The Gift of Aqua-Jogging
From GRP biathlete Kelsey Dickinson.
As a biathlete, my upcoming race season remains unclear. Rather than dwell on the uncertainty of the winter months ahead, I’ve embraced this time to focus on a full, effective recovery from injury. I am currently on the road to recovery from a back injury that forced me to drop out of last year’s competitive season early. After a series of procedures and initial physical therapy, I found myself looking for ways to build strength and mobility as I eased back into running, biking, strength training, and roller skiing. Enter: aqua-jogging.
When my GRP coaches suggested aqua-jogging as a tool to help my body transition back to intensive training, I balked. I saw aqua-jogging as a last-ditch method to train when you literally could not do anything else - surely I was beyond that point! Turns out, they couldn’t have been more right in their recommendation. Aqua-jogging has been so beneficial for my recovery that I now make it a priority to get in the lake every day, rain or shine.
Aqua-jogging is a well studied tool for rehabilitating injuries ranging from soft tissue damage to stress fractures. For runners especially, aqua-jogging is a great mode of cross training as it mimics the mechanics of actual running. In fact, aqua-jogging can help improve running efficiency by rewarding forward drive and decreasing any of the extraneous side-to-side movements a runner might have. The non-weight-bearing component of aqua jogging allows one to strengthen muscle and connective tissue using water resistance, but eliminates the jarring and inflaming forces caused by ground impact. In addition, aqua-jogging can be a good way to maintain cardiovascular fitness and to begin mixing interval workouts back into your training.
I found aqua-jogging helped me the most when used to warm up for my biathlon training or to loosen any muscles and joints after a training session. I have found it to be an all-around great recovery tool as well as an excellent cross training workout option in its own right. Like anything, it is important to start conservatively with both duration and intensity, and to work your way to longer sessions as your body adapts to this type of exercise stimulus.
To try aqua-jogging for yourself: get in the water! You can aqua-jog in a lake, pool, river, or the ocean, just be sure you are in water deeper than you can touch while wearing a flotation belt around your waist. Then mimic running in the water by cycling your legs and pumping your arms. If you are in a pool and your deep water space is limited, it might be helpful to use a bungee to attach yourself to one end of the pool so that you can jog in a stationary position. If you want to increase the effort, take off the flotation belt and recruit your core and other stablizing muscle to keep yourself afloat while still mimicking the running motion. Pro tip - get a buddy to aqua-jog with you or float next to you in a kayak! I also found this was a peaceful activity to do at the end of a hot summer day to bring my core temperature down.
Big picture: this summer is a good time to focus on the things you can do and the things you can control; time to focus the process rather than the result, the here and now rather than the future. It is a gift to take the time to hone in on the small elements of training and to proactively address the challenges that may arise along the way. In my experience, the only way to successfully work through an injury is to address it head-on, and right away. I see this summer as an opportunity to fully and completely heal, so I can come back strong and ready to compete, no matter what the season looks like.
A note: please consult with a physical therapist before trying this activity because some injuries can be further aggravated by the motion of aqua jogging. If your injury gets progressively worse, stop.