I have been looking at water exercises that I can start doing in our backyard swimming pool. When we go to the fitness center, then I swim and also do exercises in the pool. Now that we have the pool set up in he back yard, I want to start exercising there as often as I can. There are exercises that I can do when I am in the water that I could not possibly do any other way, and I have been working on building up both my upper body and lower body strength. When am at the fitness center, I also use the water dumbells to help strengthen my arms. Those are expensive, but the water noodles are pretty cheap at Walmart; so I am going to geet one next trip to the store. Water exercises are great for just about anyone, even if you are not able to swim, and you can start at whatever activity level you are able to start at. Here are some easy exercises that you can do in water with a pool noodle, and youtube has a lot of exercises that are specifically for seniors to help us get in better shape.
I have been doing some of the new exercises that I learned from the water-exercise videos. My favorite is one called "the robot". You know how a robot walks with arms and legs completely stiff....... Well that is what this exercise is doing. I get in water about up to my shoulders, and then do the "robot-walk" swinging my arms and legs both in the water. You kind of bounce from one foot to the other while walking, so it is a walk-in-place kind of thing. After 5 minutes of this, I can really feel that I have been doing it. I am also doing several other of the exercises and mixing it with straight awimming so that I get a whole body workout; but focusing on my legs, and especially the bad knee. The knee is actually bending better, and further. I have even been able to climb up the ladder and get in and out of our backyard pool. Bobby holds the ladder and is right there in case I have problems; but for a person who could not even use a stepladder, I am doing pretty darned good (if I do say so myself !). Even though I still am not weighing less, I can tell that I am definitely building up muscle and losing fat; so that is a good thing. I am now wearing a size smaller swimsuit, and that makes me very happy !
I am amazed at how much better my knees are bending, with just over a month of doing the knee exercises in the pool ! At first, I had a terrible time climbing the ladder to get into and out of the backyard swimming pool; and Bobby held the ladder for me and was there to rescue me if need be. However, my knees are now bending well enough that I can just climb in and out of the pool and not even worry about having Bobby right there to help me. The swelling around my knees seems to be going down, too, and I can even walk further before the bad knee gives out; so the improvement is noticible already,, and the effort it worth it. When you exercise in water, it only works the muscles, and does not put all of the stress on bones and joints that regular exercise does. This means you can actually increase your muscle tone without damaging your joints or causing a lot of pain. Here is the main video that shows the exercises I have been doing. It is by the man who trains athletes and bodybuilders, and he has developed a training product called Body Oars. The video quality is not very great; but the information is excellent !
Exercising in water is always good for building muscle and not hard on the joints. I know a lot of my buddies that were in Karate would do their katas in water to help with speed and strength. We done the same with Judo.
We go to the beach resort or the swimming pool during summer, once or twice depending on our spare time. My sister told me that it is a good time to exercise in the water because I wouldn't get tired. So instead of just wallowing in the shallow water or sitting by the poolside, I was encouraged to swim and walk until I get tired. There was one time when I kept on moving in the water for more than 3 hours. I didn't feel so tired and I think I could still go on. However, when I woke up the next morning, I felt muscle pains all over my body. But in fairness to me, I lost 2 pounds when we came home from the 3-day vacation. My husband suggested that when I retire from my job, the first thing we would do is to go on a month-long vacation in a pool resort... so I could achieve my dream of losing enough weight.
Going to a beach resort sounds like a fantabulous idea to me, @Corie Henson ! We have those here, too, of course;but they are way, way out of the range of our budget for even a few days, let alone a month of staying there. Back in the days when I had my camper van, I also had a membership to camping resorts, and I loved to go to one of the campgounds for a day or so, and just swim and camp and enjoy the pool and hot tub. Since we have nothing to go camping in anymore, that option is out for us, too; but the fitness center is maybe the next best thing, and it is close to where we live. It does sound like you overdid the water swimming and walking; but i am sure that it helped to tone up your muscles, even if you were sore the next day. Maybe a backyard pool would work for you, too; since it would be right there and you could swim and wade every day , or evenings after work. Bobby and I have our best "together times" when we are relaxing out in the backyard pool. It is just so peaceful and we both enjoy being out there with each other. It is only a small pool; but it is peaceful and private and cool in this hot weather.
@Yvonne Smith, we bought a portable swimming pool in 2013 and we used it several times to refresh from the terrible hot weather. But I don't think that is good enough for the water exercise I have in mind. First issue is the size, it is small so I couldn't even swim. It's designed for soaking only, I guess. Second issue is the food, I get a good appetite when I am in that pool because I am at home and I can order any food that I wish. Third issue is the unfolding and folding - it's a big chore to set up the pool and a much bigger task in folding after use. Here is the pic of that pool which we still have until now....
Okay, that is definitely NOT big enough for anything except for cooling down in, @Corie Henson . We had one that was about 12 feet across and 3 feet deep until this spring, and it was less than $100 when we bought it, I am thinking about $69, if I remember right. Although not a lot of room for swimming, it was fine for some water exercise and paddling around in out in the back yard. Then I found a larger one on sale for almost half price, and it is about 15 feet across and 4 feet deep; so plenty large enough for us to do water exercise and swim around in circles. We will empty it this fall, but probably not disassemble it altogether, and we have a cover that came with it to protect it over the winter. Since you are in a warmer climate, you might be able to use a pool year around over there. Here is a picture of the smaller pool we had at first, and you can see that even this one is a lot larger than yours, and big enough to splash around in. I think I also put a picture of the new, larger pool in the home improvement part of the forum.
I'd love to see the country by RV trailer. Are there any dating sites that specialize in men with nice RVs?
Here is an update on my water exercises, and it is all GOOD ! ! Since I have been doing the specific exercises for my legs, and especially for my knees, they have improved a whole lot. I have only been doing this for a couple of months now, so probably in a few months more, they will be even better. When I started, I could barely bend my right knee. That is the one which was injured in car accidents, and also the leg that was shattered and broken in the horseback riding accident. When the surgeon put it back together, there were so many missing pieces that were just slivers, so my leg has been just a little crooked and an inch or so shorter than it was before the accident. Naturally, over the years, that has affected the knee and also my hip on that side, as well as my whole back. My doctor send me to the specialist, and he said that the knee was in bad shape from arthritis as well, and normally, they would just do a knee replacement; but they can't do that with me because of the heart failure and blood clots that can happen. He gave me a shot in the knee and said if I exercise the knee, it can get stronger, and work better; so that is what I have been doing. At first, my knees would barely bend, but then they gradually started bending further as I keep doing the knee-bending exercise in the water. Now, they are bending much better, and I am walking more like a normal gait then lurching along with the bad knee. So........ I have splurged ! One of the recommendations to strengthen the knees is to use swimming fins for more resistance in the water. I finally ordered a set of short swim fins, and they should be here today; so tomorrow I can start using them in the pool and at the fitness center. I am so excited about doing this, and am hoping to see even better results once I begin using the swim fins. The water exercises work so well for me because it helps the muscles get stronger, and does not put stress on my joints.
This is an old thread, but it fits best for my post this morning. As you can read from my opening post, we have been going to the fitness center on a fairly regular basis for the last 2+ years now. I love swimming, and it is a great exercise for me, especially with my bad balance. If I accidentally fall........I just go “splash” and not “crash” ! After Robin gave me the Apple Watch, I wore it for walking and never when I was swimming, even though she insisted that the watch was fine in the water. When we were on our vacation trip in Florida and I “splashed-down”in the ocean unexpectedly, I was sure that i would ruin the watch; but just like Robin told me, it was fine. So, since then I have been wearing the watch in the pool and trying to swim longer. My first goal was a 1/4 of a mile (I swim for bout an hour), and after I reached that, then I tried harder and made it to a 1/3 of a mile swim. The last couple of weeks, I have been really trying hard, and today I actually swam OVER a half mile ! ! I am so pleased with myself. My watch shows that I actively burned about 900 calories, and exercised for 62 mintues, and swam 37 laps. My next goal is to make it to 40 laps, so that will give me something to work towards. I don’t know how I ever managed back in the prehistoric ages (before Apple) and I didn’t have my gadgets to help me monitor my health and fitness levels with.
There's no doubt about it exercising in water is much easier on your joints, etc. and is definitely a good way to go for us Seniors. The problem is some don't have access to a pool or room to put one either. It's definitely a very safe and effective way for those with health problems to get some good exercise though without putting stress and strain on our older bodies. I'm really proud of your determination to be the best you can be @Yvonne Smith.
I like the walking track (outdoors) at the gym. They have a nice outdoor lap pool and you don't have to be some power swimmer to use it. You can go at your own pace. With summer coming this area will become more crowded and there will be screaming kids in the kiddy area. Can't stand it. The outdoor covered pool is a bit too warm for me. I'm considering going very early, 7am to avoid the kids and hope it's less crowded then.