Strain less, burn more

As the world gears up to celebrate the International Yoga Day, there are many who are taking up aqua yoga which is as effective as the traditional yoga but is less strenuous on your muscles and joints. For those who want a refreshing change from on-ground and high-intensity workout, aqua yoga comes as a viable option as it allows to do regular yoga asanas in a playful manner inside water. And since you are working against the resistance of water, you end up burning eight times more calories than the normal floor exercise.

However, the concept of aqua yoga is not new. The idea of water exercises dates back to thousands of years when water was used as another form of healing technique.
Metrolife spoke to some experts who share different aspects of aqua yoga.

What makes aqua yoga effective?
Neeraj Mehta, fitness expert and director of GFFI Fitness Academy (INDIA), sheds light on the science behind aqua yoga. He informs, “The buoyancy of water holds more than 85 per cent of our body weight and this is the reason why we don’t feel any strain in our joints and muscles. Water itself behaves as a liquid weight machine, so you are actually getting a chance to hit your muscles with more intensity by doing a simple yoga stretch.”
“Also, water helps you to stretch more and stretch gently, through which different muscles come in play, unlike in traditional yoga,” adds fitness expert Kiran Sawhney.  

Who all can do it?
“Simply anyone who likes water can do it. Someone who has injuries, or is in physical rehab can also do aqua yoga. Water workouts are a terrific cross-training activity for runners, cyclists, and aerobics practitioners. They are great for pregnant women, aged people and people with multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis, or other degenerative diseases. Moving through the water is much easier on your body. Even non-swimmers can
opt for it,” says Sawhney.

What points should be kept in mind?
Vishesh Geol, co-founder of FitMeIn, points out, “These workouts are done in a waist high or maybe shoulder high water. This workout should never be performed under the influence of alcohol or any drug of sedative nature.

Moreover, people suffering from hypertension, respiratory problems and other medical conditions affecting spine, pregnancy, endurance or balance should refrain from doing this workout.”

Other benefits:
n Improved respiratory system: Water puts pressure on the chest and the body while doing aqua yoga. This pressure makes the respiratory system strong and you can breathe easily.

Functional recovery: Aqua yoga has been embraced as an effective medium of functional rehabilitation by many therapists. Water buoyancy takes the credit here as gravity does not affect the body weight inside water. Aqua yoga helps in healing of joints.

 Active lifestyle: People who do aqua yoga experience an improvement in activeness in body. A research conducted by University of Nevada shows that after a 12-week routine training of aqua exercises, aged women have shown a lot of improvement in their routine activities such as stair climbing, agility, walking, sitting and standing.

Abdominal workout:
Your core muscles are always working while exercising inside water. Whatever movement you do, abdominal muscles will coordinate together to maintain balance and proper alignment. This happens because water current constantly works against the body and it
becomes essential for your muscles to maintain balance during any movement.

Body balance: You can achieve a better body balance and posture through aqua yoga. Body’s constant struggle with water resistance and buoyancy to maintain balance, stimulates the postural muscles.