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Liquid Training for the Chronologically Enriched
Lawrence Biscontini, MA
ECA 2005 Award Winner for Best Mind Body Program “Yo-Chi”©
Remember when we used to call certain individuals over a certain age (on which nobody can agree anyway) “seniors?” I find the term “chronologically enriched” much more descriptive, positive, and appropriate for training this population. Especially for addressing contemporary issues such as balance improvement, osteopenia, osteoporosis, arthritis, and even creeping obesity, the liquid environment proves extremely safe and versatile. Let’s look at a few of the ways to help increase the quality of life of this population. All exercises require water temperature between 86-96.
Turn of the century picture depicting all ages and populations taking the benefits of aquatic fitness! |
Balance Improvement:
The purpose of improving balance is to improve the daily function of gait, standing, sitting, and overall mobility. In improving balance, we help reduce the risk of falls, which the CDC tells us is one of the leading causes of death (http://www.cdc.gov/). Interestingly, the New York City mass transit authority also confirms that 74% of accidents occur from falls, trips, and slips occurring OFF of trains (http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/). Key exercises to improve balance include: standing on one leg and circling arms in front under the water surface in figure “8” style. To increase difficulty, close the eyes and increase the range of motion. To reduce intensity, stand on both legs. Another way to improve balance comes from Mary Sanders, a leading authority on aquatic fitness: have clients hold an inflated clear balloon and circle it under the water surface in all planes of movement. To increase difficulty, stand on one leg and increase the range of motion, and to decrease difficulty, stand in a wide squat stance. The clear balloon gives the participant the comfort of always being able to see his or her legs at all times, reducing fear that this population often has.
Osteopenia and Osteoporosis:
The purpose here is to increase bone density by adding safe amounts of impact to bones, while increasing overall coordination, motor skills, and muscular reaction time simultaneously. Two ideas here include standing hops from 2 legs to 2 legs. To increase difficulty, increase the distance between starting and endpoints, hop from 2 legs to 1 leg, 1 leg to 1 leg, and try to close the eyes while doing so.. Experiment having clients do this with hands inside of the water and held outside of the water overhead to notice differences in difficulty and landing balance.
Arthritis:
The purpose with aquatic training for the arthritic individual is to increase mobility around key joints, namely in this article the fingers/wrists and hip areas. To increase the mobility of the wrist and finger joints, have clients “play the piano” in the warm water, trying to move fingers independently, both at the surface of the water and just under the surface. Also have clients drag fingers along the surface of the water with force strong enough that encourages the relaxed fingers to open from both acceleration and surface tension. To increase hip mobility, have client stand on one leg (holding onto side of the pool or other object if necessary) and bend knee of non-supported leg so its femur is parallel to pool bottom., close to the surface of the pool. Move the leg to the side and back, simulating a yogic “tree” pose each time the knee points to the side. Client should focus on increasing the range of motion each time taking the leg towards the side of the pool.
Aquatic training provides great benefits for the chronologically enriched by offering specific exercises to help balance, arthritis, and osteoporosis. For further information on these and other aquatic training videos, please consult my website at http://www.findlawrence.com/ for the $10 special on all videos. For more research information on aquatic training, please consult http://www.aeawave.com/, including their worthwhile certification.
Lawrence Biscontini, M.A, received Instructor of the Year Awards from ACE (2003), IDEA (2004) and Can Fit Pro (Specialty, 2004). He works as Wellness Consultant for Golden Door Spas and is a master trainer for Reebok U, AFAA, Resistaball, Gliding, and Smart Bells, and created of Yo-Chi®. He is a regular presenter for ECA. Find his newest ventures at www.findlawrence.com!
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