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Strength Training on Land vs Water

By Guest Blogger Jackie Lebeau, M.S.


Excerpts taken from Resistance Training – Land vs Water: A Review.

Originally published in Akwa Magazine by AEA, September/October/November 2024, Volume 38, Number 2. 


 

Take a little trip down memory lane with me.


When I was 6 months old, I was enrolled in Baby & Me classes with my dad. As soon as I could walk, I took swim lessons until I was skilled enough to compete on my summer club’s team. I swam all four years for my high school team, and as soon as I was old enough, I worked at the pool lifeguarding and teaching kids how to swim.


Despite my years around and in the water, I was in my late teens before I ever associated “exercise” with the pool. Water was many things for me…it was for sports like swimming, water polo and synchronized swimming. It was for summer fun like belly flop contests and sharks & minnows games and it was for vacation activities like jet skiing, parasailing and fishing.



But exercise? No. 


I mention my backstory because most of us, including myself, learn about exercise, or more specifically weightlifting on land. Despite the hundreds of hours I spent in the water, everything I learned about cardiovascular fitness, flexibility and resistance training took place on the weight room floor or in a fitness studio.


Teaching aquatic strength training requires an understanding of the numerous differences between air and water as well as the ability to cue and lead exercises using specialized equipment. Learn the basics on land…but flip the switch to teach in the water. 



To compare land vs water, we’ll review what we already know.


On land, we use a variety of fitness equipment including weighted (dumbbells, bars and plates, fixed bars, kettlebells), rubberized (tubing, bands, loops), balance (BOSU®s, stability balls, core boards), agility (ladders, cones, dots, reaction balls), flexibility (mats, straps, blankets, blocks) and dynamic (battle ropes, gliding discs, TRX®).


In most studio scenarios, the vector of force we are working against is gravity. In order to strengthen our muscles effectively, we have to position ourselves directly against gravity. This is why we move around so much in a studio strength training class. So as to position each major muscle group against gravity we complete the workout from standing, all fours, kneeling, bent over, seated, side-lying, supine, and prone positions. 


Joint actions are the same whether we exercise in the studio or in the pool. The difference however is how our muscles respond due to the resistance of the water and the type of equipment used. Every move we make in the pool is resisted. This means that we don’t have to reposition our body in order to work opposing muscle pairs the same way we do for strength training in the studio. This is true when no equipment or drag equipment is used. Muscle actions will differ however if we are using buoyant dumbbells, weighted dumbbells, or resistance tubing. 


It may sound complicated, but AEA uses a straightforward concept to teach how muscle actions differ based on the type of equipment used.


Bonus: this concept works on land also!


When analyzing which muscle is the primary mover in an exercise, ask yourself, “Is my movement resisted or assisted?” Resisted movement is impeded (or made more difficult) by gravity, buoyancy, or by the properties of the equipment. Assisted movement is facilitated (or made easier) by gravity, buoyancy, or by the properties of the equipment used.

Examples of resisted and assisted movements using buoyant, weighted, rubberized, and drag equipment:

Equipment

RESISTED MOVEMENT

Buoyant dumbbells

Movement towards the pool bottom

Weighted dumbbells

Movement towards the surface of the water

Resistance tubing

Movement away from the anchor point

Drag fins 

Movement in any direction under water 

Equipment

ASSISTED MOVEMENT

Buoyant dumbbells

Movement towards the surface of the water

Weighted dumbbells

Movement towards the pool bottom

Resistance tubing

Movement towards the anchor point

To contact Jackie directly, e-mail her at jackie.lebeau@gmail.com.


Excerpts taken from Resistance Training – Land vs Water: A Review.

Originally published in Akwa Magazine by AEA, September/October/November 2024, Volume 38, Number 2. 



References:


American Council on Exercise. 2023. The Exercise Professional’s Guide to Group Fitness Instruction. Print.

Aquatic Exercise Association. 1018. Aquatic Fitness Professional Manual. 7th ed. Print.

Athletics & Fitness Association of America. 2010. Fitness: Theory & Practice. 5th ed. Print.


 

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