Dr. Paul Donohue: Water exercise has same benefits with fewer risks
Dear Dr. Donohue: One way of exercising that you haven’t mentioned is water walking. This puts less strain on joints.
Dear N.L.: Water exercises, including water aerobics, are a terrific way to improve strength, lose weight and restore balance while sparing joints. Everyone can do them if their doctors agree.
Walking, running and exercising with weights designed for water are only a few of the ways to do this kind of workout. Perhaps the best idea is to join a class with an instructor who can put you through the proper techniques.
You need a flotation belt to keep you horizontal when you are in deep water. Water shoes or clean canvas sneakers are another worthwhile purchase for water exercising.
In waist-high water, body weight is only about half of what it is on land. At neck level, it’s around 10 percent to 20 percent of land weight. That’s still enough weight to challenge your muscles.
A great advantage of this kind of exercise is the lessening of injury should you fall. The water is a cushion. Another advantage is the ability of water to keep the body from overheating.
Dear Dr. Donohue: I am in my early 60s and have been physically active all my life. I have a problem with under-the-arm skin flaps. I play tennis three times a week and work out regularly, but my arms look atrocious. Is my skin losing its elasticity? Will strength training help?
Dear B.J.: Yours is a common problem that comes from a loss of skin elasticity, shrinkage of the triceps muscle on the back of the upper arm and a deposition of fat in that area. Triceps exercise will help some. Plastic surgery to sculpt the upper arms is the answer, but an extreme one.
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