If you’ve got access to a pool, you’ve got more than just a fun activity. Pools are excellent home-gyms, too. Don’t worry, we know that swimming laps is boring. While swimming is great for cardio and low impact workouts, you can also add exercises and equipment to your pool workout to build muscle through resistance training.
Just keep these notes in mind, though: you can find yourself sweating more than you know while exercising in a pool, but you can’t tell since you are already wet, so make sure to keep drinking water. And for the sake of skincare, always use sunscreen.
Pool workouts can be a lot of fun and a great way to spice up your exercise routine. Here are some great pool exercises to try out:
Walk in Water
The first exercise is as simple as it sounds: walking in water. The water adds resistance, so it’s actually the equivalent of using weights while walking. You’ll want to keep in the shallow end, though, no need to try to walk underwater perform miracles by walking on water.
Another significant aspect of this exercise is that you don’t need any extra gear; just do walking laps around your pool. You can add leg weights or arm weights if you want to make it more difficult. If it sounds too easy, try power walking through water for 30 minutes. We guarantee you’ll feel the burn even in water.
Work the Arms
You might not have known this, but now you will: foam dumbbells are a thing. Foam dumbbells are light when dry, but absorb water like a sponge when you soak them in the pool and become heavy.
You can do dumbbell curls for your biceps using water-logged dumbbells. Or work the triceps by doing tricep overhead dumbbell exercises. Shoulder presses, hammer curls, you can do anything you can do with normal dumbbells with these aquatic-friendly foam dumbbells and get a fresh summer tan while you’re at it.
Work the Legs
No skipping leg day, even in the pool. You can buy leg weights for use in the pool. Don’t bring your regular leg weights into the pool, though, or you’ll be replacing them sooner than you’d want.
Have you ever seen Olympic swimmers and how they start their race? Gliding is a fun aerobic exercise targeting the legs. Start in the pool about waist-high in water. Push off and pretend you are racing. Instead of swimming, float on your back as far as you can, stop, stand, and then sprint back to the starting point.
There’s no diving here — just work the legs by pushing off, gliding, turning around, running back, and repeating. It’s like a supercharged squat, plus you get to pretend you’re an Olympic swimmer for a workout.
