Water Running Handbook – Part 1

Take it to the Water!

Whatever your sport, fatigue and injuries are barriers to your success. Being at your best for those moments of competition is what training is all about, but surviving your training schedule without injury can be your greatest challenge. Running is one of the best forms of cardio-vascular exercise. It is also one of the primary contributors to lower body injuries.

The unique environment of water running can help you reduce the risk of injury and increase fitness levels in ways that cannot be accomplished with land exercise alone. In a world of impact, start thinking amphibious. Explore how you can combine land and water exercise to stay in top form longer and with fewer injuries.

What’s so special about water?

Although various forms of water exercise have been used for centuries, space age research now documents more reasons than ever to take training and recovery programs into the water.

No impact running.

Your body weighs about 10% of its land weight when up to your neck in water. If you weigh 200 lbs. when standing on land, you weigh only 20 lbs. in water. With the addition of a buoyancy belt like the AquaJogger®, you can run with your head comfortably out of water, breathe normally, and accomplish most of the same workouts you perform on land.

In the water your musculo-skeletal system is no longer bearing weight, so it can be recovering from all the pounding of your land based programs while you focus your conditioning on the cardio-pulmonary system. No pounding…no impact.

Aerobic and Anaerobic Conditioning.

A decade of research by a variety of sources has shown that the training effect of water running can be equal or greater than the same level of effort on land. Improve your cardio-pulmonary conditioning while giving your weight-bearing joints and muscles a day off.

Resistance.

Water creates resistance to movement in all directions through a full range of motion. Increase or decrease the intensity by changing the speed of your movements. Being submerged in water is like having an adjustable weight machine surrounding your body.

Massage.

Water massages your muscles with every movement of your arms and legs. This action increases circulation, promotes relaxation, and helps remove stress and tension.

Up to your neck.

Being up to your neck in water produces physiological changes in your body that help remove metabolic waste, improve cardiac function, lower blood pressure, and assist the body in tissue healing. Start thinking about how you can use these changes to accelerate your recovery from competition, training sessions, and injuries.

Conditioning program.

Much of what you know about land-based conditioning and fitness programs applies to water exercise. Learn how to how to transfer your regimen of land-based exercises and conditioning programs into this friendly environment.

It’s revolutionary, it works, it’s fun, and it just may be the most beneficial conditioning and recovery modality available. This handbook will help you get your program launched, so you can start writing your own success story.