Running in water is a great way to add variety to your exercise routine. Running in water may help you run faster and farther, improve your cardiovascular health, burn more calories and reduce muscle soreness after exercise.
The Benefits of Running in Water
Here are some reasons you may want to try running in water:
- It’s low-impact. When you run on land, every time your foot hits the ground, it produces force that travels through your body as a shock wave. This can cause pain from foot impact, stress fractures, shin splints or other injuries. In contrast, when you run in water, there’s almost no impact at all because your feet slide across the surface of the pool (or lake) instead of hitting it.
- You can run farther and faster than on land. If you’ve ever tried swimming or treading water for even just a few minutes, you know how much harder it is than running on land. So if you’re looking for an efficient cardio workout that helps you burn calories quickly while improving endurance at the same time — without straining joints — then running in water might be right for you!
- It’s easy on your joints – Running on hard surfaces can cause injury because each foot strike requires more impact than running on soft surfaces like grass or sand. By contrast, running in water provides cushioning for your joints as well as support for your body weight so you don’t sink into the water too deeply when taking each step forward. In addition, most of the force from each foot strike is absorbed into the water rather than being transferred through your bones and muscles – which makes running easier on your body overall.
- Running in water also improves muscle recovery after a workout because it increases blood flow and promotes lymphatic drainage, which helps remove toxins from your body quicker than usual. This means that you’ll feel less sore after a tough workout, so you can get back into training sooner than usual.
