Tried Pool Workouts?

Pool workouts are often associated with seniors or people recovering from injuries, but they can also be a form of high intensity interval training (HIIT) that is different and lower impact than what you experience on land. For example, it’s easier to balance on one foot without falling or do explosive jumps in which your knees come all the way up to your chest in a pool.

In addition, “it’s 360 degrees of resistance in every direction,” said Laurie Denomme, a fitness instructor from Bradenton, Fla., who has been teaching aquatic exercise for 30 years. “Whether you move up, down, left, right, circling, you are always working against resistance.”

Aquatic exercise is particularly beneficial for those who can’t do high-impact activities on land. In the water, even people with reconstructed knees can run in place and perform jumping jacks.  “You don’t deal with the same type of ground reaction forces that you do on land,” said Elizabeth Nagle, an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh who has spent her career studying aquatic exercise. “So it’s much gentler on the joints.”