#9 Benefits of AQUATIC-based exercise

In this episode I talk about the benefits of aquatic-based exercise and the difference between performing like-for-like exercises in the water and on land. I also chat about Good Boost and my Musculoskeletal (MSK) programme, but not before Tugger (my dog) gatecrashed the pod!

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Transcript

0:03

Right, hi everyone, welcome back to the podcast. Um, yeah, thank you for the last couple of weeks for listening to Julia and Ryan's episodes. I hope you all enjoyed listening and found them really excited because I really enjoyed recording them and picking their brains. So yeah, I really enjoyed it. Hope you enjoyed listening to it too. Um, as you can see, it is just me uh today. So um what we're gonna talk about today is like the benefits of aqua-based exercise, um, which is kind of like part of, well, a big part of my role actually, um, with work. But yeah, there's lots and lots of benefits for it, which is something I never thought I'd be talking about uh this time last year. Um I'll get into that in a bit. But basically, like um as part of my um musculoskeletal uh or MSK role uh that I do, not only do I help people like in the gym, uh, but I also help people in the pool as well. Uh lots and lots of benefits uh for people uh with like chronic health conditions, uh basically like improving their mobility and their overall health um in the water as well. The water um is like very accessible uh to everybody, like regardless of kind of what conditions they have. Um, and I think another thing as well is that some people uh, for example, might find going to the gym or going to a class like quite intimidating and a bit daunting, so that can be like a potential barrier. Um I'm just being joined by a guest here. Are you coming on? Are you so yeah, he's like, why is he talking to himself? But um, all right, off you go, mate. Right, so yeah, lost my train of thought now. Um I was talking about um mine's gone blank now, so I do apologize. Um yeah, I was talking about kind of like how um yeah, the gym and doing classes can can be daunting and intimidating for people, especially people um with health conditions or people who um have lived like sedentary lifestyles and perhaps um have never like experienced that kind of atmosphere before. So I think the pool is all very inviting and very inclusive and very accessible uh to a lot of people as well. Um, but yeah, I've just touched on how like um being in the water can improve your mobility and your overall health, but it also does improve things like your cardiovascular fitness, your strength, uh endurance, flexibility, and very importantly, like core stability as well. Um now, in terms of like properties of the water, um you've got something called buoyancy. So basically, like as you go into the water, you know, gravity pulls you down, and then you start to sort of um float back up again, and that's um basically what buoyancy does. So gravity gravity pulls you down, buoyancy uh pushes you back up, and basically that causes your body uh to feel lighter in the water as opposed uh to on land, um, and that therefore like reduces the stress and the impact on your joints. So when I talk about like people with musculoskeletal conditions as well, so people with like low back pain, arthritis, sciatica, and a few others, like that is why that exercising in the water is really friendly for them, particularly like with their joints. Um, so if you take me, for example, I weigh roughly 70 kilograms, give or take, depends on how many mini eggs I've eaten that week. Um, so if I weigh 70 kilograms, when I'm stood in the wall with the water at hip height, then my weight becomes 35 kilograms or 50% of my body weight. When the water is up to my chest, then that becomes uh 30% of my body weight or 23 kilograms. And when the water is like right up uh to my shoulders, so I'm in the deep part of the pull, then I actually only weigh seven kilograms, which is just 10% of my body weight. So, yeah, that's what I mean by saying like your body feels a lot lighter when you're in the water because of uh the water properties, like including like buoyancy as well. Um, that also um leads on to something called um hydrostatic pressure, which is exerted by water on the body and it also like reduces swelling. So if you have a lot of swelling on your body, then even just standing in the water and not even doing anything, uh, that actually can help reduce swelling as well. So there's lots of benefits to that. Um, and then what also um so if you go into like a normal swimming pool, the temperature you're probably talking around 28 degrees on average. Um, some pools are a bit warmer and some are slightly colder, but yeah, you're talking around 27-28 degrees on average, I would say, maybe even 29. But like the point is that when water temperature is between 20 and 32 degrees Celsius, then that helps uh reduce your blood pressure. Now, if you were to go in like freezing cold water, like say 12 degrees, that actually increases your blood pressure. But yeah, in a normal bog standard swimming pool, yeah, it will help uh reduce uh your blood pressure. Um and then basically also like what that means is because of the hydrostatic pressure, if you're like doing like um aerobic exercises or hit exercises like in a swimming pool, then actually um your heart rate tends to be around 20%, uh sorry, not 20%, 20 beats per minute lower than doing like-for-like exercises on the land as well. So just those things already uh just show like the difference um that water makes to kind of like how your body reacts and how like all your organs work and things like that. Um it's really interesting actually in terms of like the exercises that you do in kind in terms of like how different they are um on land and in water. Um so if we use like um a bicep curl, for example, or I'll call I'll rename it an arm curl and you'll see why in a minute. If I grab a weight, if I grab a dumbbell in the gym, and I'm just pretending here, I'll do a bicep curl like this, and obviously you're gonna be strengthening your biceps, you know. So as I like um curl up, then like my bicep contract contracts um concentrically, which means like the shortening of the muscle. But as I as I do that, then the bicep sorry, the tricep muscle there is doing eccentric contraction, which means the lengthening of the muscle. So the bicep contracts the triceps um eccentric. Um that's what happens like when you're doing a normal bog standard bicep curl, like whether it's through a dumbbell or a barbell in the gym or anywhere else on land, but then actually it's different in water. So you've got in water with no equipment, and in water with um with buoyant equipment as well. So if I do um so basically, like on land, as I said, it's like concentric and eccentric. Um in the water with no equipment at all doing that arm curl, um, it's like a dual concentric motion. So what that means is um both your biceps and your triceps both um contract. Um, I can't even say the word both contract concentrically um when you're doing it in the water with no equipment. Now, if I were to grab a pair of aqua dumbbells um or any kind of like buoyant equipment, then it is the opposite way round to one land. So if I do arm curls in the water with a pair of dumbbells, it's actually um the triceps that you're working on. So your triceps uh contract eccentrically on the upward face and concentrically on the downward face, whereas on land it would be the biceps, so it is like the opposite way round in the water with equipment as opposed to on land with equipment. So, yeah, basically like uh that's caused by frontal resistance. So all movements like in water without buoyant equipment are concentric, so that's that arm curl without any equipment. Um, but buoyant equipment, such as those aqua dumbbells like in the water, you know, the vertical up-down motion results in the opposite muscle groups uh contracting um as opposed to dry land. So that's what I mean uh by that basically. Another example is if you do like a lateral raise uh with a pair of dumbbells. If you do that in the gym, like you're basically targeting like your shoulders or your delts if you want to be a little bit more specific. But when you do that exercise in the water, you're actually working your lats when you're doing it. So again, that's just like another example of how doing like-for-like exercises um on land and in water actually work different groups of muscles. So, like we did a level three aquatic activity for health course last summer, and when I first got told that by the tutor, I was kind of like, what really? How does that make sense? But then you know, just like the different properties of the water, you do start to understand actually that's like why it makes a difference. Um, so kind of like um going back to my musculoskeletal job um with MSK. So I touched on an episode a few weeks ago about how I'll run a session called Good Boost. Um, so um that's really good for helping people with musculoskeletal conditions or MSK conditions uh to shorten it. So, again, that can be anything from like arthritis, low back pain, uh sciatica, you know, and problems with your joints and mobility, flexibility, you name it. Um, yeah, the water does um make a massive uh difference in terms of being like low, minimal to low impact on the joints and very friendly. Um, you know, a good example is that one of the exercises that you can do in the water is like uh jumping jacks. Uh now imagine someone has got like arthritis in both their knees and they have problems in their hips. If you got them to do jumping jacks in the gym, then that would be seriously like ill-advised and it would be really bad for them because it'd be far too much uh stress and high impact on the joints. But actually, when you do that exercise in the water, it actually feels really good for them, and that's just based on the feedback that I've received uh from my clients as well. Uh so yeah, just being in the water really does have a make a massive difference, have a positive impact on people. Um, just in terms of like everyday life as well. I mean, um, you know, one of my clients on the good boo session earlier in the week actually told me that she was like um basically like doing work in a garden outside. Um, and it, you know, the long and short of it is that like she told me that like a couple of months ago she would not have been able to do it, but now that because she's been attending those good boo sessions like two, three times a week for the last three months, it's made a massive difference, and she's now able to do her gardening, you know, and like a lot in a lot less pain and a lot more comfort. So little things like that um is a good example of kind of like how much of a positive impact it has on people's lives. Um, there's another gent actually on my MSK programme. Remember, he told me that like, you know, whenever he used to go on holiday, uh the first two days he'd be away on holiday, like his back would be in like lots of pain, you know, mainly from like doing lots of walking about and also like sleeping on a different bed as well. But he went on holiday like three or four weeks ago, and he told me that like those first two days he was on holiday, he did not feel any pain in his back whatsoever. And it's no coincidence that that's because he's been doing those good boo sessions in the pool, you know, multiple times a week consistently. And um obviously, like everybody, you know, you want to enjoy your holiday. Um, and if you're in a lot of pain, then you're not going to enjoy your holiday as much as you'd like to. So, yeah, it was really like pleasing to see um see the sessions have that positive impact on him. Um, but yeah, just going back to kind of what um good boost is, um you get you get given a tablet, you answer a few questionnaires about yourself, about your health conditions, um, give it as much information as possible. So, you know, I'll go back to like having arthritis in your knees, for example. So you like put like whether it's your left knee, your right knee, or both of your knees, um, and then you answer you answer questions about sort of how painful is it, sort of like standing up and sitting down and swinging your leg backwards and forwards and walking and things like that, kind of like just basic stuff, really. But then what the tablets do, they use AI um to uh create sessions that are tailored to the individual. So you could have like five people next to each other in the pool, all with a tablet each doing good boost, and they're all doing completely different exercises because you know the sessions are not like generalized, they really are tailored uh to suit each individual person's specific needs. Um and it's really cool as well. So you're in the water, the tablet is on the edge of the pool, and they're waterproof as well. Um, and they play videos like of the exercises and the counting down for you as well, kind of like how long you've got left and how long your rest period is, and it gives you teaching points. And I'm there kind of like supervising the sessions as well and making sure everybody's on the right on the right track. Um, and I touched on earlier about um about buoyant equipment in the water, so I talked about the dumbbells. Um, so yeah, we we do use dumbbells, we also use noodles and kickboards as well. Um, so yeah, there's like lots of ways to kind of like vary the sessions and achieve like progression and regression. U in fact, at the end of each good boost session, you get given like a recap of all the exercises that you just did, and it asks you to give it like a thumbs up or a thumbs down. So any that you give a thumbs down because you didn't like it for whatever reason or you found it a bit too difficult, then it won't give you it next time. So it really does tailor it uh to each individual. Uh, we started the Good Boost program like just before Christmas, and yeah, just seeing like the popularity and kind of like how it's had a positive impact on people's day-to-day lives is really good. You know, it's helped their like musculoskeletal conditions massively, you know, reducing pain and improving mobility, increasing flexibility, and also um, like I say, just like making people feel better mentally as well as physically. It's a win-win uh situation. So yeah, really pleased with with how that's going. Um, if I kind of like recap uh the prevalence of musculoskeletal conditions, so the whole idea of the MSK program that I run um is to get people back into work. So um in the UK, it's estimated around 7.8 million working days are lost per year, purely down to musculoskeletal conditions, like I've touched on earlier with the examples, and then it's costing the UK economy £21.6 billion per year as well. So it's a massive problem in the UK, in our country, and in our region as well. So the idea of the programme, as I said, is to like help people get back into work or prevent people from going off sick in the first place. Um, that increases obviously like quality of life, it improves people's physical health and mental well-being, but also like in the context of the workplace, it improves people's productivity at work as well. And then from an employer's perspective, you're saving loads of money without, you know, because obviously, like as you reduce the number of lost working days, lost to sickness, then then obviously that means you're saving loads of money as well, you're spending a lot less money on sick pay and a lot less money on bringing in like temporary agency staff, for example. Um, and that goes for like people in sedentary jobs, you know, like sat at a desk all day, and also like people in like manual jobs as well. So that could be like working in a factory or or a power station or or a building site or whatever it may be. So, yeah, lots of us like are susceptible to it. And um, yeah, that's why like the DWP funds the program, and it's a 12-week program where everyone gets like all the sessions included. So that includes good boost, and it includes like a personalized gym program, use of the gym, classes, swimming, and then also kind of like um you know, checkup points so you get like a review after six weeks at the midpoint, and also um at the endpoint, which is at the 12th week, uh just you know, really good way of like tracking progress and then just kind of like um making sure that everyone's getting on really well with it, and we can always like make changes and progress things as as time goes along. And it has like changed a few people's um lives for the good. Um, so one of the first people who signed up to the MSK program with me back in October, like she completed the 12 weeks uh quite a while ago, you know, doing uh so she actually did all the gym sessions with me, and then she's also like using the gym herself too off her own accord. Um, and at the end of that 12 weeks, like you know, she's still continuing to come to the gym like multiple times a week, and she told me that like it's changed her life and uh she's in like a lot less pain in a nutshell, and lots of things that she struggled to do a few months ago, she's now able to do now a lot more easily. So, yeah, it's just like really uh pleasing to see um like the people who are like showing up like regularly and consistently are just like doing really well with it, like not just during the 12 weeks, but beyond the 12 weeks as well. We just now what I need to do is kind of just expand that, broaden the horizons, and just make people more people aware of it. Um, so yeah, if you're listening to this and you know, you for example suffer pain in your back or your joints, or maybe you know somebody else who does, then basically just like and and obviously, like if you're living in the Selby area as well, or around Sherban or Tad, yeah, just get them to get in touch with me on the details in the description, and I will get back to you and we will get that ball rolling because you know why wait? You know, there's no time uh like the present. Um, so yeah, that's kind of like um that's kind of it, really, in terms of like the benefits of um exercise in water or aqua-based exercise, whatever you want to call it. Um like I kind of touched on earlier, I if you just said to me a year ago that I'd be like banging the drum about the benefits of aqua-based exercise, I honestly like would have thought you were crazy because like um, you know, anyone who knows me well like knows that I'm not a good swimmer at all. Um some of them some of the mates actually find it quite amusing to watch, and um I have been swimming like I mean, I probably swim maybe four or five times a year on average. Um I'll I'll swim like two lengths and I'm like completely blown out on my ass, but I'll know why it's just because like my technique is like pretty dire, so therefore I'm not like moving through the water efficiently, like in comparison to like a seasoned swimmer. Um if you like, but yeah, listening to me like um advocating exercise in water is kind of like Tony Blair advocating for world peace or something like that, it just kind of smacks of irony, and um, but yeah, I'm really glad actually though that that work put me um onto the level three um aquatic activity for exercise course last summer because I've learned loads from it. Um and then actually just uh last week actually um I found out that I also got another certification, so level four um neurological um conditions, uh level four exercise for long-term neurological conditions, and my mind went completely blank again there. So, but yeah, um really good like learning about um about all sorts of different like neurological conditions and how to like tailor exercises like to each uh individual. And like I found that especially useful because um I recently uh started working with a Parkinson's group on the Friday mornings, so we run a session every Friday morning called Peddling for Parkinson's um as well. So just kind of like um getting to know those people and knowing what works for them, what doesn't work so well for them, and how I can like tailor things for them, but then also just kind of like learning the theory side of things on that course. It was like really in-depth, and I've like gained a lot more knowledge and a lot more confidence uh with it as well. So hopefully in the longer term, that could will allow me to provide a better service for them uh going forwards and just provide them with a really good experience um every time and just yeah, help improve their quality of life both physically and mentally. Um, so yeah, just yeah, thank you to um to Andy, my manager, for giving me those opportunities. Um, really grateful, really appreciate it. Um so yeah, that's it for this episode. Um give me a like and a subscribe and share if you haven't done so already. Um drop a comment uh below if there's anything you want me to talk about or any questions that you have for any future episodes. And what I'm actually going to do is um I'm going to drop a bonus QA episode. Um, I'll publish it on Wednesday, uh, so in three days' time. Um I'll see you all listening to this because a few of you sent in a few questions to me on on the old Instagram the other day. So, yeah, I will um get them answered for you and I'll publish it as like a little bonus on Wednesday. So, yeah, thanks everyone uh for your support. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and see you soon.