Active Hydrotherapy is all about doing exercises in a pool to help with rehabilitation. Under the instruction of a trained individual, these exercises use your muscles and the unique properties of the water to help strengthen your muscles. This aquatic strengthening technique helps aid muscle coordination in daily activities. Here are some helpful hydrotherapy exercises that you might start out with:
Water Walking
Just as the name suggests, this exercise will simply have you walking in the pool. You will begin by walking forward and backward along the bottom of the pool. Make sure you are at a place in the pool where you are chest deep and your feet can touch the floor. To increase the difficulty of this exercise, you could consider jogging instead of walking or using CanDo® Ankle Cuffs. The CanDo® Ankle Cuffs are low impact exercisers that add resistance to your movements. They come in red or blue and are extremely comfortable.
High Knees
Another great exercise that you can use your CanDo® Ankle Cuffs for is the high knee aquatic exercise. This exercise works on your core and lower body. Before you begin, make sure you are standing in the water at waist height. Then, engage your core are you lift your right leg. As you are lifting your right leg, start to bend it until your knee is level with the water. Make sure your left leg is straight and then slowly bring your right leg back down to starting position. Proceed to doing this same exact exercise on the opposite leg.
Arm Raises
Arm raises are great for strengthening arm muscles during rehabilitation. You can do this exercise by putting your arms straight out in front of you or make a “T” pose by raising your arms out to the side. Make sure you are standing in water that is neck deep so that your arms are fully submerged for this exercise. To increase the difficulty of this exercise, you could consider using CanDo® Aquatic Hand Bars. These hand bars are made of buoyant materials that add a little extra resistance to your arm movements. Perfect for aquatic exercise routines and rehabilitation.
Doing these exercises should feel therapeutic and not so intense that you feel like a body builder. In the end of your hydrotherapy session, you should feel tired. This means that hydrotherapy is working and that your body will start feeling the benefits. Please consult your physical therapist to make sure you are doing the right exercises to meet your therapeutic goals.
To check out our CanDo® Aquatic Hand Bars, click here.
To check out our CanDo® Aquatic Ankle Cuffs, click here.
Article written by William Graves.