Many people choose water fitness because they want to limit joint impact. However, it is important to know that there is still impact in shallow water exercise. Ground Forces is a 55-minute shallow water workout that is completely grounded and thus impact free. Keeping one foot grounded on the pool floor, this water exercise video shows how you can eliminate impact while maintaining intensity in cardio, HIIT, kickboxing, strength, core and more.
GROUNDED INSPIRATION
Ground Forces was a conference session that I taught at the International Aquatic Fitness & Therapy Conference (IAFTC) in May. My goal was to encourage instructors to add more grounded movement into their shallow water classes to lessen the overall impact. Why? There is still impact in shallow water exercise because you are still bearing 25-35% of your body weight when exercising in chest depth water. Shallow water workouts often include bounding moves, which requires weight transfer, as well as exercises that involve jumping. Many people participate in water exercise because they have joint impact issues. Bounding and jumping exercises in chest-to-waist depth water can cause discomfort, pain and possibly injury to people who have joint issues in their lower extremities. Grounding movement by keeping one foot anchored to the pool floor is one way to eliminate impact in shallow water exercise. Watch Mark talk about this in the video below and then read more about grounded movement and the Ground Forces pool workout
GROUNDED MOVEMENT
Water fitness instructors should consider adding more grounded moves into their classes for the reasons below.
- Non-Impact. As mentioned above, grounded movement eliminates impact because there is no bounding or jumping exercises. Movement is instead performed with one foot anchored to the pool floor.
- Maintaining Intensity. Less impact does not mean less intensity. Intensity is maintained in grounded movement with vigorous movement of the non-grounded leg, and more importantly with aggressive arm patterning.
- Shallower Depths. Grounded movement is especially ideal for shallower waters. If you are exercising at waist depth, you are still bearing 50% of your body weight. Bounding and jumping would not be recommended at this depth. If you teach or exercise in shallower water, take note of the grounded techniques in this video and implement them in your classes or personal workouts.
- Deck Instruction. Water fitness instructors who lead their classes from deck will especially benefit from adding more grounded movement into their classes. Teaching from deck is much easier with grounded movement because you don’t have to demonstrate bounded, jumping or suspend exercises.
POOL WORKOUT-AT-A-GLANCE
The goal in this 55-minute workout is to show how to implement grounded movement into traditional class components and formats, while still maintaining the intensity of the workout. Below is the structure of the Ground Forces pool workout.
- Grounded Warm-Up: Serving as an introduction to grounded movement, this 4-minute segment demonstrates how to ground the various base moves in water exercise, including jogs, kicks, jacks, skis and more.
- Grounded Cardio: Aerobic exercise without the impact; this 8-minute segment features a cardio combination of 4 anchored moves taught with pyramid choreography.
- Grounded Kickboxing: Kicks and punches fit nicely into this workout because they are typically performed grounded. This 5-minute segment features a fast-paced kickboxing combination that is taught with repetition reduction. The final cut is wild.
- Grounded HIIT: Less impact does not mean less intensity. This 9-minute segment features a series of anchored high-intensity exercises taught in interval style with 30 seconds of work and 15 seconds of recovery.
- Grounded Multipliers: This short 3-minute segment features three 2-move combos taught progressive style. That means one of the moves is taught with static repetitions and the other move is taught with ascending repetitions.
- Grounded Strength: Muscle conditioning in the water is best taught grounded because removing momentum increases resistance and muscle focus. This 6-minute segment features a series of anchored strength exercises targeting several of the major muscle groups.
- Grounded Core: Core training can be performed in a vertical position in the pool. This 4-minute segment features anchored exercises that include spinal flexion, spinal rotation and lateral spinal flexion.
- Grounded Flexibility: The final segment in this water workout demonstrates grounded stretches performed both dynamically and statically.
I hope you take away a better understanding of how to limit impact in your shallow water workouts. Grounding moves can be utilized in shallow water exercise whenever you feel uncomfortable with bounding or jumping an exercise. Enjoying Poolfit? The summer season is going by fast. Please consider leaving a review in the App Store or Play Store. There are lots of people wondering if water exercise could help them, and your nice review could encourage them to give it a try.