Water Exercises Build Muscles and - Maybe - Bones


      
 A new study from Brazil suggests that older women may cut their risk of falling - and breaking bones - by adopting a routine of intense exercises in a pool. The watery workouts increased the women's strength, and the researchers suggested that the physical activity program could also build muscle and bone. Researchers at Universidade Federal de São Paulo recruited 100 inactive women in their 50s and 60s. During the six-month study all the women received 1,000 international units of vitamin D3 and 500 milligrams of calcium daily. Half the women were assigned to the aquatic exercise program, which included bursts of intense activity between 10 to 30 seconds that boosted them to up to 90 percent of maximum heart rate. The researchers reported that seven months later, the number of falls among this group had dropped by 86 percent and the number of women who fell was reduced by 44 percent. No such changes occurred among the women in the control group who did no exercise. The study was published online March 25, 2013, by the journal Menopause.

      IWU Wellness offers Water Workouts through the Faculty/Staff Wellness program. If you are a IWU employee, immediate family member or retiree you may enroll for these classes. To register for any of the summer Aquatic classes please go to www.php.iwu.edu/wellness. For questions about registering, please contact us at wellness@iwu.edu.