Characteristics of Aquatic Exercise / 日本温泉気候物理医学会雑誌

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this lecture is to introduce how aquatic exercise is an attractive training method, especially for maintaining the cardiovascular fitness, during recovery from musculos-keletal injuries of the lower legs and/or from obesity. Though the energy expenditure of vertical movement in water is less than that on land due to the effect of buoyance, walking/running in water increases the energy metabolism largely enough to maintain the cardiovascular fitness level. In addition, water running on the spot with flotation device is capable of eliciting metabolic responses comparable to treadmill running on land. Therefore, comfortable and useful facilities for aquatic exercise should be constructed in each province for both healthy and injured persons to maintain and improve their cardiovascular fitness.