Thank goodness - I imagined something very different from the title and anticipated an huge issue in your life!

Treading water as exercise - phew! As you were...........

I haven't read the article yet...

I second that treading water is strenuous. Depending on how your body is made up, it can be more or less so.
I sometimes attend a deep water class with people who have a lot of body fat. They can keep their arms above water, just kicking with their legs, for many minutes. I, on the other hand, cardio fit on land to the max, have to use a noodle. These people can do very little cardio on land.

It's interesting also how using resistance hand weights in the water is so different than on land. I love the feeling of being in different gravity, enjoying how much more -- and less -- I can do of certain exercises.

If only I had a pool nearby that was oxygen cleansed instead of indoors and filled with chlorine. I really hate sucking deep chlorine breaths.

haha..dlm...
jamies I will link below. the pool smell is due to NOT enough chlorine..a bad situation. they need to see the linked article immediately and be inspected by whoever is in charge in your area. It is true that the slimmer one is the harder it is to float...you should leave off all flotation anyway as it will really make you work ! :)

Here is a link that might be useful: chlorine smell...

Ooo, what an interesting idea. I used to like to tread water in my sister's pool. Sadly, she moved from that house and the new owners did not offer me a pool pass. My problem with big, public pools are they are too cold for me.

When I'm down in HHI I'll give treading water another try. The water there is warm in the fall. If I like it, I can join an indoor, hopefully warm, pool around here so I can add to my exercise repertoire.

Thanks for the suggestion.

hh, I sure hope you get a chance to give it a try. You will be amazed at what it does for you as far as a total workout. Also the benefit to your abs is amazing. You can vary the arm movements and the leg movements. Also add in some of the exercises on the other links you will find. I only do the " V" formation...it is really tough on the abs and I can't hold it very long but it is amazing. A lot of bang for the buck. Please let me know what you think.

I hate public pools too...if I didn't have my own I wouldn't be doing this...I just used the AU pool for rehab as it was in Feb !! I didn't live in this house till 2002 so have had fun in the sun ever since. c

I am very interested in this. Due to bad knees, and limited mobility due to my lymphedema affected legs, AND my slowly healing broken back, I can't do much aerobic exercise. My PT told me to start doing water walking, and I plan to check out some of the places she listed in a couple weeks.

I'm not exactly sure I followed the article...I can't quite get my head around what it was describing. I might try to see if there are some youtube vids. Thanks for the suggestion!

Hey pesky..I was thinking of you when I started this thread. All they are saying is to move your legs back and forth front to back like scissors. But you don't have to do it that way at all. All you do is pretend you are walking in the water while moving your arms out at your sides. Have you ever tread water ? Use whatever form works for you at the beginning. You don't need to do fancy movements. Once you get used to it you can vary your arms and legs. You can do a movement that is exactly like cross-country skiing with the legs and arms swinging in the water and it is perfect ! You may want to look into getting a waist belt to wear since you have had so much trauma. I will link below. It would free you to explore the workouts and then you can start going without it when you feel ready. Good Luck and please let me know how it goes. There are a lot of youtube videos on it too . Good Idea. c

Here is a link that might be useful: this is the kind I had..there are others

As part of my continuing rehab therapy after having both knees replaced a year ago I started water exercises. The timing was perfect since our hospital just opened a Health and Wellness Center about 5 miles from home. It's a beautiful facility - not cheap, but my health insurance gives me $20. off each month which helps.

It has all the typical exercise machines but I love the pools and have been doing water exercises since December. Twice a week I do Aqua Boot Camp in the regular pool and one day a week I have an Arthritis Foundation warm water class - 94 degrees is lovely.

I don't know what method they use to purify the water but there isn't a chlorine odor and my swim suits have held up really well. In the summer I supplement my classes in my own pool - but since I'm in the Philly area that's only for 4 months.

Many of the exercises we do are mentioned in that article you linked. We also use noodles and Styrofoam hand weights to increase the resistance. It is a great workout yet minimizes stress on the joints.

Caroline! Thank you !!. I have a pool. " yeah, yeah, I should swim more." Never thought about treading, even though I watch gd in awe as she plays water pole, seeing what a workout those " egg beaters" are.
Checked youtube for more info, and tried it out this morning. Wow! Great aerobic exercise, and stretching. Thank you for this!!!!
Marti( LC) ;>)

mc I am so glad you are able to have such a great facility available to you ! What a treat. It is definitely a great workout and as you say no stress at all.

Marti YEAH !! I am so glad you are enjoying it. I have to laugh when I read that you don't need to sweat to do this workout...ha...I drip sweat when I do the treading. And the "V" is really hard in the water. I am not buoyant at all and have to really work to stay up. I love the water polo but that is SO hard . I admire the kids that can do it. I hope that you will all check back and keep us all posted on how the treading goes. c

Glad you got a lol, but not me re. No sweat. Well, hmmm, it was a workout, so pretty sure my head was sweating. All else under water, pretty much!

I'm a long-time water treader, learned in a college swim class years ago, and I always do it when I get in a pool to stay in practice. When my kids were too old for the kiddie pool, but still needed a lot of pool supervision, I would get in the pool and tread water so I could watch them, be fairly close to them, and get exercise at the same time.

The nice thing about treading water is, you can carve out your own space or move to another if the pool's full of kids, and you don't have to wait until adult swim for exercise in the pool.

Go awm ! Exactly...it is the perfect exercise and as you say ' no space needed :) '. So let's all check in in Sept and see how it has gone for a month. c