Aqua-Jogging: fitness in the water
Swimming - many find that boring. And in winter it is often too cold and mostly too dark for running. How about a combination of both - jogging in the water? More and more swimming pools now have aqua jogging in the program.
Dorothée Gluderer, gymnastics and back-school teacher, gives aqua jogging courses in the Hamburg Alster swimming pool. It shows the different steps while jogging in the water:
Trial lesson: aqua jogging in the self-test
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com editor Wiebke Peters (34) regularly goes swimming, and trains her performance and ability to suffer on bike tours. She considers herself to be mediocre. Jogging has never been her thing - but how that feels in the water, she wanted to try.
Wiebke Peters with swimming optics. But she did not need the glasses for aqua jogging.
The aqua-jogging course in the Hamburg Alster swimming pool takes three quarters of an hour. Luckily, that was not clear to me before. Otherwise, I would probably have attacked after 20 minutes, the fear not to endure to the end: Aqua-jogging is exhausting - much more exhausting, than my usual half-hour crawl ...
Before we can let participants into the water, we put on a belt of solid foam. In addition, we put on shoes, which also give buoyancy and thus make it difficult to pedal, that is: increase the training effect.
First, we do a few leg exercises: Pulling knees alternately to the beat of the music, stretching the legs and pulling them together energetically. The belt provides buoyancy, but also for instability. Only with tense abdominal muscles and balancing arm movement is "standing" in the exercises calm in the water, as trainer Dorothée explains from the edge of the pool.
Then it starts: We jog in a circle, first with short fast, later with longer steps. The arms are also used, you pull them through the water. After just a few minutes, I feel sweat breaking out on my forehead. In the water! An unusual feeling. Especially the arm pull I find exhausting. Tummy tuck - I think about it sometimes, but can not keep it all the time. In addition, my leg movements are too uniform, explains the coach. I should imagine how I jump over small obstacles. This tip helps me, and finally I get better running in the water.
After several laps of jogging and cycling - the legs are moved evenly, which I find easier than the accentuated jogging - we take foam dumbbells to hand. During an exercise - running on the spot and at the same time push the dumbbells up and down - I unexpectedly get underwater with my head. That finally gives me some cooling. At the end we stretch our legs and I made the 45 minutes of training.
Conclusion: The fun factor of aqua-jogging is quite high, provided you're really on the gas and do not care how you look at it. I had some problems thinking about so many things at the same time: coordination of arm and leg movements, posture of the upper body, tension in the stomach ... After the lesson I felt exhausted and still good, as it should be in sports. And: Contrary to my expectations there was no sore muscles the next day. I am now considering spicing up my usual swimming program with occasional aqua jogging. Maybe then I will also feel positive effects on my aching cross, for which the hour has unfortunately not brought much.
Facts about aqua jogging
Dorothée Gluderer
Dorothée Gluderer explains what is so special about aqua-jogging:
"There are three steps to aqua jogging: short, long, and the bicycling step, each of which involves training different muscle groups, and there are two things that are particularly interesting about this workout: keeping your balance and tensing your stomach, unlike the other Running on solid ground.
In all types of step calf, thighs and buttocks are trained. In the second, long variant, the pressure or Stemmphase longer, whereby the hip flexor is stretched well, which is shortened in many people - and that is bad for the back.
The outfit: belt and shoes for the buoyancy.
Due to the waterproof, the body only has to carry 20 percent of its own weight, which is gentle on the joints. The equipment gives additional lift. The training is exhausting anyway. In winter we often have triathletes in our classes who want to keep fit.
Aqua-Jogging is easy to learn - after about six to eight training sessions you have the technology on it. "
You also want to go? Aqua-Jogging is offered in many German cities. It's best to check with your local swimming pool.
Many colleges also have aqua jogging in their program, and some offer external access to their courses. A single ticket in the Alster swimming pool costs 8.40 euros for the three quarters of an hour.If you have health problems, for example, back problems, it may be worth asking your health insurance: Often, the courses are subsidized.
Tip: Aqua-Jogging can only be practiced in deep water. Inquire about where the course is taking place - if the children's pool is used, you should not book it.
