Aqua Jogging Exercises

Long used as a method of injury rehabilitation, aquatic jogging has taken a place in even the most traditional workouts. A relatively accessible and easy-to-learn form of exercise, aqua jogging is very low-impact and high in resistance. This combination leads to lesser muscle soreness and joint ache, making aqua jogging ideal for addition to any workout regimen.

  1. Equipment

    • For proper aqua jogging you need two pieces of equipment, besides the pool itself. Proper water shoes are key to getting the most out of your workout. Regular shoes will become soggy and weighed down, creating pain in your knees and hindering the exercise. Bare feet will work if necessary but will not give you the same type of motion and resistance. Aquatic exercise shoes are specially designed with fins and vents to help your motion remain smooth while also offering better resistance and in turn a better workout. The second piece of equipment is only needed for deep water jogging. In this exercise, a flotation belt is necessary. This will keep your torso partially above the water while you run. Since your feet do not touch the bottom in deep water jogging, without a flotation belt you will constantly be working to stay afloat, spending more energy on that than on the actual exercise.

    Deep Water Jogging

    • Deep water running takes place in a deep pool without your feet touching bottom, floating in place with the help of a flotation belt. Because the feet don't touch the ground, deep water running is completely non-impact, making it perfect for those with sore knees. For a proper deep water exercise, lean slightly forward in the water, avoiding a straight up-and-down posture that won't give the workout its full impact. From this stance, begin an exaggerated running motion. Bring the knees up and down as you would with a regular run, but make each move more pronounced so that the knees are coming up nearly all the way to the chest. As you do this, pump your arms vigorously with closed fists. You will move in the pool, making it easy to measure your workout in laps up and down the pool length.

    Shallow Water Jogging

    • Shallow water jogging involves a regular pool, with the feet actually touching bottom. Because of this, it is slightly higher-impact than deep water running, but still much lower than traditional jogging. With feet making contact with a surface, shallow water jogging more closely resembles regular running. As such, it is helpful for increasing running speed and strength. The exercise is done in much the same way as deep water jogging, but because your feet are making contact to help propel you forward it is often done somewhat more slowly. Be sure to exaggerate your traditional running movements to allow the water's natural resistance to add to the workout. Shallow water jogging is often used as a warm-up exercise before moving to a full set of deep water exercises.