Cardiovascular Endurance With an Endless Pools Underwater Treadmill
Whether walking or running, an Endless Pools underwater treadmill gives you a powerful cardiovascular workout with minimal joint stress. Plus, the resistance of the water increases your intensity so you can burn more calories.
Studies show that anti-gravity gait training in a warm water environment creates proper biomechanics for land movement that carry over to the rest of the body. This can reduce fall risk for older adults.
Cardiovascular Endurance
Cardiovascular endurance is the ability of your swimming treadmill body to take in oxygen and expel carbon dioxide for extended periods during whole-body physical activities. It is a key component of physical fitness and helps reduce your risk for certain diseases, including heart disease and stroke.
This is why you want to work on your cardiovascular endurance when using a swimming treadmill. The increased resistance of the water challenges your muscles and burns more calories than running or walking on land. Plus, it’s easier on your joints.
Many people believe that you need to be a marathon runner or CrossFit athlete to build cardiovascular endurance, but that’s not true. In fact, everyone can benefit from cardiovascular endurance training. The best part is that you can start slow and build up to 30 minutes of exercise three to five days a week. That’s enough to see measurable improvement in your cardiovascular endurance within eight weeks.
Another way to improve your cardiovascular endurance is to use high-intensity interval training (HIIT). HIIT workouts involve short bursts of intense activity followed by brief periods of rest. Studies show that HIIT is more effective at improving your cardiovascular endurance than steady-state exercises. It is also more time efficient than longer, less intense workouts. This type of training can be done on a treadmill, bicycle or in the pool.
Flexibility
Incorporating a swimming treadmill into your exercise regimen allows you to build muscle memory without the impact. This is great news for people who have been sidelined from traditional exercises due to injury or a health condition like arthritis. This means you’ll be able to start moving your body again sooner, and may even find that you enjoy exercising for the first time in a long while!
The natural hydrostatic pressure of the water helps to ease joint pain, reduce swelling and improve strength and flexibility. This helps patients with chronic conditions like osteoarthritis to engage in a range of motion that is much greater than what would be possible on a regular land-based treadmill. In addition to easing pain and improving movement, the aquatic treadmill also supports gait training for individuals that are at risk of falls.
Studies show that walking on a pool treadmill can help to reduce blood pressure, and increase leg strength, balance and endurance. For over 67 million Americans with high blood pressure, this is a significant benefit that could potentially save lives. When combined with the cardiovascular and strengthening exercises a physical therapist can prescribe, the benefits of an underwater treadmill are numerous.
Strength
A swimming treadmill gives you the flexibility to work out at your own pace. You can walk, jog and run with ease, or you can increase the water resistance for an invigorating workout that challenges all major muscle groups.
You can also use the underwater treadmill to do a wide range of other exercises that improve strength, including lunges, squats and leg lifts. The unique resistance of the water makes these exercises more effective, while also being less stressful on joints.
The underwater treadmill is an ideal exercise for swimming treadmill people with joint and muscle pain, such as arthritis. The natural hydrostatic pressure of the water reduces painful swelling, relaxes joints and muscles, improves strength and boosts flexibility. In addition, the underwater treadmill provides a safe environment for gait training, such as when you are recovering from orthopedic surgery or managing a neurologic condition. This is particularly beneficial for elderly patients who have trouble walking on a hard surface.
Recovery
Taking time to recover is one of the most important parts of a training regimen. If you don’t give your body time to rest, you force it to struggle against lactic acid and muscle damage, resulting in tiredness and decreased performance.
During active recovery sessions in the pool, the hydrostatic pressure of water increases circulation and decreases swelling by unloading the weight of your bones and joints. The movement of the water also helps speed up the removal of lactic acid from the muscles and joints.
Passive recovery, on the other hand, involves resting with no movement. This is the most common form of recovery in swimming and is recommended following a hard training session or competition. Depending on the level of intensity, swimmers may opt to increase or decrease the passive rest intervals.
If you are struggling with pain, a sports injury or have arthritis, consider aquatic exercise on a swimming treadmill. It provides low-impact running and walking options that benefit the cardiovascular system without adding stress on the knees, hips and back.
If you are new to exercising, a pool recovery workout can help ease into the routine and is perfect for those recovering from injury or surgery. Ensure the water is at waist deep so you can move easily and avoid over-straining your muscles.