Water Exercises - Basic & Advanced Water Walking

Susan Foster: Hi! I am Susan Foster, Founder of New Attitude Exercise in Nashville, Tennessee. Today, we're going to show you how to do basic water walking, the best place to start your water workout.

First thing, have on shoes, great for traction and great for support. You're going to work in waist deep water to start. Now before you even take your first step, think alignment. Hips are under the shoulders, head back, neck long, chin level, good.

Now just work in chest deep water and walk with a even easy stride. When you get to the side of your pool, pivot 180 and travel back. Now remember, water is 12 times more resistant than air. So every step you take, you're going to be doing a lot more good for your body.

If for some reason this is too wobbly, go a little more shallow. As you start feeling stronger, you can work up from waist deep to chest deep. Now here is one thing you want to avoid doing, picking the water, okay. Your lungs collapse, you can't breathe. So take shoulders down and back, smile and breathe. That was really good. Start, waist deep and as you get stronger in your workout, move up to chest deep. In fact, you can play forward and back, walk to chest deep. Reverse, walk to waist deep. Avoid the wobbles and really ground your feet as you work through it.

Next let's look at a really great intermediate move that tones the inner and outer thighs. This move is effectively known as a crab crawl. Drop down low, shoulders down and back. You're going to reach from the hip area. Reach side with the leg, bring the other leg in. Side, pull the other leg in and travel, good. Shoulders down and back and start working the arms.

Remember you're working in the water and you've got a lot more oomph for each step. Are you ready for an advanced water walking move. This will work your core and your legs. We're going to go in reverse.

So check the pass behind you, bring everything in the front of the body up and into the back of the body. Now take a moderate reach back with the leg. Reach back with the other leg and you're walking in reverse.

Now this is how you're going to travel forward, like a march, knee up to the shoulder, high and strong and then reverse walk. Reach with the leg, again keeping the core in, keeping the chest back. High knee, now watch as you get more confident you advance water walkers you can take the tempo on this strong up, roll down from the ball of the heel of the foot and then check your rear view mirror and travel back.

Great! Now that you're water walking professional, let's move on to working obliques in chest deep water.