CHENNAI: This one’s not just for the fitness freaks. And you don’t even need to know how to swim to benefit from this. All that’s needed is absolute love for the waters. Aqua Aerobics, the latest offering from O2 Health Studio, comes as an adventurous new fitness activity that keeps a check on those extra pounds as well as shields from arthritis or muscular problems. Giving a little introduction to this fitness trend was trainer Jeffrey Vardon and his team at the launch, which took place at Hotel Savera.
The one-hour demo with Jeffrey also saw Nina Reddy, Executive Director, Savera Hotel, and Varalakshmi Sarathkumar.
It’s hard to figure if you’re dancing as you exercise or exercising as you dance. Whatever, Aqua Aerobics is a delightful way to lose calories. “We intake approximately 2000 calories a day and as a result people get desperate to shed those extra calories and tend to hurt themselves with rigorous workout. But it takes time to shed calories. It cannot happen in a day.
The concept of Aqua Aerobics is not new but it’s certainly a firstof- its-kind in the city. We at O2 are pioneers of such fitness trends. We were the first ones to start kickboxing in the city as well. We wanted to introduce Aqua Aerobics more than a year ago,” says dancer, choreographer and Reebok certified trainer Jeffrey Vardon.
Talking about the benefits of Aqua Aerobics, he says, “As we work with buoyancy, there are less chances of getting hurt. Water supports about 80 per cent of our bodyweight, thereby putting less strain on the joints, back and torso when compared to exercises performed on land. Resistance is soft owing to the water body. While with other forms of workouts one can lose about 400 calories in an hour’s time, with Aqua Aerobics roughly 700-800 calories can be shed, without raising the heartrate.
So you burn calories safely and it is not mandatory to learn swimming. And working out once a day is ideal. Warming up is essential and we advise those who practice this technique not to take food before or after the session, as it puts pressure on their metabolism,” he says.
What is the future of Aqua Aerobics in the city? “It should catch up, because no sooner did we announce its launch, we got 10 enrolments,” says Jeffrey. Titled Breathe Life, the courses are currently on at O2 Health Studio and Body Lyrics Health and Fitness Studio at Hotel Savera. The Aqua Aerobics course is priced at ` 2,000 for eight classes.