Many people who attend water fitness classes do so because they want to limit joint impact. However, it is important for them to know that there is still impact in shallow water exercise. Ground Forces is a 55-minute aquatic fitness instructor video that demonstrates how to eliminate impact with grounded movement. Keeping one foot grounded on the pool floor, Mark 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 classes because participants are still bearing 25-35% of their body weight when exercising in chest depth water. Shallow water exercise often include bounding moves, which requires weight transfer, as well as base moves that involve jumping, such as jacks and skis. Many class members participate in water fitness because they have joint impact issues. Bounding and jumping exercises in chest-to-waist depth water can cause discomfort, pain and possibly injury to participants who have joint impact 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 video.
GROUNDED MOVEMENT
Aquatic 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 a class participant is exercising at waist depth, they are still bearing 50% of their body weight. Bounding and jumping would not be recommended at this depth. If you instruct classes in shallower water, take note of the grounded techniques in this video and implement them in your classes.
- Deck Instruction. Water fitness instructors who lead their classes from deck will especially benefit from adding more grounded movement into their classes. Teaching grounded movement from deck is easier because you don’t have to demonstrate bounded, jumping or suspend exercises. In essence, your deck demo is exactly what the participant would be doing in the water.
AQUATIC FITNESS CLASS-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. It was intended as an educational video in which instructors could take away ideas, but it can also be offered as a full class. Below is the structure of the Ground Forces video.
- 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 lessen impact in your shallow water classes. Grounded options can be offered to your class members any time they feel uncomfortable with bounding or jumping an exercise.