5-Minute Water Workouts

Wednesday, July 20 2022

Get ready to get fit in 5.  Aqua Fit in 5’s is a 50-minute high-energy compilation of several 5-minute workouts that target various fitness components and body parts.  Choose your depth, deep or shallow and join me for a totally total body pool workout that targets cardio, arms, back, chest, core, legs and more. 

Workout Inspiration
Aqua Fit in 5’s was my much-anticipated return to the pool after spending a few months recovering from a bad shoulder injury.  The original inspiration behind this video was to film several 10-minute workouts that target different body parts and fitness components.  These mini workouts were intended to launch a new playlist feature on the Poolfit App.  This feature will allow app users to create playlists of videos for continuous play so that they can customize longer workouts without stopping and searching for a video.  However, the feature is delayed a bit and so I decided to move forward with the project as a full video with 5-minute mini workouts for each body part. 

Upper Body Resistance Principles & Equipment Options
Aquafit in 5’s features nine 5-minute segments that include warm-up, cardio, chest, back, arms legs, core, joint ROM and stretching.  Targeting specific upper body muscle groups in the water’s resistance requires basic knowledge of how to position the hands and arms because movement in the water is resisted in all directions.  However, properly positioned hands can emphasize a particular upper body muscle group.  For example, to target anterior muscle groups in the front of the upper body, the arms move forward or inwards with a full palm for maximal resistance.  They then move back or out with a sliced hand to take the emphasis off the posterior muscles in the back of the body. These hand positions are reversed when targeting posterior muscles in the back of upper body. Understanding frontal surface area is important knowledge for effective resistance training in the water.  This concept is better visually comprehended.  Watch Mark demonstrate hand & equipment positions in this 5-minute tutorial that was produced in 2020.

Equipment Options
Webbed gloves or Aqualogix Upper Body Belles can be used in this workout to maximize the water’s resistance.  Using webbed gloves would mimic the same hand positions as no equipment at all.  As demonstrated in the above video, if you use the Aqualogix belles it is important to know whether to present the flat side or seam side.  For chest, anterior deltoid and bicep, the flat side should be up and the seam side down.  For back, posterior deltoid and triceps, the seam side should be up and the flat side down. 

Pool season is in high gear and I hope you enjoy this total body workout.  I am happy to report that we have had a lot of new subscribers over the last 6 weeks.  Thanks to all of  you, with special thanks to those of you who have loyally stayed subscribed over the past year or two.  If you are a new subscriber enjoying Poolfit please leave us a review on the App Store or Play Store.  As the business owner, I cannot convey to you enough how much this helps us gain new customers. In this day and age, people almost always read reviews before making a purchasing decision.  So please…pretty please…help us spread some splashy love by leaving us a review. 

Author: Mark Grevelding is the founder of Fitmotivation. He is also a training specialist and consultant with the Aquatic Exercise Association’s (AEA). Mark has been active in the fitness industry for 22 years as a group fitness instructor, personal trainer, international presenter and a continuing education provider for AEA, AFAA & ACE.