Aqua Jogging for Runners
Welcome back to all things running with Sonja and Jen. Today we are going to deep dive into water running. We’ll discuss the many benefits of this activity whether you are rehabbing an injury or looking to add a great workout to your training program.
Jen:
I’ve been a long time supporter of its benefits. My journey with water running began in college with Coach Julie Lafreniere. We did water training weekly on Wednesday mornings for recovery. I am pretty sure we complained the entire time. I wanted to gain better knowledge about the activity and in one of my exercise science classes I decided to research the topic. The findings are still relevant today. Information below is from my research paper back in 1995.
Water Training and Performance
Water running is a form of cardiovascular conditioning that is used for the training of both injured athletes and non-injured athletes. Water training is simulated running in the deep end of the pool. The athlete is supported by an aqua belt that is used as a flotation device maintaining the head above water while allowing the body to be submersed in a running position. The form of the water runner follows as closely as possible to the pattern on land. The run can be mobile using the length of the pool or resisted with a tether cord. There is no contact with the bottom of the pool.
Performance Improvements
A few studies as well as my own experience with water running suggest that over a period of about six weeks race performance can be improved. Being injured with shin splints I trained in the pool for 7 weeks with competition on land one day a week and I improved my 5k time from 19:40 to 18:45. Bishop et al. (1989) Also noted similar results but concluded that motivation and familiarity may play a role in attaining levels of physiological response. Perceived exertion during a hard 30 minute deep water run were comparable to ratings during a hard treadmill run.
Resistance Training
Running in the pool creates resistance that activates fast-twitch muscle cells and forces the leg to increase their production of fatigue-inducing lactic acid (Anderson 1993). We know lactate threshold is an important physiological response in runners. Your heart rate is about 10% lower so most athletes think they are not working quite as hard. The data (Anderson 1993) to support this theory is that max HR during water running is 10% lower than your normal HR with land based running. Max VO2 values are 83-89% of land values (Town and Bradley 1991). Blood lactate levels are higher in the pool (Svendenhag and Seger 1992) and Max O2 pulse was slightly lower during deep water running. When you compare these values of training and not training it is apparent that it is beneficial. When athletes stop training for 6 weeks they can lose up to 14-16% of their VO2 max (Coyle et al. 1984). Training in the water can help in maintaining VO2 max and improve race performance times.
Helpful with Overuse Injuries
During my 1993 cross country season I developed an overuse injury most common to runners, shin splints. I didn’t want to end my season but I couldn’t run on the roads. I began a season of pool training. I water ran on Sunday through Friday in the pool and raced on land on Saturdays. I simulated the exact same workouts as my teammates and by the end of the season improved my 5k time.
Intensity & VO2 max
According to Hickson (1995) it may be important for the intensity of alternative training to be similar to actual training intensity to maintain VO2 max. The pool running simulates land running and if the intensity is the same, the perceived exertion, HR and O2 uptake levels tend to be lower during deep water running than during treadmill running. One may wonder if VO2 max is only 80-89%, HR is lower, and lactate is higher, and O2 pulse is lower than land values, how does it work?
Water Training vs Cycling
Water training is clearly better than not exercising because you do have cardiovascular gains. Why water training and not cycling? Roberts and Alspaugh found that cycling groups and running groups both experienced cardiovascular gains, but those gains are more specific to the training modality. In other words, runners scored higher on the treadmill test, while cyclists performed higher on bicycle ergometer tests, than bicyclist and runners respectively.
Why Does It Work?
The possible explanation (Wilder 1993) for this increase in race time performance with water training even with the variance values is the difference in muscle use and activation patterns contributing to these differences in exercise response. The elimination of weight bearing and addition of resistance, less work is likely to be performed by the larger muscle groups of the lower extremities and a comparative increased proportion of work is done by the upper extremities than during land based exercise. This may contribute to lower max O2 uptake recorded during deep water running. Lower perfusion pressures decrease in total muscle blood flow have also been proposed to influence a higher anaerobic metabolism during deep water running. Hydrostatic pressure is postulated to assist in cardiac output performance by promoting venous return; thus the heart does not have to beat as fast to maintain cardiac output. This may contribute to the lower HR observed during both submaximal and maximal deep water running. Temperature has also demonstrated to have an effect on HR during exercise with higher temperature it correlates to higher HR. The pool water tends to be 10-15 degrees below body temperature.
Proper Form
Strict adherence to proper form and technique ensures a higher physiological response as measured by VO2 max and HR. It is possible to approach land based values by adherence to proper technique. Deep water running offers additional benefits like quick leg turnover as well as coordinated movements between arms and legs (Wilder 1993). It is also a great way to increase leg-muscle flexibility.
Running in the pool has many benefits when compared to taking time off from a regular land training regimen. It can be used to regenerate, restore, recover from heavy training loads. Where it is non-weight bearing it reduces stress and trauma on the legs. It can be used as injury prevention and offers a program while injured. Recovery time may be reduced from regular training activities. It increases strength & flexibility (PNF, static and dynamic) while working against constant resistance. It adds a variety to any program whether aerobic or anaerobic (Mcfarlane 1993). PNF is a stretching technique utilized to increase the range of motion and flexibility. PNF increase the ROM by increasing the length of the muscle and increasing the neuromuscular efficiency.
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Authors notes: My one recommendation is that if you are using this activity while rehabbing an injury that you need a very strict return to run protocol. You will likely come out of water running very fit and capable of running some fast times but the muscle/bone are not used to weight bearing activity. Weight bearing should be slowly reintroduced to prevent new injury from occurring. I also find that water running has some thermogenic benefits by reducing inflammation and also increasing metabolism. You’ve never been as hungry as you are after coming out of the pool after a simulated workout.
I hope this information helps athletes understand the benefits of water running and that it can be a great addition to your training program. Understanding why HR is lower as well as knowing the other physiological benefits is beneficial.