Aqua jogging essentially uses the same muscles as used when running on land, but because your feet do not "land" on anything solid, you do not have any impact related injury issues. This can help a runner recover from that type of injury while still keeping their cardiovascular fitness and some muscle fitness intact during the recovery and retraining phases when coming back from an injury.
You can easily vary the intensity of your training. A slow, easy stride rate is low intensity training. Increase the stride rate and you increase the intensity.
If you have a waterproof mp3 player, like the Finis swimp3, you can enjoy your favorite inspirational and motivational music while aqua jogging (yes, you could also listen to music while water running if you put a music player of some kind near the pool and turned up the volume, but please be careful, don't get an electrical shock).
One key to aqua jogging is the right gear. You will need:
- Something to wear (like a swimsuit)
- A towel
- A water running belt (like an Aqua Jogger). These are often available for use at your local swimming pool, but you may need to ask.
- A water bottle (put the bottle on the side of the pool and keep hydrated. Even though you are in water, you will still sweat and still need to drink).
- Optional gear: Sunscreen, hat, sunglasses, and a shirt or rash guard.
What is good aqua jogging form?
Good water running form is similar to good land running form. Stand tall with straight posture, head out of the water, hips directly under a vertically oriented spine. The top of your head should be pointing toward the sky or ceiling and your back should be relatively straight down to your hips. A line drawn from the top of your head, through your neck and down your spine, should point straight up toward the sky/ceiling and straight down toward the bottom of the pool.Your running motion should include coordinated arm swings with each stride. Use a thought picture to help you use the same pattern of motion you use to run on land while you are water running. Some aqua joggers use a little more knee lift on each stride to help maintain balance in the water, some do not use it. You will probably move forward a little way with each stride, but don't try to swim/run, just use a running motion. Remember, use both your arms and your legs and everything in between; incorporate your entire body in the water running.
What kind of water running workout could you do?
An aqua jogging workout could be very similar, if not identical, to a running workout you would do on land. It may be similar to a swim workout, too. Warm-up, run the heart of the workout, and cool-down. A water running workout could include intervals or it could be along steady run, or it could include both. The only thing I can think of that would be hard to duplicate when aqua jogging would be running up and down hills. Here is a sample 40-minute water running workout:- 5-minutes easy jog; get used to the water, adjust the running belt, and hydrate
- 30-seconds fast stride rate / 30-seconds easy stride rate (repeat 3-5 times)
- 1-minute to hydrate, prepare for the main set
- 5-minutes fast to moderate stride rate
- 1-minute easy stride rate
- 4-minutes fast to moderate stride rate
- 1-minute easy stride rate
- 3-minutes fast to moderate stride rate
- 1-minute easy stride rate
- 2-minutes fast to moderate stride rate
- 1-minute easy stride rate
- 1-minutes fast to moderate stride rate
- 5-minute easy stride rate cool-down, and hydrate
Swim on!