Many older adults actively participate in aquatics classes for its many benefits. Benefits include reduced joint impact due to the water’s buoyancy, cardiovascular training, improved overall fitness, and the social aspects of being with other seniors and sharing a common goal. But how effective is the “typical” aquatics class for building strength in the elderly? We know that resistance training for older adults performed on land with resistance apparatus like dumbbells, resistance bands, and weight machines increases neuromuscular adaptations, which results in functional strength and independent living.  But do aquatics programs achieve this same outcome?

To determine the answer to this question, researchers set up a 15-minute segment prior to the end of an aquatic workout consisting of multiple sets of short-duration muscular efforts, with maximum speed and longer recovery1. The format of most aquatics programs includes a warm-up, low-to-moderate intensity aerobic exercises, and localized muscular exercises without resistance control (meaning the movements are usually a single set with long duration and slow speeds). Researchers selected a chest exercise (chest flys/shoulder horizontal adduction) as the exercise to be performed. In aquatics exercises, resistance is achieved by the speed of the movement because the drag forces of the water are directly proportional to the speed of the movements. Thus, to enhance the resistance the research subjects used a customized hand paddle to increase resistance. In the experimental group of elderly women assigned to the water exercises with resistance training (RWE) the training was periodized. It consisted of 4 mesocycles of 6 sessions in a 3 week period. It looked like this:

  1. 1st Mesocycle was 4 sets of 15 repetitions with a 90 second recovery between sets
  2. 2nd Mesocycle was 4 sets of 12 repetitions with a 90 second recovery between sets
  3. 3rd Mesocycle was 5 sets of 10 repetitions with a 120 second recovery between sets
  4. 4th Mesocycle was 5 sets of 8 repetitions with a 120 second recovery between sets

The subjects in both the typical water exercise (WE) and resisted water exercise (RWE) were tested for a 1 RM (repetition maximum) in the water prior to the study and after the study.  In the pretest both groups of subjects started the training with an equal strength level. In post test, the WE groups showed no statistical increases in strength. In contrast, the RWE group had a statistically significant average increase in strength of 10.89% for the 1 RM.

Discussion
While land-based resistance training is beneficial to older adults, few of the results can be extrapolated for the aquatic environment. Initial aquatics studies yield divergent results in strength gains given different methods used in aquatic activities. Therefore, this study intended to conduct two similar aquatics formats with the only difference being the 15-minute segment of periodized resistance training versus the localized muscular exercises without resistance control. The customized hand paddles provided increase resistance to the water flow which is a form of overload. Note, however, that the customized paddle did not have excessive frontal surface which would reduce the speed of the movement and actually reduce the likelihood of strength gains because during aquatic exercises, the speed of movement is the critical factor that exerts the greatest influence on the resistance offered by the water.

Instructors of aquatics programs should seriously consider adding a segment of as little as 15 minutes of periodized resistance training to ensure adequate strength gains are achieved for the older adults. This adds to their functional strength and hopes of remaining independent in activities of daily living.

1Graef, F., Pinto, R.S., Alberton, C.L., Lima, W.C., and Kruel, L.F.M. (2010). The Effects of Resistance Training Performed In Water On Muscle Strength In The Elderly. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 24 (11), 3150-3155.