Resistance

The resistance in the water is around 800 times greater than outside the water. This inhibits movement and effectively trains strength and fitness. Equipment such as aqua discs, gloves with webbed fingers or dumbbells can be used to further increase muscle work. Jerky movements and impacts are largely impossible. Tendons and ligaments can also hardly be overloaded in the water. The resistance is also said to have a massaging, circulation-promoting effect.

Print

The water pressure acts evenly on the body from all sides and increases with increasing depth. This improves the return flow of blood towards the heart. The resting heart rate is reduced by around ten to twenty beats per minute in the water. At the same time, the chest is compressed by about one to three and a half centimeters, which makes it more difficult to inhale and strengthens the respiratory muscles. The water pressure therefore trains your breathing and circulation and activates the lymphatic system. Katja Schönherr

Buoyancy

Water buoyancy reduces a person’s body weight to a tenth of what it is on land. A person weighing eighty kilograms is therefore only eight kilograms light in the water. This is accompanied by a feeling of weightlessness. The musculoskeletal system is relieved, the muscles are loosened and relaxed, and the joints and spine are protected. There is also less risk of injury in the water. Movement sequences can be practiced in slow motion.

Katja Schönherr / NZZ am Sonntag