RELAXATION IN WATER AS A COMPLEMENT TO CONDITIONING
(Active recovery – personal training sessions for professional athletes)
Performance-wise there is an optimal ratio of weight to height in athletes.
Once the optimum is exceeded, the heavier athlete’s body is, the sooner it gets tired, and the harder recovery is. Increased mass and momentum that such a body has to fight, produces an added impact on muscles, joints and bones and it is just a matter of time before injury occurs. Athletes train to get stronger to exceed requirements of the sport. That is a traditional conditioning in a gym or on the running track. The problem is that there is a finite point beyond which human strength cannot be increased.
To complement conditioning athletes seek for increased efficiency of movements by avoiding unnecessary use of power. This is where training in water can produce extra value for working bodies.
While floating, our weight is absorbed by water fully and evenly. Transfer of weight to the surrounding water, removes inner tensions from the body. Skeletomuscular system gets an instant and comprehensive mechanical antiG treatment, better than any massage therapy that only treats parts of the body at the time and not the body as a whole. The circulation requirements against heart activity are lowered as the largest blood vessels straighten up in a horizontal plane at the heart level. So the ‘blood highway’ gets fully opened. That sinergy could help the heart rate and the blood pressure reach optimal levels in a very short time. Once water is 30C=86F warm, another natural process gets momentum. The fatigue in muscle groups that had exercised most intensively is allowed to dissipate within minutes. As water acts as an isothermic mould wrapping up each point of the floating body, that evens up the differences in temperature throughout the body core and the body surface. An optimal temperature has a catalytic effect on improved efficiency of a ‘sewage system’ of the muscular tissues. Firstly this helps the muscle tissues to achieve isotonic concentration of, and later the removal of several of the by-products of anaerobic metabolism, such as carbon dioxide and lactic acid. Removal of the ‘knots of tension’ prevents residual muscle ache that would otherwise take hours and days to get rid of. Lastly, physical relief, brings relief to the brain as well, and that is the lowest natural energy level that we can function on (while still awake, and without influence of drugs). N.B. First 15 minutes after hard work is all it takes for the tired body to calm, relax fully, extend softly and gradually cool-down. At the times we need it most, we can get ready for a quality sleep in matter of minutes and solely by ourselves. The interaction with nature, as we gracefully adopt its pace is direct and immediate.
By enabling athletes to repetitively experience the lowest energy modes, we are arming them with a self-regulating tool – both for efficient power consumption (strength / endurance), and for optimal recovery after hard work (resilience).
Regular 15 minutes a day aquatic treatments yield measurable benefits both long and short term.
Longterm benefits
– developed balance and ambidexterity
– enhanced flexibility (decompressing joints – especially spinal)
– increased range and control of movement
– prevention of injuries
– improved energy management (establishing minimal and optimal energy levels)
Immediate benefits
1. better recovery
2. faster recovery
3. deeper sleep
4. shorter sleep hours
Just a few initial sessions are guided by (aquatic) trainer. The activity looks very much like regular water based physiotherapy or Watsu (water-shiatsu). There is a major difference between the methods. In only 3 to 5 hours athletes acquire enough skills to be self-sufficient. A unique value of the method is that further treatments could be performed without a trainer – at the place, pace and the time of the practitioner’s choosing.
DEVELOPING FUNCTIONAL (rather than absolute) POWER
(personal sessions that fit all ages and any level of ability)
While in water, it is possible to engage, and also relax, both individual body parts and a body as a whole. The intrinsic value of water environment is that it allows for a balanced improvement of both body strength and quality of motion. The process is unique by the fact that it engages all the body parts in a simultaneous, harmonic and rhythmic manner. Somewhat like a rich sound of a symphonic orchestra when all the instruments perform in perfect balance.
In water, it is possible to mimic the ways body moves on dry: running with variety of patterns in balancing off leg-arm action, jumping through squats and twists, dancing. On top of that, because of virtually defied gravity force, a body in water acts as virtually weightless, so it can levitate and ‘fly’ like any traditional airborne object. In a carefully adjusted environment, it is almost impossible to get injured.
The focus is on a low intensity workout with high number of error free repetitions. This stimulates simultaneous development of flexibility, balance and harmonious movements. Every effort has to be offset by appropriate ease-up action, and every tension should be balanced off by a relaxation phase.
Inspiration comes from gymnastics, skiing, skating, basketball, dance, yoga.
Variety of exercises contributes to the complete and balanced body improvement and increase of pleasure during practice and lasting happiness afterwards.
Workouts fit all ages at any level of ability
The most prominent feature of a young body is growth. The process takes place until early thirties, followed by approximately 10 year stagnation period when our physical shape reaches its pinnacle. Unfortunately in early forties the opposite trend emerges – the body starts to lose in height. This ‘shrinkage’ on the outside, has a mirror effect within the body – the relative drop of a liquid content on the cellular level. Tangible ‘collateral damage’ is felt in body through decreased levels of flexibility and mobility.
With maturity the body has acquired strength. First long-term task is to retain the achieved, and then to improve the overall fitness as a fine mix of flexibility, mobility, endurance and strength.
Using weights helps build up of muscle strength and volume, and also results in its increased rigidity. Too much of it could be bad for (determined by nature) potential of a young body to grow. It impairs the ease of motion that with age becomes a very precious and wanted quality.
First most important task for a coach is to prepare a workout that stimulates process of gaining strength natural ways, within limits of what is pleasant for a working body, avoiding unnecessary strenuous exercise. The right choice of gym tools and ways of using them is the key factor to the overall value of a training process. In recreation workouts the best tool could be the body itself, and best of exercises these that engage the whole body without exhausting it.