Get fit, lose weight, and have fun with pool exercises

You’ve tried everything: the bike machine, the rowing machine, the treadmill … nothing has gotten you into shape in the way you expected. Plus, it’s boring. Time to change the scenery?

There’s something about being in a pool that makes people want to jump around and splash. Call it your inner child, if you will. And this playfulness will help you burn off calories in the water.

This is different from swimming laps for weight loss. These fat-burning pool exercises are low-impact workouts that excite swimmers of all ages and fitness levels. 

For beginners: Some simple pool exercises to lose weight fast

Even if you’re stepping into the pool for the first time, you can reap holistic health benefits with these low-key, go-at-your-own-pace resistance water exercises. 

Exercise 1: Water Walking or Jogging. This is great for warming up and building endurance. Move at a steady pace and feel how the water’s resistance forces you to engage your muscles more consciously than you would on land. When you reach the other side of the pool, try walking or jogging backwards the way you came.

Exercise 2: Sidestepping. Like water walking, but sideways. This improves balance and lower body strength. Try to move your feet in a smooth, controlled motion — it’s tougher than it sounds! If you need some help balancing, you can start out near the pool’s edge.

Exercise 3: Push-Ups on Pool Steps. These beginner pool exercises are fantastic for building upper body strength without putting too much pressure on your elbow joints. (You can thank the water’s buoyancy for that.) 

Pro Tip: Even with the best pool exercises for weight loss beginners, boredom can occur. Varying your exercises frequently can help you avoid plateaus.

For intermediates: Weight loss in the pool with muscle building and cardio

If you’re a frequent pool user, then you’re familiar with how the water’s resistance helps you engage more muscle groups. 

Exercise 1: High Knee Lifts. Hopefully you’ve gotten past your hatred of “high knees” in middle school gym class — because they’re tougher in the pool! March in place in the water and lift your knees as high as you possibly can each time. This is a great one for weight loss, so be sure to keep going just a little longer once your thighs start feeling the burn.

Exercise 2: Tuck Jumps. This explosive movement in which you try to hug your knees into your chest while jumping builds incredible strength. If your knee joints are a bit rickety, you might not want to do this sort of thing on land. But in the pool, it’s just fine! Burn off those calories with bursts of muscle activity.

Exercise 3: Forward Lunges. Tone your thighs and glutes while adding variation to your leg workouts. Step forward with one leg and bend both your knees into a lunge position. Then push back to a standing position, trying hard not to lose your balance in the water. 

Pro Tip: Incorporate resistance tools like water weights and resistance gear for added intensity. The TYR Aquatic Resistance Belt is a great option. 

For pool veterans: Advanced Pool Exercises for Fat Burning

Dominate the water with these intense cardio and muscle-building workouts.

Exercise 1: Noodle Plank. This is one of the tougher pool noodle exercises! With your feet on the pool floor, put your hands on a noodle and try to push it downward, engaging your core in the process. Engage your core, shoulders, and legs to keep your body properly aligned.

Exercise 2: Squat Jumps and Plie Jumps. Squats are self-explanatory, but for non-dancers, a plie is a jump that starts with bent knees and turned-out hips. As with tuck jumps, this is a great option for those with joint issues (even the most hardcore athletes sometimes need to turn to pool workouts when their joints are feeling off).

Exercise 3: Dolphin Kicks. Keep your feet pressed together while you kick up and down like a dolphin. With this powerful exercise move, you’ll want to let your entire body undulate in a fluid, wave-like motion. This continuous, fat-melting motion helps you develop an efficient and graceful swimming style. 

Pro Tip: Even the most hardcore fitness enthusiasts take time to rest — and so should you during these advanced water aerobics for weight loss.

Fun pool workouts for the whole family: Get everyone’s hearts pumping!

The pool is perfect for instilling a lifelong love of fitness in your kids. 

Exercise 1: Beach Ball Toss. This cardio workout never gets old. Toss around a beach ball to your family members while watching them kick around and try to catch it before it falls! It’s so engaging, you won’t even realize your heart is beating faster.

Exercise 2: Ping-Pong in the Pool. Did you know you can buy a floating ping-pong table just for the pool? The water might move the table here and there in a completely unpredictable way, but hey, that just adds to the fun. Plus, trying to run through the water is an incredible calorie-torching effort.

Exercise 3: Underwater Handstands. Kids who like putting their heads underwater and turning upside-down will love this. The water’s buoyancy makes this move a bit easier, but it still takes some serious core effort to stay vertically balanced. 

The role of water workouts in injury prevention

We all know a lifelong runner who had to get a knee replacement relatively early. Perhaps they would have fared better if they’d been doing pool fitness routines instead.

Water workouts are low-impact exercises, and aside from cases of swimmer’s shoulder, there’s not too much to worry about. It’s always great to consider low-impact water aerobics for joint pain. 

Wade in or dive in — just get started today!

Ready to commit to regular water aerobics for weight loss? See what it’s like being a City Fitness Pool Club member — and enjoy aqua fitness classes and more with ready access to swim gear like water-friendly weights and swim tethers!

Lap Swimming Workout for Beginners #3: Build your arm strength

Arm technique is important for all sports, but especially for swimming. This is one of the reasons people swear by swimming as an excellent cross training for runners.

Warm-up: Give some extra time to the arm circles in this workout, but don’t go overboard! You’ll be working your arms pretty hard in a few minutes. During your warm-up laps, be sure to alternate between different strokes to engage different muscle groups.

Main set: Here’s where you’ll be feeling the heat. Although swimming is known for being a low-impact sport, that doesn’t mean it’s completely risk-free. Listen to your body, focus on great posture, and keep your shoulders in a comfortable position to prevent injury.

•  Swim 4 laps of freestyle while concentrating on the pull phase of the stroke. Use a high elbow here and engage your upper back and shoulders.
• Swim 4 laps with a pull buoy (a device that elevates your hips, stops your legs from kicking, and forces you to work harder with your arms).
• Swim 4 laps of freestyle using only one arm per lap.

Cool-down: Do a few laps of easy swim and then stretch, stretch, stretch. You don’t want those arm and shoulder muscles to tighten up!

Recommended gear: Pull buoys are a great investment when you’re trying to improve your arm technique. Be sure to find one that fits your size — bigger, more muscular swimmers will want a pull buoy with greater buoyancy.

City Fitness: Philadelphia Gym Memberships with Pools

These are just a few ideas for swimming exercises for beginners. Feel free to switch things up to focus on kicking, endurance, and more! Join the CF Pool Club, Philadelphia’s Premier Gym with a Pool.

Here, all new members can enjoy a Complimentary Experience, giving you access to our facilities for a day. Come in, try out our pool, take a class, and relax in our sauna afterward. We’re here to help you make the most out of every workout!