Water is Good for You

Spending time in the pool is an excellent way one can improve their overall fitness. It is a wonderful way to improve the health of your spine. Taking gravity “out of the equation” and becoming weightless releases the tension on the spinal disks and allows lengthening to naturally occur. It promotes a kind of suppleness to the joints, freeing them, in order to reduce tension on your system.

Supplementing land-based activities with aquatic activities that offer aerobic conditioning helps with arthritis like joint pain and keeps movement going. People who do water-based therapy can often prolong their exercise ability, especially for those who have back and neck issues. Moderate intensity physical activity / exercise (kind that makes you a bit winded when trying to hold a conversation, but still allows you to speak) is easier to perform on water than on land.

I am convinced that human beings were meant to spend time in the water as is evidenced by the fluid-filled amniotic sac that surrounds you as you develop in your mother’s womb. Somehow, people seem to lose the affinity towards being in the water as we age. One can reap tremendous benefits of just spending time in chest deep water 15-30 min per day. A meta-analysis of different peer-reviewed studies show the musculoskeletal system can improve from aquatic exercise. No special equipment needed, I just recommend one never go it alone in the pool or at the beach. Always swim with a buddy and in open-water use only guarded beaches/lakes for recreational swims.