Thanks to the YMCA of Greater New York for sponsoring this post.
When I was young, I spent a great deal of time at my grandparents house as my parents did their best to balance staring a family business and working full time. Most Summer mornings, my grandmother would don her favorite floral swimsuit and swim cap, force me into my swimsuit, lather me down in just a little too much sunscreen and drive us to the neighborhood pool. For the next hour I would dance on the pool’s ledge to the music as she and twenty of her friends took a water aerobics class. This class served as social hour for the women, providing them the chance to catch up on the local gossip, while also allowing them to get their heart rate up in a low impact environment. Oh how I wish I had pictures from these morning workouts as the memories are wonderful.
Therefore, when the YMCA suggested that I try one of their aqua exercise classes, as part of my partnership, I was excited to follow in my grandmother’s footsteps and give her favorite workout a try. Even though it’d been more than nine months since I slide into my favorite TYR swimsuit and donned my aqua swim cap, I was excited to get in the pool last night after a long week.
I arrived at the McBurney YMCA, commonly known to locals as the Union Square YMCA, at 6pm allowing myself plenty of time to explore the space and change before the 6:30pm class. The building was bustling and packed with teenagers joining the weekly basketball game or the swim practice. There are multiple floors and spaces including studios for group fitness, basketball courts, a large weight room, massage rooms, steam room, sauna and of course a pool. I headed to the locker room where I was able to change into my swimsuit and rinse off before class.
As soon as I exited the locker room the instructor, Val, kindly introduced herself and gave me a quick overview of the class. She teaches aqua bootcamp multiple times per week at the YMCA and each class is a little different depending on the crowd. Last night’s class had twelve women of all shapes and sizes. For the past ten years she has loved teaching aqua boot camp as it allows her to bring fitness to people of all abilities as the workout is low impact but the water and foam weights provide resistance.
I eased myself into the water, introducing myself to the other students. There were a few first timers, a mother in her third trimester and then some groupies who follow Val throughout the city for her classes. Positioned in the deep end of the pool, I was ready to give this class a try.
The aqua boot camp class is broken into segments, which Val led both from the pool ledge and then in the water with us.
- Warm-up
- This portion was a blissful mix of deep stretching and yoga moves.
- Cardio
- In order to get your heart rate up it’s suggested that you do this portion in the deep end, if possible. We spent 20 minutes doing different calesthic moves like running in place, jumping jacks, butt kicks, tuck jumps, lateral jumps, and cross country skiing. This portion was harder than I expected and within five minutes I could feel my heart rate increasing and by the end of the twenty minutes I was short of breath. Now I know why people can use deep-water pool running while training!
- Strength
- We used foam weights for the strength portion of the class, doing typical moves like lateral raises, bicep curls and hammer curls. The resistance of the water combined with the weight made the moves harder than normal. In order to keep our heart rate up we’d include cardio bursts after each move such as sprinting in place.
- Cool Down
For me, the class served as a great way to shake out my muscles after a long week and a few tough workouts while also enjoying the water’s relaxing effects. I would highly recommend this class for anyone who is new to fitness, needs to keep things low resistance due to injury or is looking for a change.
Have you tried water aerobics or pool running before?
Live in NYC and want to see what your local branch offers? Check out the YMCA website.
Disclosure: This post is part of a sponsored partnership with the YMCA of Greater New York.
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