I am sure we have all suffered from, or know someone who has suffered from the frustration of an illness or injury holding us back.
A recent One News article revealed that The Global Burden of Disease Study found that 95% of the worlds population had an ailment in 2013, while one person in three (a total of 2.3bn people) have 5 ailments or more.
Some of the most common ailments reported in New Zealand included lower back pain, neck pain, musculoskeletal problems and depression or anxiety. Whilst the severity of these cases vary from person to person, there are many cases where ailments such as these can be prevented, and also many cases where recovery can be fast-tracked through physical therapy.
Despite what people tend to believe, injuries don't necessarily need to hold us back or prevent us from exercising. Instead, people need to listen to their body and perhaps consider changing their exercise regime to cater for their condition.
Train like an Athlete
Exercising in the water is becoming increasingly popular and it is no wonder why. Take a look at many of the successful athletes and sports teams that are now putting a huge emphasis on aquatic training and boasting about the results they are seeing. Aquatic exercise significantly reduces the stress on your joints, bones, and muscles because of waters unloading property of buoyancy. This is a very safe and effective way to exercise and allows people with injuries to start exercising much sooner with less discomfort. People who suffer from back-pain, neck pain or just want to cross train to reduce the pounding of land based exercise should be taking note from the professionals and turning to the water.
Build Strong Bones
There is a common misconception that water cannot help people build bone density, however that is not at all true. The waters resistance places a demand on the musculoskeletal system which causes an increased load on the bones resulting in them becoming stronger and denser. In addition to the waters resistance, gentle plyometric type exercises can be performed in the water to increase the added stress to improve bone strength.