Aqua Fitness - how good of a workout?
 

I've recently started doing aqua fitness and was wondering how good of a workout it really is. It's great for me now since I'm 100 pounds overweight and I enjoy it a lot. But I've been to these classes before and noticed that it's mostly 65+, overweight people and people recovering from medical issues who take these classes. There's never anyone superfit like the people I see in the gym upstairs. Is there a reason?

You can have as much of a workout as you want to put into it. I talked with a zumba aqua fitness instructor and she said that SHE can get a good workout if she moves hard and fast. It's resistance training using water basically, and you can make it aerobic too. I think people just tend to think it's easy because it CAN be made easy, but it can be a really good workout. The older folk might look at you weird as you make big moves and splash around more, but go in deeper water (for more resistance for your arms and go at it! People just "think" it's only for old people and recovery - well, they are wrong.

Good question- personally aqua related exercise is supposed to be low impact but still effective especially even if you just "run" in place while submerged 1/2-3/4 of the way. If I had a pool, I'd be hitting it everyday all day!!

I don't know what you mean by superfit people but they could have different goals like building muscle or they probably don't realize that aqua fitness is just as effective as cardio.

Thanks for the feedback. The class that I go to is mainly cardio with some specific resistance work done at the end. I just find it fun and do it in addition to my main workout which is Power 90.

Amandie - what I meant was just that I see people who are in great shape in the gym and was wondering if aqua fitness is such a great workout, why aren't they doing it? I guess I was thinking perhaps it's a beginner's workout and once you get more fit you move on to other things. Our gym is upstairs with a glass wall that looks down over the pool so I've watched these classes for a while before I joined and I just noticed what the typical person looked like. But hey, I'm with them, so all is good!

the Aqua classes I go to are also mostly elderly people or people with joint problems, but the woman that teaches is fantastic.
It can be excellent if it there is constant & varying movement, and the water makes it very low impact so you can really move and keep up. I am very overweight, & have no trouble keeping up with the class. And for me a good guideline to a great workout is when I try to get myself OUT of the water - it will be difficult!
I talked my son into doing the class with me, he's 18, a team swimmer so, he's in excellent shape. He kept up quite well, and admitted it was a good workout, although he did have problems figuring out the routines. I think most people avoid it simply because it is a class specifically for people with joint problems, etc. To them, it just spells "easy". They haven't tried it. It's much like the football players telling the dance girls that their workout isn't a real workout. JMO.