Pool workouts for injured runners

[woodgnome]

I admittedly hate swimming but I found out yesterday after an MRI, that I have a grade 2 stress reaction & will be in a boot for 4 weeks with the only options for exercise being swimming and upper body strength.

Beyond swimming laps, what else can I do in the pool? I'm going to order an aqua jogging belt and try that out. I noticed that my gym offers an Aqua HIIT class- has anyone tried anything like that? I'm imagining a senior class that won't be challenging but I truly have no idea. Has anyone been able to go use an underwater treadmill at a local PT clinic?

[jane6672]

Apr 13, 2018 10:34:26 GMT -5 woodgnome said:

I noticed that my gym offers an Aqua HIIT class- has anyone tried anything like that? I'm imagining a senior class that won't be challenging but I truly have no idea. 

Give it a try! My gym offers a few different water classes: water aerobics, water jogging, and water bootcamp (HIIT). I haven't tried the water jogging yet (I want to, because obviously it's good cross training and I have some knee issues).  

I do the HIIT class on occasion, and while the demographic does skew towards older women, it is a good workout! Fast paced, not boring. 

I've done water jogging on my own, and it's pretty dull, so I try to break it up with something like: slow lap, fast lap, slow lap, fast lap, swim 2 laps, repeat.

[mrshandy]

I'm sorry about your injury. I tried out pool running when I broke my ankle 2.5 years ago.

I found this website really helpful.

strengthrunning.com/2011/06/pool-running-why-you%E2%80%99re-doing-it-wrong-and-how-to-pool-run-to-get-faster/

One thing that made it tolerable was listening to audio books and podcasts. They make water proof bluetooth earphones. You could have your phone on the side of the pool. When I did it I used to stick my ipod nano in a swim cap. I was in constant fear of it falling out and breaking.

[starburst604]

I had to water jog last winter while marathon training, it was so tedious but listening to music helped. Definitely get waterproof Bluetooth headphones. I’d definitely try out a water HIIT class though, that sounds potentially interesting!

[vcubergirl]

I love water aerobics, and I have found that the class depends a lot on the instructor. But like most group fitness classes, there are always options to modify things and a good instructor should be able to give you plenty of options!

[mrs.jacinthe]

I've been in a variety of "shape" over the years and back when I was running 10ks (and swimming too), I did an aqua zumba class that kicked my ASS. It was *hard*, yo. In every aqua fitness class, unless you're going to one advertised (edit: SPECIFICALLY) for seniors, you'll get out of it what you put into it. The deeper into the pool you go, the harder it will be, too, if you have that option. Take a deep-water class (they have belts for support if you need it) and you'll get best of all worlds. But I would not recommend the more active/high-intensity aqua classes in the shallow end unless you clear it with your doctor first - there's a lot of jumping and twisting, and I imagine that it could be stressful on your already-stressed foot.