Looking for an impact-free cardio workout? Join Jackie Lebeau for Deep Pyramids, the go-to routine she uses when she teaches or subs deep water classes. This pool workout combines cardio choreography with Pyramid interval training for upper body, lower body and core. A flotation belt is required in deep water and webbed swim gloves work great for this workout if you have them.
Instructors tend to have their go-to routines when they sub a class. These routines tend to reflect the instructor’s preferred teaching style and invariably get lots of good comments from class members. Deep Pyramids is that favored routine for Jackie. As a longtime instructor, she loves teaching with add-on choreography. But like many instructors, she has learned that choreography is best alternated with more intense drills to drive up the effort and give the brain a break from the engagement with choreography. Like Jackie, I have been teaching with a similar style for the past 25 years.
The main reason that Jackie likes to teach this class is because it provides a structure. The three pyramids always have the same timing, and each are 7 minutes long. The timing ratios alternate more intense exercise with lighter recovery. In this workout, Pyramid 1 is all lower body, Pyramid 2 is upper body and Pyramid 3 is core. Jackie said she often changes up the pyramids to reflect different programming or equipment. With the three pyramids totaling 21 minutes, she then fills up the test of the time by doing cardio combinations, kickboxing or other types of programming. In Deep Pyramids, she fills up the time by doing the same add-on cardio combo three times.
Below, Jackie talks more about her go-to routine and then read on for a summary of the exercise action.
WORKOUT SUMMARY
Deep Pyramids is a 50-minute pool workout that includes a warm-up, which serves as a preview for the two other cardio combos, along with three 7-minute pyramids and a final stretch. A flotation belt is required for deep water exercise. Additional equipment is not required, but webbed swim gloves are ideal in this workout for providing extra upper body resistance.
The three pyramids have the same interval timing and feature ascending and descending work and recovery times. Below is a template for the pyramid timing.
0:20 More Intense Exercise
0:40 Less Intense Exercise
0:30 More Intense Exercise
0:30 Less Intense Exercise
0:40 More Intense Exercise
0:20 Less Intense Exercise
0:50 More Intense Exercise
0:10 Complete rest
0:40 More Intense Exercise
0:20 Less Intense Exercise
0:30 More Intense Exercise
0:30 Less Intense Exercise
0:20 More Intense Exercise
0:40 Less Intense Exercise
Poolfit extends a big thank you to Jackie for sharing her go-to deep water exercise routine with subscribers. We hope you enjoy this workout as much as Jackie’s class members do. Stay tuned! More videos with Jackie will be posting this winter.
