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Know the exercises for pool workouts –Part 2

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In my previous blog, I explained how pool exercises are beneficial and what precautions should be taken before starting off on them. In the current blog, I am going to tell you about few aqua exercise that you can do.

Let’s get started with some amazing Pool exercises

  1. Aqua walking: You might start with water walking. In water about waist high, walk across the pool swinging your arms as you do when walking on land. Avoid walking on your tip toes, and keep your back straight. Tighten your abdominal muscles to avoid leaning too far forward or to the side.
  2. Aqua jogging: This is deep water running and mimics. You wear a buoyancy belt, which helps you maintain an upright position as you jog or you would also need to wear a flotation vest as a beginner. One of the easiest and most effective pool workouts is water jogging. At a high intensity, you’ll burn 17 calories per minute — more than on land. It also makes you stronger.
  1. Water spinning: Stationary bikes are placed in a pool and one has to combat the waters resistance and pedal to go faster which can pose a challenge. Water cycling gives your legs good massage as the water hits the fat deposits on the leg and thigh muscles. It’s a high-value workout where you may burn 750 calories in just 45 minutes.
  1. Spiderman— Climb the pool wall like Spiderman climbs buildings. How do you do this: Stand in the water on the side of the pool. Stabilize your upper body by sweeping your hands back and forth as you run your legs up the side of the pool and back down to the pool floor. Do four Spiderman exercises, alternating the leading leg each time you reach the end of one jogging circuit.
  2. Arm exercise using hand webs: Hand webs can help you strengthen your biceps and triceps in the water. Wearing hand webs, stand in waist-high water with your arms down, your palms facing forward and your elbows close to your body. Raise your forearms to the level of the water, keeping your elbows close to your body and your wrists straight. Then switch direction and push your hands down until your arms are straight again. Repeat 12 to 15 times or until you’re fatigued.
  1. Pool plank: Planks are a proven core-strengthener on land. But, if you don’t have a strong upper body it’s hard to hold it long enough to give abdominal muscles a good workout. All that changes in a pool. Hold the noodle in front of you. Lean forward in a plank position. The noodle will be submerged under the water, and your elbows should be straight down towards the pool floor. Your feet should still be on the pool floor. Hold as long as comfortable, 15-60 seconds depending on your core strength. Repeat 3-5 times.
  1. One-Legged Balance

This strengthens your leg and core muscles and helps in balance. Standing in waist-high water, lift your left knee up and place the middle of a noodle under your left foot. (Its sides will float up into a U-shape.) Keep your hands by your side and balance with your left foot on the noodle for one minute. Then move your left knee out to the side and balance for another minute. Switch legs and repeat with the right knee lifted and the right foot resting on the noodle. For an extra challenge, lift both arms up over your head as you balance.

8. Fly-Backs

In the water, as on land, fly-backs work the muscles in the upper chest, back and arms. They also improve posture. Start in a lunge position with your right knee bent and your left leg extended straight behind you in the pool. Reach your arms straight out in front of you at chest height — palms touching, fingers extended and thumbs up. Open your arms straight out to the sides in the water, then return them to the starting position to complete one rep.

  1. Forward and side lunges:  Stand near the pool wall for support, if necessary, take an oversized lunge step in a forward direction. Do not let the forward knee advance past the toes. Return to the starting position and repeat with the other leg. For a side lunge, face the pool wall and take an oversized step to the side. Toes should be kept facing forward. Repeat on the other side. Try 3 sets of 10 lunge steps. For variation, lunge walk in a forward or sideways direction instead of staying in place.
  2. Leg exercise using a noodle: To strengthen your leg muscles, tie a water noodle into a knot around your foot or water shoe. Stand with your back to the side of the pool in waist-high water, placing your arms on the edge of the pool for stability. Straighten your leg in front of you, and then flex your knee to about a 90-degree position. Return to the starting position and repeat 12 to 15 times or until you’re fatigued. Tie the water noodle into a knot around your other foot or water shoe and repeat with the other leg.
  1. Resistance exercise using a kickboard: Kickboards provide another type of resistance. Standing up straight with your legs comfortably apart, and tighten your abdominal muscles. Extend your right arm and hold the kickboard on each end. Keeping your left elbow close to your body, move the kickboard toward the centre of your body. Return to the starting position and repeat 12 to 15 times or until you’re fatigued. Then extend your left arm and repeat the exercise on the other side.
  1. Pool kickboxing: It is great for sculpting arms and torso. Lift one knee and kick the foot upwards which you punch forward with your other hand. Punch throughout the water resistance and kick without worrying about keeping your balance.
  1. Deepwater bicycle: In deeper water, loop 1-2 noodles around the back of your body and rest your arms on top of the noodle for support in the water. Move your legs as if you are riding a bicycle. Continue for 3-5 minutes.
  1. Push-ups: While standing in the pool by the poolside, place arms shoulder-width apart on pool edge. Press weight through your hands and raise your body up and halfway out of the water, keeping elbows slightly bent. Hold 3 seconds and slowly lower back into the pool. (Easier variation: Wall push up on side of pool: place hands on edge of pool shoulder width apart, bend elbows, and lean chest toward the pool wall.

15. Aqua Tai Chi: This water inspired version of tai chi. It involves series of deep breathing, relaxing movements that challenge balance using tai chi and Qigong (breathing techniques).Try the arms uplifting pose, moving arms from side to centre, and floating. The slow, fluid exercises reduce tension, stretch the spine and allow the chi (life force) to flow through the body. They reduce fibromyalgia and chronic pain.

Aquatic exercise can be fun at any age, size or fitness level — whether you practice it on your own or sign up for a class. Jump in. The water’s fine! Stay healthy and stay fit!

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Burn fat with pool workouts-Part 1

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Today, to counter their stress filled lifestyle, people are shifting their focus to health and fitness. There are many fitness methods that one can adopt such as running, cycling swimming, yoga, aerobics etc. Most of these are popular among people who are taking to fitness or are already into fitness. However, there is a new form of exercise- Aquatic exercise and Aqua aerobics that is getting popular.

Aqua aerobics or exercise arrived almost over two decades ago but, it has gained popularity in India only 5-6 years ago. Aqua aerobics uses the buoyancy of water coupled with your own body weight as a training tool to build endurance and get into shape.

Aquatic exercise is a low impact exercise that takes the pressure off your bones, joints and muscles. Water offers natural resistance which helps to strengthen the muscles. It provides almost 14% more resistance than air, which means your muscles get more toned in water and there is almost no impact on the bones, joints and muscles.

Why Aqua exercise?

You weigh only 10% of your body weight when you are in the water. When a person weighing 100kg or who has arthritis in joints or cannot do any exercise while on land due to the gravitational pull, as he enters the water, the load is lifted off the joints and he can do exercise without any pain.

For elderly who have difficulty in walking, sitting and moving, this is the best way to work out and stay fit. And, the best part is you can do these exercises even if you don’t know how to swim.

Aquatic exercise has amazing benefits: Here is a list

  • It improves muscle endurance and strength. Pool water provides resistance which strengthens the muscles and boosts cardio intensity and improves flexibility.
  • Water exercise is good for people with joint injuries or infections or who have had a recent surgery –great way to stay fit and shorten recovery time and heal faster.
  • A pool workout gives better balance, agility and endurance.
  • Pool workouts are great fat burners. You can burn much higher level of calories in a shorter time in the pool. You can burn about 400-500calories in one hour.
  • Working out in the pool doesn’t feel like an arduous task, you enjoy doing it and thus there are higher chances that you will stick to this routine. Since aquatic exercise is a low impact exercise there is no age bar for it. Water is therapeutic and removes the pain. Water has a healing effect and can distress the body and mind too!
  • Water resistance is not only for muscles, in fact, water pressure actually works with your blood as well and enables good blood circulation decreasing blood pressure and keeps the heart also in good condition.
  • Aqua aerobics can satisfy that need to feel cool in warmer temperatures while still enabling us to exercise.

Aqua exercises have a great bonding effect as it can be done together and there are positive benefits to be derived from these workouts.

Precautions for the Pool Workout:

Before starting any pool exercise program, always check with your physician to make sure pool exercises are right for you.

Here are some tips to get you started:

  • Water shoes will help to provide traction on the pool floor.
  • Water level can be waist or chest high. This way your feet will have good contact with the pool floor and your leg muscles will be able to support some of your weight.
  • Use a Styrofoam noodle or floatation belt/vest to keep you afloat in deeper water.
  • Slower movements in the water will provide less resistance than faster movements.
  • You can use webbed water gloves, Styrofoam weights, inflated balls, or kickboards for increased resistance.
  • Never push your body through pain during any exercise.

Although you will not notice that you sweat with pool exercises, it is still important to drink plenty of water. Drink water before and after your water workout to avoid dehydration

In my next blog..I will share the various pool workouts and procedure to do it. Stay tuned!

 

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The Heart Truth: ‘Let heart disease be a new beginning’

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Widely recognized as a pioneer of Cardiac rehabilitation in India, Dr Aashish Contractor is a valuable information resource for the layperson to understand the various dimensions of coronary complications, their prevention and resolution. He just does not believe in leading a sedentary lifestyle. He is a marathoner and was the medical director at Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon from 2004-14. In his book ‘The Heart Truth’, Dr Contractor has summed up his 18 years of medical experience to provide inputs and tips on how to take care of the heart. This is not a doctor prescribing from the pulpit but a heart expert sharing his knowledge as a friend would. The intention of the book is to spell things out with clarity. Anusha Subramanian met up with Dr Contractor to know all about ‘The Heart Truth’. Here are excerpts from the Interview.

  • What prompted you to write this book?

The Heart TruthHeart Disease is the leading cause of death among men and women worldwide and even in India. I have found that even among people who have suffered a heart disease, the lack of knowledge about the disease is astounding. With the amount of information we have today, I would expect people to be more aware but they aren’t. Funnily enough, there is lots of alternative information floating around and what’s app just amplifies it. Which is why I called the book- ‘The Heart Truth’ and decided let’s stick to facts and put it out. Secondly, I wanted to share a lot of real-life examples in order to show that after suffering a heart disease life does not end in fact in my opinion it begins. One starts a new chapter in life. My philosophy is one should get better than before and not just get back to where they were before. Through these real-life examples, many of whom have gone on to run marathons or climb mountains. One of them even had a turnaround just 200-300 meters from Mt Everest Summit only because of bad weather. Through the book, the idea was to showcase these real-life examples and inspire people to turn their lives and let heart disease be a new beginning.

  • What has led India to face this heart disease epidemic? We are already called the world Capital of Diabetes and we are not far from being called the World Capital of Heart Disease. Any particular reason why India’s are more prone to heart disease?

You are absolutely right, the trend of heart disease in India is rapidly on the increase. The statistics show that from 1990-2000 there has been a rapid upward curve for the disease and we are getting close to being called the world capital of heart disease and there are multifactorial reasons for this. According to me earlier many were dying of infectious diseases. I guess, the life expectancy during the early 50s and 60s was also less. Most were not living long enough to suffer from heart disease. As we are getting better and taking care of infectious diseases we are living longer. And with better diagnostic, we are understanding what the health issues are. Earlier, probably people were suffering heart diseases but one did not know or diagnosed and just died. Hence, we did not label it as dying of heart disease. There is a gross underestimation of the no. of heart disease deaths in the past. Now we are getting better in measuring this. Secondly, as we have got economically better off, our lifestyle has also changed. There is more processed food in our diet now than it was before, one is indulging in far less physical activity on a daily basis or there is no activity at all. Indian’s are genetically more prone to developing insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and higher triglycerides and more prone to developing belly fat and all of these conditions are a boiling pot which makes Indians more susceptible to heart disease.

  • When you say Indians are more susceptible to insulin resistance, higher triglycerides and other areas of diseases.. is it because of our diet?

One aspect could be a diet but, we should not isolate genes. Genetics or family risk for heart disease is a potent risk factor.  How much would they affect, it is difficult to say. Some people’s genes are so ‘bad’ they may get it no matter what but there is a difference. If they take all the care, they may get an attack at 60, that too, a mild one than getting a fatal attack at 45. So it is not that if your genes are bad, you are doomed, there are a lot of other things that you can do. We are genetically prone and Indians are affected a decade earlier than our western counterparts.

  • What according to you is the best way to detect Cardiac Ailment? As a layperson, if I do not want to go to a doctor but yet know if have a cardiac ailment?

There is no best way to detect. Once you become an adult you should keep a track of your BMI, height, weight, waist circumference on a regular basis. Once a year you should get a medical checkup done to know your basic lipid, cholesterol, BP and blood sugar levels. If the values are normal then it’s very good and you should get your tests done regularly once a year and if they are not then you must take the necessary action and make sure you go for follow-ups. If you feel any sort of discomfort, heaviness, breathlessness, chest pain, pain in the arms, in the right, in the left, back, jaw, exhaustion related kind of pain could be related to heart disease, exhaustion in your daily activity which you were doing easily at one point in time could be a symptom. These are warning signs and in most cases, these symptoms do occur before the full-blown attack it’s just that people ignore these symptoms.

  • Are Bypass and Angioplasty the only cure or are there alternative therapies?

Talking about heart disease or blockages, depending on where and what type of blockages these are. The kind of risk profile and symptoms the patient has, the medical management the patient has undergone, whether it is a bypass surgery or angioplasty? Bypass and Angioplasty are not the only cure. All the above questions have to be built on good lifestyle management. Whether you do A B or C you still need to maintain a good lifestyle. In addition to all of this, you may be fine just taking medicines or you might need a surgery or an angioplasty. Considering avoiding bypass and telling will manage through good lifestyle is not an alternative therapy. It’s a misnomer. True alternative therapies are external counterpulsation (ECP). ECP is meant for a specific subset of patients who have had stable angina after best medical management and stable angina still remains then ECP might work on them. This is generally done over 35 sittings, for an hour each. The goal of the therapy is to create collateral circulation by opening up small channels of blood. ECP is a good therapy for some patients with angina and for patients with heart failure. However, it’s not appropriate for every person with heart disease.

  • Can we reverse heart disease without surgery?

The term reversal of heart disease needs to be understood properly. We think that there is an artery with 90% block and you do something and it reduces to 60% but, it doesn’t work that way. The block doesn’t shrink to 60%, the only thing that is reduced is the chance of an event. So it is a physiological reversal but it is not an anatomical reversal. When you take care of all these factors, a reversal is possible. That is what we also do in our cardiac rehab program. He has ‘a method’, we have ‘a method’ but the principles are the same

  • There is a huge confusion on the fact that fit people are succumbing to a heart attack. Case in point is Dr Rakesh Sinha who was fit and a marathoner and he suddenly one day had a heart attack and died. And on the other hand, you have people who are completely unfit and doing all sorts of vices and yet survive longer a with no ailments

This is a concept of Risk Factors. Different factors go into your risk to develop heart disease. My classic example is driving a car; there are many factors that are in consideration when making a car accident-free. You cannot just say that my breaks were running fine and still I had an accident. That is exactly like saying I am fit and I still got a heart attack. It is good that one is fit but it is just one factor, being fit doesn’t give you immunity against other factors.

  • Two things that women need to know about Heart Disease.

One of the main thing that women need to know is that heart disease is one of the main cause of deaths among women, not breast cancer. Secondly, awareness is important as women often do not get diagnosed and this is a fact world over which is they get less care than men. The symptoms such as breathlessness in women are never considered to be a risk towards heart disease and hence not be considered for diagnosis. Sadly, women’s health is the most neglected.

  • Dr Contractor how do you keep yourself fit

I run, cycle and gym at least four to 5 days a week. It’s a mix and match of all the activities during the week.

  • How do you keep yourself away from getting stress?

Stress is part of normal life. I do believe that exercising regularly is a great stress buster for me. I would like to think that I take on a fairly positive attitude and this helps. It’s about how you deal with it. Some people really react to it negatively while some people deal with it calmly.

  • What are the three main things that people should keep in mind?

1st thing- you do not have to run a marathon or climb a mountain to be healthy. That you should do for achievements and not for health. First thing is to build a good baseline. Basic routine for few months then after that you can go for your huge goal of running a marathon or other extreme activities.

2nd Make a good plan and 3rd stick to that plan and gradually build on it. Believe me, there is nothing that you cannot do. Everybody can do everything.

  • Your Parting comments

Overall take care of yourself. Nobody needs to do anything dramatic. Consistency gets people results. As supposed to doing a dramatic program… push hard for 3-6 months and then after that, the motivation fades away. Remember, always stick to your plan. 42-43 weeks out of 52 weeks in a year helps.

Follow the ABCD principle-A- active, B- Blood pressure, C-Cholesterol and D-Good balanced diet, take care of Diabetes and do not smoke and get adequate sleep daily.

It’s not the end of the road. After suffering a heart ailment you can still come back and live a good life.

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Signs you need to know to support your metabolism

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When we hear the term “fast metabolism,” it’s usually regarding people — often younger than us —who seem to be able to eat whatever they want and as much of it as they can: They can indulge in sweets, fried food, simple carbs and more without gaining an ounce of fat.

But just because they don’t appear to gain weight, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re optimally healthy.

They may experience the same low energy, mood swings, brain fog, digestive upset and other effects of unhealthy dietary habits which over time can worsen.

You see, true metabolic health isn’t just about having your cake and eating it too, so to speak.
The state of your metabolism has much more to do with your overall health than simply your weight. Metabolism lies at the foundation of health. It’s a complex system that directly influences how our cells, tissues and body systems function and get the nutrients they need — while getting rid of what they don’t.

Metabolic processes are involved in our most critical areas of health, including cardiovascular, cognitive, inflammation and immunity. Essentially, good metabolism doesn’t mean you don’t gain weight, it means you feel good every day, have plenty of energy for daily activities and are in good overall health. Poor metabolism often means the opposite.

Just as metabolic health can be influenced by a variety of factors, a number of signs and symptoms can indicate that your metabolism needs support. If left unchecked, these early signs may eventually manifest into metabolic syndrome and its dangerous offspring, Type 2 Diabetes. If you experience a number of these signs regularly, it’s time to take action.

Wide Waist: What’s your waist size? Extra fat around the abdomen is the unhealthiest type of fat and one of the most common signs that you may need to support your metabolism. If you are a man with a waistline of 40 inches or greater, or a woman with a waistline of 35 inches or greater, your metabolic health may need to be examined.

Fatigue: Do you generally feel run down, like you’re “running on fumes?” Do you become exhausted after eating? Feeling sleepy once in a while after a restless night can be expected. But, if you are frequently tired with low energy throughout the day — even after a good night’s sleep — your metabolism may be to blame.

Excessive Sweating: Do you sweat for no apparent reason? Perspiring when it’s hot or you’re doing hard physical exertion is normal and healthy. But if simple, daily tasks like doing the dishes or walking up a flight of stairs make you drip, you may need to address your metabolic health.

Poor Circulation: Do you feel cold all time? Are your fingers and toes always chilled or do your hands and feet fall asleep easily? When you hurt yourself, does it take a long time to heal? Low circulation may be a sign that your metabolism could use some help.

Unhealthy Gums And Teeth: Do your gums bleed when you brush or floss? Are they painful? Do you have a propensity for cavities?
More and more research points to a relationship between gum disease and chronic health conditions such as heart disease, cancer, and metabolic issues such as diabetes and metabolic syndrome.
How regularly do you see the dentist? If your oral health is suffering, your metabolic health may be deteriorating according to research demonstrating links between metabolic dysfunction and periodontitis.

Maintain Metabolic Health: So you’ve determined that your metabolism isn’t what you want it to be. Now what? The good news is that a large part of your metabolic health can be improved using targeted diet, exercise and lifestyle adjustments.

Handle Stress: High stress is a culprit in metabolic mayhem. It fuels inflammation and metabolic-disrupting stress hormones like cortisol. Try adding 15 minutes of meditation to your daily routine. In addition, when you feel your stress levels are getting out of hand, take 20 seconds to stop whatever you’re doing and simply breathe. Take three deep breaths and exhale fully, pulling your bellybutton toward your spine to completely empty your diaphragm. A mere 20 seconds is so quick that nobody will even notice that you “checked out” for that time.
But it may be enough to bring you (and your metabolism) some peace.

Exercise: Any kind of cardio (aerobic exercise) helps to both rev up your metabolism and reduce your stress. Studies show that 1½ hours per week of moderate physical activity, like brisk walking, keeps the average person healthy (more is needed if you want to lose weight). What’s more, studies show that 10 minutes work out too work just as well as 45-minute workouts, as long as your total exercise time adds up to 90 minutes or more over the course of the week.

This is a relief for any busy person; it’s much easier to fit a 15-minute walk into your daily lunch break than it is to get up an hour early to go to the gym. Although light cardio is important, don’t forget to include some muscle-building exercises. Muscle is more active than fat, so more muscle means more efficient metabolism. Explore different ways to fit muscle training into your day. Do squats while you’re waiting for dinner to cook. Do some push-ups or sit-ups while waiting for your shower to get hot. Install an over-the-door pull-up bar and do one or two pull-ups every time you walk by. Be creative!
Healthy Diet:

Easy metabolic tip:

(i) Eat more green vegetables, fiber and protein. Eat less sugar and simple carbs.

This alone should be enough to put you well on your way to metabolic health, but it’s not hard to take your food consciousness to an even higher level for greater vitality and health.

(ii) Learn the difference between good fats and bad fats. For example: deep-fry oil, trans-fat and anything hydrogenated are all bad. Omegas, coconut, avocados, olive oil, seeds and nuts: These are good.

(iii)  Incorporate vegetables of some form into every meal: Yes, even eat these at breakfast! Try blending some spinach or kale into a fruit and yogurt smoothie and I bet you won’t even taste the greens. Vegetables should make up at least half of each meal.

Supplements

Natural supplements like curcumin, caratirm, and special teas like Green and herbal infusions can stroke the metabolism and help in the whole process of wellness.

Your metabolism defines your health from a cellular level. Take care of it. It’s never about weight loss, it’s about your metabolism and how strong it is.

 

 

 

From Terminal Illness To Complete Wellness! Ananda Mukherjee Health Story

As we observe World Cancer Day under the powerful theme ‘United by Unique’ (2025-2027)**, we are reminded that every individual’s journey with cancer is distinct, yet united by shared resilience, hope, and the collective fight against this disease. This theme places people at the centre of care and their stories at the heart of the […]