Take It To The Wall!
Trying to get creative in the pool with your aquatic fitness classes? Look no further than the four walls surrounding the beautiful body of water where you teach. These walls, or lap areas, can become fantastic tools to keep students moving and engaged.
There are two key factors when considering ways to get active with the pool walls: the population you’re instructing, and the pool space you’re provided.
The wall can be an explosive way to push your athletes and experienced aquatic veterans. Wall Push Offs offer an exciting method to get students really working and moving in the water. Within personal comfort zones, participants hold onto the pool ledge/wall, bring the feet up onto the wall, then use their legs to push off the wall (cue to push through the heels). I like to encour- age students to then use their core to reposition the body and forcefully run or swim back to the wall against the wave they’ve just created. Get ready to clean your pool deck because the waves will be crashing over the edge!
[Originally printed in AKWA – June/July 2015, Aquatic Exercise Association (AEA). Learn more at www.aeawave.com or facebook.com/aeawave]