The preview video above is for DEEP, which was posted in the Premium plan on 9/21/16
Everyone knows that deep water exercise provides excellent opportunities for training the core. The DEEP workout, created by AEA’s Director of Education, Julie See, takes it one step further by enhancing basic moves with a creative flair to blend together cardio with core to increase the focus on postural awareness and muscle activation. The goal in this workout is to enhance posture through specific program design concepts.
Julie gives much of the credit for the DEEP workout to AEA’s Executive Director, Angie Proctor. “I have had the privilege of working closely with Angie Proctor for many years, and I consider her to be the leader in creative and innovative deep-water programming,” says Julie. “Angie suggested that I expand my programming to include deep water, which is how the DEEP program began.” According to Julie, Angie shared many of the choreography ideas from her Doing It Deep II DVD, which were blended into the DEEP format.
D.E.E.P: DESIGNING EXERCISE TO ENHANCE POSTURE: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW?
Movement to enhance alignment & posture
In Julie’s handout for the workshop, DEEP, she outlines a plan for designing movement patterns that both assist and challenge alignment and posture. Body alignment is clearly the most important aspect of deep-water exercise and often the most difficult to achieve. If you teach deep water you have witnessed these difficulties first hand, including students who lean forward, tip back or arch their backs. According to the AEA Educational Program, Deep Water Techniques, this may result from the type of equipment, placement of the equipment, lack of cueing from the instructor/trainer, poor kinesthetic awareness, or inexperience in suspended training. Yes, new students are typically a kinesthetic nightmare in deep water, but instructors can set them up for eventual success with equipment assistance and proper cueing. The DEEP video showcases Julie’s mastery of form & alignment mentoring and will provide instructors with fresh cues for encouraging vertical alignment.
Creating a Core & Alignment Challenge
In any deep workout, the core muscles must be actively engaged to maintain, and/or return to, correct vertical alignment when suspended in the water. While the majority of movements in this video are symmetrical and vertically aligned, it is also beneficial to include challenges to vertical alignment. In the DEEP workout, there are options for both modified supine and prone positions as well as working in a diagonal orientation. This program also explores core challenges that feature asymmetrical movements and more complicated transitions appropriate for more advanced levels.
Advice from Julie for improving posture on deck
Julie See is well known for her impeccable posture and imposing deck presence. When asked what advice she has for instructors looking to improve their posture and presence on deck, here is how she responded.
Julie’s advice: Listen to your mom – stand tall and pull your shoulders back! Seriously, so much of my postural awareness came from my mom’s influence as a child, so now I try to pass on that same focus to others through exercise. As exercise professionals, we are the role model for the exercise participants, who mimic what we do. Make sure that you always lead with good posture and technique. If you really want to do a posture check, have a friend do a quick video, or even just photos, of you while teaching. Once you see firsthand what your demonstration looks like, your level of awareness will increase.
Julie’s favorite posture cues
Below are two of Julie’s favorite posture cues, one for shallow water and one for deep.
Shallow Water Posture Cue: For shallow water, a combination verbal & visual cue is to imagine a helium balloon attached to the top of your head that lifts the body up, lengthening the spine, and pulling the body into alignment. At the same time, I show an exaggeration of what I want participants to achieve.
Deep Water Posture Cue: It is often harder to achieve good posture in deep water since the body is suspended. A cue, one that I learned from Angie Proctor, is to remind participants to “Find the pool bottom”. This encourages them to fully extend at the hips and push the feet down, aligning head, shoulders, hips, knees and ankles.
LEARNING FROM A LEGEND
It is an absolute honor to share Julie’s video with Fitmotivation subscribers. I happen to consider her the best aquatic fitness instructor on the planet. Attending my first International Aquatic Fitness Conference (IAFC) in 2001 as a land instructor preparing my first aquatic fitness classes, I was inspired by Julie to take choreography, passion and kindness to the pool.
Additionally, I would like to give credit to Julie’s amazing student in the pool, AEA Training Specialist, Monique Acton. Monique is like the “terminator” of video students. We ALL want her in our videos because she NEVER. EVER. misses a beat.
Subscriber Reminder: If you are a Fitmotivation Basic Subscriber and wish to view Julie’s video in the Premium Plan, you may switch your account at any time by accessing your account settings. Your account will automatically be pro-rated on your next renewal payment for the amount of time you remain switched. Be sure to switch back to the Basic Plan 24 hours prior to your renewal date if you do not want to renew at $24.95.
If you are not a Fitmotivation Video Subscriber and would prefer to purchase the DEEP DVD, you may do so online in AEA’s AKWA SHOP. There are also other DVDs available by Julie and her AEA colleagues.
Fitmotivation would like to extend a big THANK YOU to Julie See and AEA for sharing the DEEP video with Fitmotivation subscribers.