Coach’s Corner. Real coaching moments to help you move better.
What would you do if your phone rang in the middle of a water workout?
John had an answer for every level of effort. If he could keep moving and chat easily, he knew he was working at an easy intensity. At moderate intensity, the caller would hear him breathing harder. Working hard meant he could only say, “I’ll call you back later.”
And if he couldn’t talk at all? That was maximum effort.
John shared this during our recent Strength Built in Water Challenge inside Wavemakers, where I kept asking everyone one important question:
How do you know how hard you’re working?
It sounds simple, but it’s not. And if you want your water workouts to improve your strength, mobility, and fitness, it’s something worth learning.
The same exercise can give you a completely different workout
Think about a jumping jack. You can move fast and barely challenge your muscles. Or you can slow down, push against more water, and feel your muscles working much harder.
You can do the exact same jumping jack as the person next to you and have a completely different experience.
Following the exercise isn’t enough. You also have to learn how to use it for the results you want.
Karen discovered this during the challenge, too. She noticed that strength training required more “intentionality” than the cardio workouts she was used to. When she focused on her arm circles and kept her effort up, she could feel her muscles fatigue. When her attention wandered, so did her effort.
I love that word—intentionality—because it changes how you approach exercise.
Instead of simply getting through the movements, you start paying attention to what they’re doing for you.
Want to move more freely? Explore your range of motion.
For a cardio challenge, find a pace that makes you breathe harder.
To build strength, create more resistance and work hard enough that you need time to recover.
The exercise hasn’t changed. But the way you use it—and what you get from it—can.
Try the phone-call test in your next water workout
Choose one exercise you already know, like a jumping jack. Start with a range that works well for your body. Then use John’s phone-call test to notice your level of effort.
Could you carry on a conversation? Answer in a few words? Or would you have to call back later?
Now change one thing. Your speed, your range, or how much water you push.
What feels different?
The more you practice recognizing and adjusting your effort, the better you become at making any workout work for you.
And you don’t need an endless supply of new exercises to keep progressing.
You need to learn how to get more from the ones you’re already doing.
That’s the difference I want you to experience in Wavemakers Classics. You’ll enjoy classic water aerobics moves like jogs, skis, and jumping jacks, but I’ll coach you to do much more than follow along. You’ll learn how to find your range, adjust your effort, and use the resistance of the water to build strength, cardio fitness, and mobility that carries into everyday life.
By the end of our challenge, John proudly told me, “Yes, I can build strength in the water!”
He’d learned what working hard enough to actually “need the rest” felt like.
And it started with something as simple as recognizing when he’d have to say, “I’ll call you back later.”
That’s what I want you to discover, too. Not just how to do more exercises, but how to make the ones you do work better for you.
Discover a different way to exercise with Wavemakers Classics.