If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got. Changing up a workout is important to avoid exercise plateaus where your body adapts to a given exercise routine. It also prevents boredom by keeping a workout fresh and different each time. Join Jackie Lebeau for Unlimited Intervals, a 50-minute water exercise video that demonstrates several ways to vary up cardio interval training for optimal results. This workout can be performed in deep and shallow water and includes the use of a pool noodle.
Doing the same workout repeatedly with the same exercises can lead to boredom and a lack of results. The fitness principle of “adaptation” holds that your body will eventually adapt to whatever stimulus it receives from exercise if the exercise activity is not changed. The fitness principle of “progressive overload” is designed to overcome adaptation by introducing changes that increase resistance, reps, duration, range of motion and more.
In water exercise, we rely on a short list of base moves that are taught in a variety of ways. If you exercise in water, you know the moves, jacks, skis, kicks, jogs, tucks, jumps and more. A good instructor will know how to reinvent a base move to provide a different outcome with each change. Below is a good example of doing just that with a base move. Watch as I change a cross-country ski 25 times with different variations. In all honestly, I could have easily gone up to 50 variations here.
UNLIMITED INTERVALS: WORKOUT-AT-A-GLANCE
This 50-minute water exercise video features just 6 base moves: jacks, skis, kicks, pendulums, twists and tucks. These six exercises are reinvented repeatedly in four mini-interval workouts. The intervals feature changes in work and rest timing ratios, exercise order, as well as variations in movement, such as varying arms, limb direction, impact level and tempo. All of the changes create progressive overload and promote improved fitness results. This workout can be performed in deep and shallow water and includes the use of a pool noodle.
Mini Workout #1: Rotating Rounds Part 1
In this 6-minute mini-interval workout, the duration variable involves reps instead of timings. Four exercises are performed with ascending reps of 4, 8, 12 and 16. The exercise order is then changed four more times with the same ascending reps assigned to a different order of the four exercises.
Mini Workout #2: AMRAP
AMRAP stands for “As Many Reps As Possible.” This 9-minute mini-workout features three AMRAP rounds of descending duration, 4 minutes, 3 minutes and 2 minutes. In the 4-minute AMRAP, three exercises are performed for 12 reps each, for as many rounds that you can do in 4 minutes. In the 3-minute AMRAP, three different exercises are assigned for 10 reps each, again the goal is to get through at your own pace as many rounds as possible of the three exercises. The final 2-minute AMRAP features three different exercises performed for 8 reps each.
Mini Workout #3: Descending Trios
This 12-minute mini-workout includes the use of a pool noodle. Two rounds of three exercises are performed first for 40 seconds each and then 20 seconds. The rounds are performed twice.
Mini Workout #4: Rotating Rounds Part 2
This 6-minute mini-workout features the same structure as Part 1, but includes variations for the exercises in which they can be performed with a pool noodle.
Below, Jackie talks more about Unlimited Intervals.
Poolfit extends a big thank you to Jackie for sharing one of her favorite class routines with subscribers. We hope that this pool workout will help you break through exercise plateaus. Jackie returns next month with a couple of in-home workouts, because you can’t always get in the pool. With that said, winter is over halfway over in the northern hemisphere. Hang in there!
