With the advent of summer and meeting with a few distressed, overweight and to be more precise, obese people, I felt an urgent need, and my duty as an aquatic fitness instructor, to share my knowledge by putting pen to paper.

Fitness, as defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO) is the ability to carry out daily tasks with vigour and alertness, without undue fatigue, with ample reserve energy to enjoy leisure pursuits and meet unforeseen circumstances.

The benefits of water-based exercises or just treading in water are enormous. Water is a safe and friendly medium to work in, as in immersion, your body weight is reduced by 50-90pc. In case of waist-deep water it is 50pc of your body weight, whereas in full immersion with only the head out it is virtually nil. This is of great help to overweight, physically disabled, prenatal women and people with limited mobility.

In an aquatic workout, major factors are buoyancy and resistance. These play a vital role as when buoyant, weight is greatly reduced. In deep water this is negligible. Beneath the surface, the water around the body mass has a messaging effect, which tones and shapes the body. Buoyancy helps make a movement easier under water. For example, lift one leg up as high as possible on land and see how long you can do so; repeat the same movement in water and you will see the difference.

Resistance again helps all the major muscle groups to work 10 times more in water than on land. In deep water, resistance is enhanced due to the density of body mass. This, combined with the intensity of the moves, makes it possible to exercise a joint requiring weight bearing, with little chance of straining the muscle or damaging the joint.

Immersed in water, the body’s temperature is relatively cooler than its land based counterpart (land aerobics) which is the positive factor for the trainee, as it keeps the body at ease and work harder without over heating. Extreme obesity makes some people shy and timid to exercise in public, but water provides them enough cover to overcome this and be more confident.

Another positive aspect of water exercise is that flexibility improves and with the help of buoyancy equipment, for example water noodle (woggle), moves such as suspension, hopping, leaps and jumps can be done, making the workout very pleasurable, safe and effective. On the other hand, on land the combined factors of gravity and weight decrease flexibility. Since body heat dissipates during water workouts, it results in lower heart rate. This makes the exercise more comfortable and safe for people prone to cardiac diseases such as hypertension.

In my years of teaching aqua fitness, I have come to the conclusion that music combined with aquatic exercise, especially during summer, makes the time fly and the effort enjoyable and not as tedious as those on terra firma. Now the question arises: why not just swim? Moving in water in a vertical stance takes the major joints through a full range of movements. This is not achieved in swimming, where strokes such as breast strokes are not advisable for a weak or injured joint. If the stroke is not performed correctly, most often keeping the neck above the water, pain in the neck, shoulders and arms can occur. Swimming also does not capitalise on the physiological effects of hydro static pressure as the whole body lies too close to the surface.

Overall, working out does not have only physical effects but psychological as well. It releases endorphins in the body commonly known as happiness hormones. The cool down section of the lesson, with soft music playing and the drag effect of the water, all add up to total relaxation. This is sometimes helpful in combating insomnia.

To sum up, water-based exercises to sculpt your body are a far better option than drastic measures such as surgeries. Liposuction and gastric clipping are neither healthy nor without the perils of side effects. Success depends on a disciplined and conscientious dietary habit; otherwise you can easily revert to the same physical state. A better option is to gradually get into the habit of a proper and regimented dietary and physically active structure for a better quality of life.

Most of the time I come across women in their early 50s not able to sit on the floor or having other joint problems and they feel apprehensive towards physical exercise. I would say that though even in their late 70s they can perform some light exercise while sitting on a chair, hydro therapy is still the best option for everyone. I sincerely want women to engage themselves in some form of exercises to lead healthy and fulfilled lives.