

Warmup (5 to 10 minutes)

Jog in place in neck-deep water

Shoulder rolls

Head turns

Triceps stretch

Overhead triceps stretch

Main Moves (15 to 20 minutes)

Power walk/aqua jog: To get your heart rate up, power walk through the water, then speed up to water jogging. Land on the balls of your feet, pumping your arms but keeping them tucked in toward your sides.

Trunk turns: Keeping your arms underwater, stand with your feet hip-distance apart with knees slightly bent. Place your hands on your waist and twist back and forth. Increase resistance by holding your arms at 180 degrees and rotating like a propeller, keeping your chest out.

Push-aways: Hold on to the edge of the pool with your hands placed shoulder-width apart. Without moving your feet or legs, straighten your arms as you push away and come back in.

Push-ups: Place your palms flat on the deck and lift your body out of the water, then dip back in. Perform in sets of 5 reps, holding the final push-up for 10 counts.

Leg lifts: Hold on to the side of the pool with your right hand with your body perpendicular to the side of the pool. Raise your left leg out to the side, then lower it. Repeat on the other side.

Leg circles: Hold on to the side of the pool with your right hand and your body perpendicular to the edge of the pool. Circle your left leg, bringing it to the side, then diagonally forward, down, and back. Circle your leg in the opposite direction, then repeat on the other side.

Sit-ups: Stand with your back against the edge of the pool, reaching your hands out to the sides above your shoulders and holding on to the edge of the pool. Pull your knees in toward your chest, then push your legs out straight. Add variation by twisting your knees to either side as you draw then in.

Bicycle riding/flutter kicks: With your back to the wall of the pool, hold on to the ledge and cycle your legs, bringing your knees in toward your chest. Up the intensity by switching to flutter kicks: Keeping the same position, extend your legs and kick as fast as possible, keeping your legs straight and your core engaged. Then move back to bicycle kicks.

Scissors: With your back to the pool wall, place your elbows on the deck and bring your legs up to a 90-degree angle. Draw your legs apart, then bring them together, crossing right over left, then left over right.

Cooldown (5 to 10 minutes)

Quad stretch

Calf stretch

Cross-training step (place your left foot on the pool wall and extend your right foot back to the floor behind you, then switch sides)

Fencer’s lunge (holding on to the side of the pool, place both feet on the wall in a V; bend your left knee and straighten your right leg, then switch sides)

Arm and leg stretch (hold on to the pool edge with your right hand and bring your right foot to meet it; reach your left arm up and over your head toward your right arm; repeat on the other side)

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