Category: #BuoyantEquipment

Pool Equipment: Dumbbells

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Foam dumbbells (or hand buoys) are another popular piece of pool equipment, along with noodles. Before companies began making equipment designed for use in water exercise, instructors used empty milk jugs! I’m glad those days are gone. Nowadays, there are many companies producing foam dumbbells. Here are a few examples of what is available:

Hydro-Fit. Craig Stuart told me that he made his original Hydro-Fit Hand Buoys on his dining room table. His goal was to create some kind of resistance equipment that took advantage of the properties of water. Today’s Hydro-Fit dumbbells are made of premium quality Ethafoam® and feature cushioned hand grips and sturdy construction for lasting durability. I like that the bar part of the dumbbells are made of a soft material that does not deteriorate in chlorinated water.

Swim Outlet. A variety of other brands of foam dumbbells is available on Swim Outlet, including Sporti, Speedo, AquaJogger and also Hydro-Fit. Of course you can find lots of other brands on Amazon.

Class participants love dumbbells! If you Google “pictures of water exercise” you will find lots of photos of smiling participants waving their dumbbells in the air, or hanging from dumbbells extended to their sides. In facilities that store their equipment in bins on the deck, it is not unusual to see a participant grab a pair and spend the entire class pushing and plunging (as Mark Grevelding says). But let’s get serious for a moment. Dumbbells made of foam weigh very little, and waving them in the air is not an effective exercise. Buoyancy pushes the dumbbells toward the surface of the water, therefore the resistance comes from pushing them toward the pool floor. Pushing dumbbells underwater requires the shoulder stabilizers (mainly the rotator cuff muscles) to engage. Performing the exercises incorrectly by hunching the shoulders or hanging from dumbbells extended to the sides causes shoulder impingement, which may lead to a rotator cuff tear. Pushing and plunging for an entire class overuses the shoulder stabilizers and may also lead to a rotator cuff tear. So many senior adults already have rotator cuff tears that it makes sense to be intelligent about using the equipment safely. For more information on shoulder safety see my post on Shoulders.

Using Foam Dumbbells. Select dumbbells the right size. If your participant has trouble pushing them underwater without shrugging the shoulders, go to a smaller size. After every strength training set relax the shoulders. People often grip the handles hard while using dumbbells, so ask them to stretch their fingers as well. Exercises that push the dumbbells toward the pool floor include lat pull-down (should adduction, click the link for a short video demonstration), double arm press-down (shoulder extension), and triceps extension. If you lean forward in a lunge position, you can also do a chest fly (horizontal adduction) and push-ups. Exercises that sweep the dumbbells just below the surface of the water, such as a row or a rotator cuff sweep, require the shoulders to contract isometrically, which is okay if the reps are limited. For the legs, you can hold the dumbbells down by your sides, and do squats, lunges, and calf raises. The muscles used for all these exercises are the opposite of those same exercises with weights on land. That’s a pretty short list. Fortunately, there are ways to vary your use of foam dumbbells.

Use One Dumbbell. If you use just one dumbbell, you can perform an exercise with one hand, then pass the dumbbell to the other hand. That way one shoulder gets a break while the other shoulder works. With the dumbbell horizontal you can put one hand on each foam end, pushing or plunging with reduced resistance on each shoulder. Or do a rotator cuff sweep side to side. Hold the dumbbell vertical with both hands on the handle and sweep it in circles or figure eights.

Perform Eccentric Contractions. To focus on eccentric contractions, push the dumbbells quickly toward the pool floor, then slowly control the movement toward the surface of the water. Eccentric contractions have the reputation of being better at building strength than concentric contractions, which occur when pushing the equipment toward the floor, but this is a misconception. Nevertheless, focusing on eccentric contractions adds variety to your strength training session.

Use Dumbbells of Two Different Sizes. Most of us have muscle imbalances, that is, we are stronger on one side than the other. Right handed people are more likely to have a right arm that is stronger than their left arm, and the opposite is true for left handed people. Try using a larger size dumbbell with your weaker arm and a size smaller with your stronger arm to help correct a muscle imbalance.

Use Dumbbells as Stabilizers. In shallow water, you can use the dumbbells as stabilizers to practice fall recovery. Hold the dumbbells together in front of you and fall forward, then tuck your feet under you and stand. Or hold the dumbbells out to the sides and fall sideways, then tuck your feet under you and stand. This practice teaches a participant what to do if they lose their footing in the pool, and they will automatically recover from a fall, even if they do not have dumbbells in their hands. Foam dumbbells can also be used as stabilizers in both shallow water and deep water for the plank and side plank. In deep water, use the dumbbells as stabilizers for side to side (side shoot) and for abdominal pike and spine extension. Click on the links for short video demonstrations of both exercises. Do not do these exercises with dumbbells in shallow water, because then you would be hanging from the dumbbells by your shoulders. In deep water, you are wearing a buoyancy belt for support.

You can find lesson plans using foam dumbbells in both shallow water and deep water in my book Water Fitness Progressions. For the safety of your participants, don’t do an entire class with dumbbells. Alternate upper body strength training with exercises for the lower body, or do a circuit alternating strength training with cardio. Relax the shoulders between sets. Stretch the fingers, or do finger exercises such as finger extensions, thumb circles or cat claw. Or shake out the hands to relieve the tension in them.

See you in the pool!

Author/Instructor Photo

Chris Alexander

One response to “Pool Equipment: Dumbbells”

  1. Kay Barnett Avatar
    Kay Barnett

    Great as always!! I needed this as I am teaching both shallow water as well as deep water classes
    every other day!! So in order to keep my mind concentrating, I use the same play list 2 days in a row, but reshedule moves for each “record” according to shallow or deep exercises!! It has helped
    because some moves just do NOT transfer between deep and shallow!! I am so glad that you mentioned the shoulder because many of my participants have shoulder issues!!
    As always so good to get information from you and such great reminders of the great twice a year
    trainings we used to have ….all H20 members who joined!!

    Reply

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#BuoyantEquipment / #Foam Dumbbells  

Pool Equipment: Noodles

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Nearly every pool has noodles. They are inexpensive and available every summer in many different kinds of stores. They come thick or thin, with or without holes in the middle, and in many different colors.

You can also spend more for denser noodles from Hydro-Fit or square Sqoodles from AquaJogger. These provide more buoyancy, resistance and support than the regular pool noodles.

The uses for pool noodles are almost endless. Hold them in the hands for upper body strength training. Sit on it like a swing, wrap one around your lower back, or ride it like a bicycle for suspended exercises. Recline on the noodle lengthwise for crunches. Stand on a noodle for lower body strength training and balance work. Noodles are also great for partner work. If you have more than one type of noodle to choose from, the noodle you use for a specific exercise will depend on your goals.

Upper Body Strength Training.

if your focus is muscular endurance, use the smaller noodles and perform more reps. If your focus is muscular strength, use the more buoyant noodles and perform fewer reps. Hold the noodle with your hands shoulder distance apart. If the hands are too narrow, the shoulders are rounded. If the hands are too wide, the shoulder blades are out of neutral. Some exercises you can do are row, push forward, push down, triceps extension, push-ups leaning forward with the toes on the floor or suspended, and burpees. For a video demonstration of how to do burpees in deep water, click burpees. In shallow water, jump up instead of flutter kicking to elevate the shoulders. Use one hand to press a noodle down, or perform jumping jacks or cross-country ski. Hold the ends of the noodle like a rainbow and touch the ends in a chest fly, or hold the ends together and perform shoulder flexion. Wrap the noodle around your waist, hold it in that position with your elbows and perform a rotator cuff sweep.

Suspended Exercises.

For suspended exercises, a smaller noodle will work, but the denser noodles provide more support. Sitting on a noodle like a swing challenges balance. In this position you can perform seated kicks, unison kicks (mermaid), seated jacks with legs straight, bent knee jacks, seated leg press, bicycle, flutter kick, point and flex the feet, and hip hike. You can do most of the same exercises with the noodle wrapped around your lower back (also called positioned in a posterior sling) which provides more stability. Do not position the noodle in the arm pits because that causes impingement in the shoulder joints which may lead to a rotator cuff tear. With the noodle wrapped around the lower back do a waist twist instead of a hip hike. Try a Pilates move, such as single leg stretch (see the center photo). Stretch the arms side to side and you can do side-lying moves such as bicycle, jog, flutter kick and cross-country ski. If you want to do suspended travel, sitting on a noodle like bicycle is the way to go. You can bicycle, or reverse pedal to go backward, and travel with seated jacks, seated kick and cross-country ski. Cross the ankles and row using only the arms for canoe races.

Recline on the Noodle.

If I’m going to do crunches, this is the noodle position that I prefer. Reclining on the noodle puts you in the correct position to perform crunches. Focus on bringing your chest toward your knees which contracts the abdominals rather than bringing your knees to your chest which works the hip flexors. Participants with osteoporosis should not do crunches because forward flexion compresses the discs of the spine and may cause microfractures. This is why I seldom do crunches with my classes. More often we focus on core stabilization. Put the noodle between the knees, then raise and lower the knees until you find neutral.

Stand on the Noodle.

With lower body strength training, the smaller noodles are best for focusing on muscular endurance, and the more buoyant noodles are best for improving muscular strength. The Sqoodle is easier to manage under the feet because of its flat surfaces. Put one foot on the noodle and perform a leg press in front to work the quads, hamstrings, glutes and calves. Perform a leg press to the side to work the inner thigh. Keep the leg straight and perform a small hip extension for the glutes; the noodle flies out from under the foot with a larger hip extension. Perform squats standing on the noodle with both feet. Do a reverse squat by lifting the feet (and the noodle) off the floor. Lift one foot at a time and use the noodle like a stair climber. Stand on the noodle and drop the toes to the floor for the calves and the heels to the floor for the tibialis anterior. Balance with one foot on the noodle and the other leg lifted in front or extended to the back.

Partner Work.

Noodles are great for partner moves. For a partner bicycle ride, have one participant sit on the noodle like a bicycle while her partner wraps the noodle around her chest, becoming the handle bars. The partner in front runs while the one in back bicycles. Make a train by having four or more participants wrap their noodles around their chest; the ones in back hold the ends of the noodle of their partners in front. The partner in front is the train engine. Everybody runs to one end of the pool, Then the train engine goes to the back of the line to become the caboose, and a new engine leads the train back to the starting point. If you have several trains, turn it into a race, and keep going until everyone has had a turn being the engine. A variation is to have four or more people straddle their noodles and put the ends of the noodle of their partner in front between their knees. Now you can have crew boat races with everyone rowing. Let the last person in the boat call out the strokes. Create a centipede by having everyone straddle their noodles and get in a line one behind the other. Each person uses their hands to hold the end of the noodle of the person in front. Everyone bicycles while the person at the head of the line performs a breaststroke and leads the centipede in circles, or spirals or zig zags.

This list of noodle exercises is not exhaustive. You can find lesson plans with noodle exercises in both of my books, Water Fitness Lesson Plans and Choreography and Water Fitness Progressions. The first book is out of print, but you can find copies on Amazon, or get it as an e-book. If you have a favorite noodle exercise, put it in the “Leave a Reply” box below.

See you in the pool!

Author/Instructor Photo

Chris Alexander

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#BuoyantEquipment / #PoolNoodles