077 Three Fast Chicks on a Diet share about Water Exercises

How to Lose Weight Fast with Aquatic Exercise

by Three Fat Chicks on a Diet

Aquatic exercise is perhaps one of the best ways to achieve full-body strength and loose weight quickly. Not only are aquatic exercise techniques easy on the body’s joints, they are also fun and relaxing. This helps to keep those seeking weight loss interested and dedicated to their exercise regimen.

Overview of Aquatic Exercise

In order to fully understand the weight loss benefits of aquatic exercise, you need to understand its techniques and why it is one of the most effective methods for quick weight loss.

Simply stated, aquatic exercise is exercise that is performed in water. Water creates natural resistance, which allows pressure on the joints and muscles to be displaced by the water. While the resistance of water makes this a low-impact exercise activity, resistance also helps to strengthen and build muscle. Because muscle naturally burns fat, this is the key elements to an aquatic exercise weight loss program.

Although aquatic exercise has been used a great deal by the medical community for rehabilitation patients who lack the strength to tolerate standard impact activity, the benefits of aquatic exercise are becoming more commonplace in both the medical and public communities.

Water Walking

One of the best aquatic exercises to begin with is water walking. With this technique, you want to make sure that the water is about waist high. Then, you can start by walking from one end of the pool to the other, being sure to keep your back straight and your arms moving from front to back just as you would normally do when walking. Because this is a basic aquatic exercise, it is a good place to start for people who are new to aquatic exercise. Water walking assists in the weight loss process by strengthening some of the key areas of your body, including the shoulders, arms, abdomen, upper legs and back.

Kickboarding

Another aquatic exercise that may help induce quick weight loss is kickboarding. With this exercise, you will place your arms and upper torso on the kickboard. Then, you will paddle around the pool using only your legs. Again, the resistance of the water acts against the motion of your legs, so your lower body will be receiving most of the impact from this exercise.

Resistance Exercises

Some aquatic exercise activities don’t require anything more than the water. You will simply use your body against water’s natural resistance to trim and strengthen your areas of concern. One technique that you can try is marching in place. During this exercise, you will start from a standing position with your legs together. You will then bring your left knee up at a 90-degree angle and release it back down. Then, repeat with the right leg.

On a similar note, try starting from the same standing position, but this time bring your left leg out to the side and then back to center, working both your inner and outer thigh. Repeat with your right leg. The thigh area is always a major concern for those looking to lose weight, so this is a good aquatic exercise to incorporate for weight loss purposes.

013 The Wonderful World of Water

Water is literally all around us. It’s in the ground, the air, and our bodies. So what the big deal with water?

In June, Jimmy and I went to Youth Camp. If you don’t know or don’t remember, Jimmy is a youth minister. This was his first ever camp that he planned from the ground up and we were both really excited to see how it was going to turn out. I was personally really excited that the camp had a swimming pool because I hadn’t swam in probably 3+ years. The thing about camp in Missouri during June is that it is HOT and it is HUMID. You just can’t get away from it! So to escape the heat you have to make sure that you are drinking plenty of water, and why not take advantage of that nice cool pool I was just talking about. That’s when it hit me that water is really great for Jimmy and me in two distinct ways.

When it comes to losing weight—especially when you are severely over weight—there are two really great things about water!

#1 Drinking water helps you lose weight. It flushes out your body and keeps you hydrated. Hydration allows your body to function properly and to get rid of toxins and excess water. I know that it seems really backward that you get bloated and hold on to water weight when you aren’t drinking enough water every day but it is true! So it you are interested in shedding the pounds and keeping them off make sure that you are fueling your calorie burning engine (your body) with plenty of H2O!

#2 Water exercises/aerobics are a wonderful way to burn calories that is easy on your back, legs, and joints. When you exercise in water you have the natural resistance that comes with being partially submerged but you also have a buoyancy (lift/floating) that reduces the weight your joints are bearing during the exercise. That means that you can exercise more efficiently with less pain and probably for a longer period of time than if you were to exercise outside of the pool.

Yes, Jimmy and I saw great results from drinking water. We were able to stay hydrated. We didn’t get sick or overheated, and we lost extra weight. Still I have to say that we both enjoyed the benefits of the pool the most. Jimmy got in a few days for about 2.5 hours each time. He had a blast and the next day he told me that he could really feel the difference that exercising in the pool made versus the walking he normally. So it was a great experience all around—even if a dog did run off with one of Jimmy’s water shoes!