Running in Water

“Running” pool workouts help you build fitness, strength, and flexibility - without the risk of injury.

The resistance of water offers a cooling workout that taxes the body enough to maintain cardiovascular and muscular-skeletal fitness, while its buoyancy and zero-impact environment aids in recovery and injury prevention.

Study show virtually equal VO2 max values (aerobic capacity) between treadmill and pool running. Another study by California State University Northridge found that when runners cooled down in water, they reported feeling more recovered compared with when they cooled down on a treadmill.

Pool running sets up your hard days. Dr. Michael Joyner advises starting with one session per week of 30 to 45 minutes and increasing to two or more hour stints. "You leave the pool feeling refreshed, and you're ready to run hard the next day."

Swim Laps

If you haven't swum in a while, you may be surprised at how tired you feel after swimming just a few laps. To help reduce fatigue and tap different muscle groups, alternate between freestyle, breaststroke, and backstroke.

Start out with about 10 laps (back and forth across the pool equals one lap), which is aroung 400m at a typical pool. Increase your time in the water and minimize fatigue (and boredom) by sandwiching pool-running in between sets of laps.

"Run" In Water

Running against the water's resistance, in the deep end where you can't touch, provides many of the benefits of running on land. A flotation belt will help keep you upright and give you stability.

Keep your body erect, with a slight lean, and keep your gaze forward. Run as you normally would on land with your hands pushing back the water.

Don't expect to move forward much, says pool-training instructor Craig Stuart.

Your leg action can vary: Do high knees and march in place, bend your knee slightly and move your legs as if you were cross-country skiing, or do a more long-striding leg extension.

To gauge your pace, compare how you feel while running in the water with how you feel running on the road (your perceived exertion). Or use your land times as a guide. If you typically do an interval workout of 8 x 400, take your time, say, one minute and 40 seconds, and run 8 x 1:40 at a hard effort in the pool.

Stretch and Strengthen

The pool is a perfect place to stretch out tight muscles because the water's buoyancy helps improve range of motion, says John Rembao, who has trained distance runners using pool work.

In the deep end and without a belt, hang on to the edge with one hand, face the wall, and sweep your right leg from left to right and back again for 10 reps to stretch your glutes, adductors, and abductors. Repeat with your left leg.

Next, stretch your quadriceps and hamstrings. Turn sideways to the edge, and hold it with one hand. Maintain a slight bend in your right knee, flex your foot so your toes are close to your shin, and sweep your right leg forward until it's roughly at a 90-degree angle to your body. (As your flexibility improves, your foot will break the surface of the water.) Sweep the leg backward while maintaining the bend in the knee. Do 10 reps then repeat with your left leg.

The Ideal Pool Workout

The perfect pool workout should include 30 minutes of lap swimming and 30 minutes of pool running to ensure a full-body workout. For the running segment, perform one of the interval workouts below.

Endurance-Speed
3 x 5 minutes at perceived 10-K race pace. Jog two minutes between each.

Speed
6 x 2 minutes at perceived 5-K race pace. Jog 60 seconds between each effort.

Sprints
10 x 60 seconds at perceived one-mile race pace. Jog 30 seconds between efforts.