Category: Dallas Mania

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Dallas Mania is coming to the Westin Galleria Dallas Hotel August 25-27, 2023. Our favorite aqua presenters will be there: Manuel Velazquez, Louis van Amstel, Rosie Malaghan, Ann Gilbert, Marybeth Dzuibinski, Billie Wartenberg, and a first time Mania presenter, me!

I am excited about being able to present with these experienced performers. I have two sessions, Increase Aqua Intensity with Intervals on Saturday August 26 from 7:30 am-8:45 am, and Aqua Strength Training on Sunday August 27 from 10:45 am-12:00 pm. Below is information about each of my sessions. Click on the title of the session to see a 20-second video introducing each session.

Increase Aqua Intensity with Intervals. Interval training is popular with instructors and participants alike. It’s a good idea to use the scale of perceived exertion to help participants judge how hard they are working. It is also helpful to give them some clues on how to take the basic moves and modify them to increase intensity. The basic shallow water moves are walk, jog, kick, rocking horse, cross-country ski, and jumping jacks. All these moves have multiple variations. Walking is good for warming up. For the other moves, the first stage in increasing intensity is to increase the range of motion. Larger long lever moves are harder than smaller short lever moves. The second stage is to increase the speed of the moves without losing the range of motion. Faster long lever moves are harder than faster short lever moves. The third stage is to add acceleration, either by accelerating off the pool floor (jumping) or by accelerating against the water’s resistance (pushing harder). The instructor also has to decide how to time the intervals. Tabata is probably the most popular way to time intervals, but there are many other options: 30-second intervals, 40-second intervals, 60-second intervals, rolling intervals, surges and more. I’ll review these in the lecture and we’ll do rolling intervals in the pool session. More timing options can be found in my book Water Fitness Progressions.

Aqua Strength Training. Strength training can be done using just the water’s resistance, and it is a good idea to teach participants how to do this before adding equipment. This session begins with an explanation of the heavy concept, a technique which recruits the core muscles before the prime movers fire. Sometimes participants feel the water flowing around a moving limb, but not the targeted muscle, and the isometric contractions of the heavy concept can help them actually feel the prime mover. Next we will talk about hand positions, lever length, and frontal resistance, which are all techniques for creating a larger surface area to push through the water. Then the fun begins with the Laws of Motion – Inertia, Acceleration, and Action/Reaction. These are not just dry concepts invented by someone named Newton, but properties of water that you can take advantage of to overload the muscles and get participants moving, turning, changing directions and seeing how heavy the water can feel. You will get to experience all of this in a very splashy pool session. There is more information about the properties of water, and lesson plans for taking advantage of them in my book Water Fitness Progressions.

Click on the following links to get more information about Dallas Mania: General information SCW Fitness. Information about Mania Dallas Mania. To download a brochure Dallas Mania Brochure. To look at the schedule Schedule of Sessions. Certifications are offered on Thursday August 24 and Sunday August 27. To register Dallas Mania Registration. To make a reservation at the Westin Galleria Hotel.

See you in the pool at Dallas Mania!