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Swimming versus aquajogging
I wonder if anyone on here has any experience with aquajogging? And swimming? And how the two compare?
I used to swim competitively until a few years ago, and then took up running. Still quite good swimming, but running is my "main thing" these days. However, I currently have a tibial stress fracture, so I can't run. Aquajogging has been strongly recommended to me, but I am finding it rather difficult to get my head round it. I am wondering if it has any additional advantages over swimming. I find a good club swim session (about 90 mins or 4000 metres) can really be quite challenging. Do you think aquajogging really is any more "specific" to running, given that the weightbearing part of it disappears in the water? I find swimming more challenging and think it may keep fitness going, but I would quite happily give aquajogging a bit more of a go if there was a definite specific running benefit over and above mere fitness preservation.
What is your experience? What types of sessions do you do for aquajogging? With or without belt? I have tried both - find it more interesting without a belt, but not sure how good it is for form - and long "runs" will probably be rather hard without a bit of a flotation aid...
Would be grateful for any thoughts and opinions. Thank you!
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Comments
and why not mix the swimming up with some gym cycling or rowing to get some all round non-weight bearing exercise.
If you can achieve a half decent jogging style in the water, you're going to be exercising the muscle groups you use out of the water so could perhaps be viewed as beneficial that way. The lack of weightbearing is replaced by the resistance of the water.
A good swim session will probably have more benefit cardio-wise, but pool circuit sessions I know of use both lengths and aquajogging. You could always do both, even if you do a couple of lengths jogging as a warm up/cool down?
I have done a little bit of aj. As banana says you are using running muscles so it is different from swimming.
I tried it with both a belt and without. I didnt need a belt as I guess I have good bouyancy. I found it tough; little old ladies doing really slow bstroke sped past me so it was mentally tough as well.