Kitchens the Bolivian Way

The pool is a popular location in the summer for exercise. With the right equipment and fitness routine, you can tone your body, get back into shape and even do physical therapy exercises. There are many merits of aquatic exercise and aquatic therapy. The pool provides the right amount of resistance for low impact exercise for those recovering from injury. Aquatic exercise has been proven to help arthritis. Swimming provides a workout for the full body and is a good form of cardiovascular exercise. Swimming also improves posture. There are many kinds of equipment available for water fitness.

Water aerobics using an aquatic treadmill is an excellent exercise alternative for those with injuries or disabilities. The natural buoyancy of the water is easy on the joints. This is particularly helpful for those who have had recent knee or hip replacement surgery or are suffering from arthritis. Such people can avoid the added weight and pressure that they experience when stepping on land. Water allows for a high intensity workout in less time and unlike traditional exercise, people experience less aches and pains after exercise. This is because water provides about 16 times as much resistance as that of air. Aquatic treadmills are placed at the bottom of a swimming pool and come in many models. There are separate treadmills for therapy and exercise. They can be left in the pool for frequent use and are made from non-corroding substances requiring minimal maintenance. Some water treadmills are not motorized, eliminating the need for dials and buttons. They automatically start, stop, speed up and slow down with the user’s pace. The treadmills often have special handlebars enabling a versatile workout involving leg lifts and crunches.

A water rowing machine is another piece of good aquatic fitness equipment. It provides for resistance training, aerobic activity and overall toning. It is a lot like rowing a boat. The back and forth movement of the lower body and the rowing motion of the upper body together gives a complete body workout. A physical therapy patient who uses these is exercising all his joints and tendons without exerting any pressure on them. Patients report feeling stretched and relaxed after use of the water rowing machine. Some people think that a water rowing machine would be heavy and would leak water on their floors, but these machines are more watertight than a waterbed.