The Ultimate Strength and Rehab Program
In Point Cook we see a lot of runners who want to return to running after an injury. Running in a pool can be a great transition.
Whether your goal is to increase your speed, maintain your fitness, loose weight or just add some variety to your current training regime pool running could be for you. In this blog we will run through how to get started with pool running and who could benefit from pool running.
Technique
Pool running may sound simple, but getting form right is vital! The effect of the water is going to make keeping your back straight hard and keeping grounded rather than floating even harder!
Water must be between waist and chest height for pool running and the water must be the right temperature one of the big benefits of pool running is the benefit of cooling the body, allowing it to generate heat through activity and burn calories! Back must be kept straight, aids for this do exist such as the “aquajogger” however this will tend to remove some benefits of pool running.
Cadence must be kept high through all speeds of pool training. Cadence is your steps per minute keeping this at or above 180 per minute will help keep your pool running form somewhat similar to land running and prevent excessive extension at your hip joints.
Benefits
The Benefits of pool running include:
1). Strengthening your hip flexors; Recent research has shown direct relationships between hip flexor strength and sprinting speed and long distance speed.
2). Decrease in core temperature allowing/ forcing your body to burn more calories to keep you warm.
3). Rehab of particularly lower limb injuries; around 90% of people training for a marathon or higher distance self report injuring themselves. During this almost inevitable phase it may be advisable to start pool running to significantly decrease strain on your hips/ knees/ feet while keeping or even increasing your fitness levels.
4). Variety, Some people say training for a marathon can be boring. This can be a great addition for a hot day that keeps your motivation levels high.
To see if Pool Running could be helpful to yourself, book an appointment online in the contact section to book in with one of our friendly Podiatrists
