What is an underwater treadmill?

In the beginning, water fitness was limited to swimming, water aerobics, and essential flexibility exercises. Nowadays, thanks to the emergence of aqua treadmills, These options have expanded. Now patients can perform walking, running, and jogging underwater. For example, a person who is able to walk only five to ten minutes on land but can walk or jog for a more extended period on an underwater treadmill. This fact means that runners can restart their physical activity earlier and without pain.

Timothy Miller who is the Regional Director of Sports Rehabilitation at St. Luke’s Physical Therapy in Pennsylvania, says that “Water is a great medium to exercise in.”

In this piecework, we will talk about aqua jogging, underwater treadmills, the benefits of using underwater treadmills, and we will answer some common questions.

What is aqua jogging?

Aqua jogging, also known as deep water running, is a form of cardiovascular exercise. Aqua jogging simulates the motion of jogging, but in this exercise, the person is submerged at least waist-deep in water. Runners can perform aqua jogging by using underwater treadmills or running laps in the pool. In addition, these runners can wear flotation devices around their trunks to avoid drowning and running in place.

Flotation devices such as running belts can keep your body suspended. These flotation devices allow you to keep your head above the water surface and breathe normally while freely moving your arms and legs.

Aqua jogging is perfect for injured runners. They can run pretty comfortably without the risk of making an injury worse. In fact, many doctors and physiotherapists recommend deep water running while rehabbing because it can help you maintain your fitness levels.

What is an underwater treadmill?

Underwater treadmills are the next step in rehabilitation programs. Because of the water’s buoyancy, the resistance of water, and the hydrostatic pressure of the water, patients can start underwater walking exercises almost immediately.

Integrated underwater treadmills reach the highest standards for usability, adjustability, and operational stability. In addition, drop-in treadmills have a system called drop-in lifting system that will allow users to change the depth of the water while running in order to provide the best exercise environment.

Exercising on an underwater treadmill lets you soften and treat your stiff and injured muscles by performing excellent walking exercises because these treadmills offer a combination of weight-bearing reduction. In addition, these underwater treadmills can be used for low-impact obesity treatments which makes them revolutionary underwater exercise equipments. Although Aquatic treadmills are relatively new, more people are drawn to them and experience these products more rapidly.

What kind of injuries does an underwater treadmill help with?

The most common injuries regarding running that using aquatic therapy can be beneficial to are:

• Achilles
• Tendinitis
• Plantar fasciitis
• Iliotibial band syndrome
• Generic knee pain

Underwater treadmills are also useful for rehabilitation programs after ankle sprains, fractures, ACL reconstruction, and other knee surgeries.

What are the benefits of underwater treadmills?

Using an underwater treadmill has many advantages and benefit for patients and seniors. Here you can see a list of these benefits below:

Promotes early range of motion

Underwater treadmill therapy brings relief to the elderly and seniors who suffer from joint and muscle pain. In addition, people with conditions like osteoarthritis mostly avoid walking and exercise because these activities bring pain to them. However, underwater treadmills can actually make some of the pain disappear and help with the healing process due to the natural hydrostatic pressure of the water.

Chest-deep in the water, patients can carry as little as 20% of their body weight. As well as reducing swelling and aiding relaxation, the water also relaxes joints, increases strength, and improves flexibility.

Initiates walking training in a low impact environment

Underwater treadmill therapy eliminates the fear of falling for patients. This brings a feeling of safety, and aging patients will feel more successful. Nearly 30% of adults over age 65 experience a fall per year. Lack of balance and weakness of the body are usually the reasons for these falls. Therapists use underwater therapy to help patients regain balance and for low-impact walking exercises.

Replicates the biomechanics of land-based movements to improve walking patterns

Unlike a static pool, underwater treadmills allow patients to have a more natural walking pattern. When the unweighted environment creates proper biomechanics, they carry over to land movements.

Improved cardiovascular stamina

To generate greater cardiovascular endurance, underwater treadmill physical therapy combines lengthier exercise durations with the heightened resistance of the water. This combination boosts a patient’s on-ground physical stamina. Many patients who have had hip surgeries and are unable to perform on land use underwater treadmill workouts to rebuild their strength and remove the joint strain from their hips.

Increased flexibility

Being underwater, a person’s weight is reduced by 80 percent, which removes the stress of the patient’s joints. In combination with underwater treadmills, patients will enjoy even more joint and muscle relaxation. In addition, when patients perform various movements and cardiovascular activities with a treadmill pool, the relaxing effects of underwater therapy lead to increased flexibility.

Impacts muscle strengthening

The muscle-strengthening factor is another benefit of using an underwater treadmill that is mostly overlooked. An Australian study found that strength training combined with aquatic treadmill workouts was more effective at building muscle mass than strength training alone or in combination with land treadmill workouts. Texas A&M University (TAMU) conducted the study.

The viscosity of the water forces patients to make more efforts physically while running on an underwater treadmill. These extra efforts result in more significant hip, leg, and foot strength. In addition, patients will have improvements in core muscle groups throughout the body as well.

Increased healing and strengthening of injured tissue

Exercising on an aquatic treadmill in combination with relaxing water can aid the healing process of injured tissue. At Health & Care Professional Network, LLC, underwater treadmills are used for walking and jogging training, which builds up patients’ physical mobility and improves strength. It also has the potential to reduce conditions like osteoporosis.

Physical therapists can combine this training with jet therapy in order to tend to the stiff muscles of patients if they utilize the attachable massage hose. Many patients have experienced improvements in mobility and a decrease in pain after using this type of training, which has led to the growing popularity of underwater treadmills.

Increases ability to perform a wide range of plyometrics

Hydrotherapy has increased its popularity among athletic trainers. These trainers have recently assigned injured athletes to plyometric routines in underwater treadmill pools to perform weight-bearing exercises.

Reduces blood pressure levels

As everyone might know, exercising helps reduce hypertension. However, a recent conducted by TAMU found that aquatic treadmill training lowers blood pressure more effectively than land-based exercises. Researchers at TAMU tracked 60 adults and compared on-ground and underwater treadmill workouts, finding that underwater workouts led to greater reductions in diastolic blood pressure, exercise systolic blood pressure, and resting diastolic blood pressure.

Aquatic treadmills provide relaxation coupled with the health benefits of water to the 67 million Americans with high blood pressure, a group that avoids land-based exercise due to pain.

Reduces joint stiffness

A recent study discovered that patients who suffer from osteoarthritis (OA) who use underwater treadmill therapy enjoy greater mobility and reduced joint pain. Utah State University conducted this study.

Where can I find aquatic therapy near me in Las Vegas?

If you need to use an underwater treadmill for Aquatic Therapy in Las Vegas, Health & Care Professional Network is at your service. We have been providing in-home care services and aquatic therapy in Las Vegas for more than 15 years.

Give us a call at (702) 871-9917 for more information.

You can get information about other Home Health Services.