By: Mark Grevelding, Fitmotivation Founder
WECOACH founder, Laurie Denomme and I have been friends and professional colleagues for more than 15 years. During these 15 years, we have both been dedicated to one mission: getting more people in the water and showing them a better way to exercise.
Over the years, Laurie and I have developed our own expertise and preferences in regards to aquatic exercise. Laurie has become well known for mind & body and flexibility programming, as well as a more functional approach toward water exercise. And I suppose I have become well known for choreography, dual depth programming and more recently my personal preference for exercising in the water with high-intensity interval training (HIIT).
Fitmotivation is proud to share a professional alliance with WECOACH. Together we bring a wide variety of exercise and programming options to both health seekers and fitness professionals, with Laurie more on the zen end of the spectrum, and myself more on the zing side.
However, I can assure you that I would not be personally exercising with zing if not for the water. A childhood spent as a gymnast and a runner and then 30 years of weightlifting (initially incorrectly) and 20 years of teaching group fitness have taken a toll on my body. Let’s just say I have achy breaky body parts. Running or doing any high intensity or high impact exercise on land is simply out of the question.
Does that mean I had to give up the thrill and the endorphin buzz obtained from running or exercising at high intensity? Heck no! The pool is where I unload my athlete now. In the water, I can do sprints, I can jump, I can push my muscles to fatigue, and I can take it to the extreme, capturing that elusive rush that comes from vigorous exercise.
Exercising in the Water
Exercising in the water allows for extreme exercise with little or no impact on aging joints and body parts. This is huge! Like it or not, we all get older. The wear and tear of the aging body need not prevent exercise. Your body does not have an expiration date. Get in the water, and you can exercise your way to the Pearly Gates. Recently, I discovered one of my students was 94. This lovely lady rocks my choreography, twirling her arms in the air when we do 360 turns and then pushes herself to the max during the HIIT drills. I now have a new respect for 94.
Ask any aquatic fitness instructor across the globe, and you will hear countless stories of octogenarians and nonagenarians exercising in the water like champs. One of the things I have enjoyed the most about teaching aquatic fitness over the past 20 years is witnessing previously non-athletic adults discover their inner athlete in the pool. It doesn’t matter if you hated gym class or if you never exercised in the first 50 or 60 years of your life. The water is a liquid gym that allows people to channel their athletic side, even if they never knew it existed.
Why Water?
Recently, I filmed a video called “Why Water: 10 Reason To Exercise In The Water.” This video has been exclusive to Fitmotivation Video Subscribers. Anyone can now watch the full 16-minute video:
Please share this video with someone who could use some exercise motivation or encouragement. If you would like the handout that comes with the video, you can download that off the Fitmotivation blog.
The Baby Boomers are aging, and more and more people will soon be struggling with their own achy body parts. Don’t let that stop you from exercising and staying active; Get in the water. Technological advances have made it possible to exercise to self-guided pool workouts, and I am proud to say that Fitmotivation and WECOACH are leading the way in these workouts.
Water Exercise Products
Fitmotivation just released two new audio pool workouts featuring Tabata training – one deep and one shallow. These are high-intensity 45-minute workouts that are low impact and include a warm-up and stretch. Anyone can buy the audio workout CDs online in the Fitmotivaton store. Fitmotivation Video Subscribers can download the audio workouts, and watch the videos. The audios CDs are normally $18.00 each, but right now they are on sale – both Tabata workouts for $20.00.
WECOACH Workouts is a full water workouts membership offering the best in water and land workouts, right from your own home.
Stay tuned to future collaborations between Fitmotivation and WECOACH, exploring ways to bring the Zing and the Zen together and get more people in the water!
Written by Mark Grevelding
Written by Mark Grevelding is a trainer specialist and consultant for AEA. He is an international presenter and a continuing education provider for AEA, AFAA & ACE. Mark is the founder of Fitmotivation, an educational website that provides streaming (full-length) videos, audio workouts, AEA CEC quizzes and other resources for aquatic fitness professionals.
