Get Fit With These Popular Pool Workouts

If you have access to a pool, that may be the only gym you need to achieve a higher fitness level. Pool workouts can help you achieve greater health and muscle tone. They have less painful side effects and generally cause less injuries. If you're already on a workout program, you can seamlessly add pool workouts into your routine for a more complete workout.

To help focus your water workout, it is recommended that you use a buoyancy belt to maintain your location and balance in the water and prevent putting stress on your back during the workouts. Aquatic dumbbells can also be used to perform this function. Aquatic dumbbells can be used in a greater variety of workouts than buoyancy belts, but many people don't like having their hands tied up during their pool workouts.

You should consult with a physician before beginning any workout. It is also recommended that you work with a specialist in pool workouts to help you develop proper form for your workouts. The following is an overview of some popular pool workouts:

1. Crossover Crunches
Lie across the water on one side with your knees bent in to your chest. Then fold your feet and head towards each other. Repeat on the opposite side.

2. Diamond
Float vertically. Push the soles of your feet together with knees pointing in near opposite directions. Without feet coming apart, lift and lower your feet towards your buttocks.

3. Knee Crunch
Lie back in the water with your hips submerged and knees bent so that your lower legs are floating on the surface of the water. Use your abdominal muscles to curl your body forward until your knees reach your chest hen return to original position.

4. Knee Tuck
Take a deep breath and then lie facing downward in the water and dumbbells out to your sides. Pull your knees in to your chest then go back to your original position.

5. Oblique Twist
Lie back in the water with your legs together and your knees bent. Remain lying in the same position with your legs together while you move your knees down to one side and then back up and down to the other side and then back up.

6. Jack Knifes
Lie back in the water with your hips submerged and your knees bent so that your lower legs are floating on the surface of the water. Use your abdominal muscles to curl your body forward until your chest meets your knees. As you become more advanced, you can lessen the bend in your knees while doing this exercise until you don't have to bend them at all.