aqua jogging

Hi,

 

I have just tried aqua jogging my usual speed sessions instead of running them as advised by a physio (I have an achilles injury which is aggravated by speedwork and hills).

I think I got the hang of it but I felt no where near as tired as I would if I did the same session as a proper run.  Is this normal or does that mean that my technique was wrong?  I felt I was going as hard as I could on the reps but I was not as out of breath or tired as usual and recovered much more quickly.

It did not feel as though I had as good a workout and I don't want to waste my time unless it is worth it.  When I do the session on a gym bike, I can get that same hard feeling but I want to keep the training as running specific as possible.

I was not wearing a heart rate monitor but I suppose that might give me a better idea.

any advise anyone would be appreciated. 

 

Comments

  • I tried it whilst on holiday recently so we had two weeks with daily access to a pool.  I did 8 sessions over the two weeks and whilst it took me a couple of sessions to get the hang of the techniques, by the end of the holiday I thought I was getting a decent workout.

    I planned to do the first a couple of weeks worth of sessions from Pete Pfitzinger's website, which also provides some background discussion.  However, towards the end of the holiday I was extending the sessions to make them a bit more demanding.

    I found it quite difficult to maintain concentration to keep intensity up on the longer intervals, but the shorter intervals felt like a good workout.  I probably like the pyramids best.

    I would be interested to hear how you get on with it as I'm currently trying to shake of a calf strain so I'm considering continuing with it now I'm back from holiday.

  • I have prescribed aqua jogging on a couple of occasions. What are you trying to achieve - obviously low impact exercise but are you trying to maintain your cardio workouts or are you attempting to do tempo work outs et al.  If it's the latter, I'm of no use to you - I have no experience of this.

    If you're going for the cardio-zone, it may be that you're doing it right in the pool but pushing yourself too hard in 'real life'.  

    I'll leave it at that for now but keep looking out for a reply as I'm lurking waiting for a response to my own query. 

  • Thank you both of you.  I will check out the web site link.  I'm planning my next one tomorrow.

    the purpose this week has been to try and maintain fitness while injured as I'm running Loch Ness marathon in just over 4 weeks time so I'm  doing my speed sessions in the pool and my longer run on the gym bike.

    im hoping to try a road run on Friday and depending how that goes would like to try a longer 10miles or so on Sunday.  However that might not be possible injury wise and I need to be careful.

    Over the rest of my training programme I'm wondering if I could replace perhaps my 2 speed sessions in the pool as my Achilles is unlikely to cope with speed sessions and long runs on road and I'm keen for my marathon time to be ok.

     

    thanks again for the replies

  • Just cheked out that link and it is really helpful so thank you Ld! Very encouraging and answers a lot of my questions 

  • Just to update in case it is of interest.  Just did aqua run session as follows which I felt replicated my usual speed session on the road well in terms of heart rate and RPE

    20 length swim warm up

    30 mins: 6 x 4 mins hard aqua run effort with 1 min easy run / float about between intervals

    20 length swim cool down

     

    My usual road speed session is 4 x 4 mins hard with 3 mins jog recoveries.

    Therefore I found that I needed much less recovery in the pool while still maintaining the efforts.

     

    Hope this helps anyone else.  I will definitely be keeping a pool session in at least weekly throughout the rest of my marathon training.

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