water exercise

I've been taking a water exercise class for about a year now. We do calisthenics to improve strenght and mobility and then jog in place for aerobic exercise. These days the calisthenics are so easy I find myself looking for ways to increase the challenge, but I have made no improvement in the aerobics.

It's hard to get objective data, being in a pool and all, but I try to take my pulse and I have the impression that my heart rate doesn't increase much, if at all, when I jog in the water. My St Jude PM accelerates in response to vibration, and seems to increase my heart rate appropriately during normal exercise.

Is is possible that the water cushions the up and down movement enough that the PM doesn't sense it? If so, is there a way to fix the problem?

Or might something else be going on that I haven't considered? Your input will be much appreciated.

 

1 Comments

Water, Water, Everywhere...

by donr - 2016-07-22 07:06:21

....& every drop floats your butt.  (Ha! Betcha thought I was gonna say "Boat"!

You got it right about the cushioning part.  That's why they have you in water for the exercises.  Being a relatively more mature person, your lower back oes NOT need the pounding it would get were you still a callow yout (Straight out of "My Cousin Vinny") of 22! 

My Dear Wife of 57 yrs & I do water aerobics for "Old People" now at an age where I lift the manhole cover of life & peer at what  the ankles of 80 look like. 

I know the feeling you get.  My HR doesn't go up much at all when we jog in place, but when our fearless leader has us "Write the alphabet" w/ the foam dumbells oiut in front of our chest, it temporarily goes wild. At that point, I volunteer for waterboarding rather than "Write."  I don't know how deep the water is, but have you tried jogging in place in water about shoulder deep?  If you have, notice that you cannot bounce much at all - your bod wants to actually float if you are nornal body mass or greater.  Try it in water only up to your hips, you will feel the bounce more.

BTW:  Water aerobics are meant for creating & maintaining mobility & flexibility, not conditioning for the Olympics Marathon.  People OUR age tend to "Decondition" very rapidly from inactivity & the water program helps keep us moving smoothly.

Donr

 

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