
Water Aerobics For Those With Diabetes: Benefits and Tips
Water buoys us up, helps us move, and simultaneously provides the resistance necessary to tone muscle and get our heart pumping.
This is why participating in water aerobics is beneficial for almost everyone, including people with type 1 or 2 diabetes.
Water aerobics are the performance of cardio-boosting exercises in water, typically a swimming pool. The workout is usually done while standing in waist or chest deep water, and may involve the use of aquatic equipment such as kickboards, and water woggles (foam cylinders).
Aerobic water workouts can be adjusted to suit people’s fitness status, and any physical limitations. Participants can control their level of exertion by altering the speed and size of their movements. It’s a great way for those who are out of shape, overweight, or have mobility issues to start, or maintain an exercise program.
Water Aerobics and Diabetes
Water aerobics are particularly helpful for many people with diabetes because:
Water aerobics is a non-weight bearing activity. Most exercises are done in chest deep water where the body is about 80 percent buoyant, so people are supported by water, not their extremities. This makes working out more comfortable for those with neuropathy or other physical pain; plus, buoyancy can aid with balance.
When we are surrounded by water every movement in every direction is met with resistance that increases calories burned, facilitating weight loss.
The massage-like pressure that water exerts against the body, called hydrostatic pressure, helps the heart pump more efficiently, and is beneficial for those with p
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