Poolside Abs: Stay Cool During Your Summer Workout Home Fitness

Poolside Abs: Stay Cool During Your Summer Workout

Posted by Alexis Moysey 10 Jul, 2011

Why settle for sweating in the stuffy gym when you could be working out in a cool and refreshing pool Check out this collection of the best abdominal exercises for the pool. These exercises will leave you feeling confident and ready to strut your stuff poolside.

Safe, Easy, Effective

The pool can be more than just a fun place to relax and enjoy the sun; it can also be a great place to get in your abdominal workout. Not only is working out in the pool fun, it is also a safe alternative to many other types of abdominal workouts.

Since exercising in the pool offers a low-to-no-impact workout, this type of exercise program can be ideal for pregnant women and senior citizens. Here are several of the best abdominal exercises for the pool, all of which will leave you feeling confident and beautiful in your swimwear.

Warm-up

Before starting the actual abdominal exercises, it is important to warm up the muscles by swimming a few laps. By adding a cardiovascular dimension to the workout, fat is burned, making the abdominal muscles easier to tone. The best swim strokes for toning the abdominal muscles are the breast stroke, back stroke and butterfly stroke.

1 Walk on Water

The first exercise consists of simply walking within the pool. While walking on land might does offer abdominal benefits, the water adds resistance, making it an effective ab workout. Start by walking in the shallow end of the pool, pulling your knees up toward your chest with each step. Make sure that the back remains straight with each step. With each step, tighten your abs.

2 Frog Jumps

While still in the shallow end, practice pool jumps. Pool jumps consist of jumping with your knees coming to the surface of the water and then back to a normal standing position. In other words, this is a ‘frog jump’ in water. This exercise is great for working the upper abdominal muscles and should be done for two to three minutes in total, or about 35 to 40 jumps.

3 Propellers

Also a shallow-end exercise, propellers are done by scooping water one hand at a time. Start at the surface of the water with your palm facing down and scoop all the way down to your side. Propellers are designed to work out the oblique and lower abdominal muscles. This exercise should be done for two to three minutes while alternating hands.

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