WaterGym® FAQ's

If you live in Marin County, California and plan to join our classes click here BEFORE attending, and please read the following FAQ's below.

Yes! It's common knowledge that to lose weight you need to burn more calories per day than you consume. WaterGym focuses on the calorie burning aspect of weight loss by increasing your activity level through aerobic exercise, and increasing your lean muscle through strength training.

The word "aerobic" means "with oxygen" and the amount of oxygen you inhale during WaterGym's aerobic section directly relates to the amount of calories you will burn. For every liter of oxygen you inhale, you burn approximately 5 calories. Every time you work a muscle, it demands more oxygen. Therefore, the more muscles you work the greater the demand for oxygen and the more calories you will burn.

WaterGym workouts are designed to work multiple muscle groups of the upper and lower half body at the same time, which can result in greater cardiovascular output, oxygen consumption and calories burned. The bigger and faster you move, the more calories you'll burn. Thousands of men and women of all ages and abilities have participated in WaterGym, many reporting it helped them get in shape faster and easier than any other exercise program they've tried!

Yes! You can simply wear a lightweight pair of shorts or leggings with a t-shirt or tank top. GREAT BONUS! If you dread wearing bathing suit, please know that working out in deep water is one of the most private workout environments available! Did you realize that your body is hidden underwater so almost no one can see you? 

So don't wait to get a bathing suit - get started now! After only one workout, you'll feel great and be on your way to a stronger, more fit and healthier you.

GOOD NEWS! Your head and hair are kept dry and out of the water, so there's no need to wash or re-styling your hair or redo your make-up after your workout. Many of our clients take WaterGym early in the morning, shower quickly and go straight to work after class, so their workout is easy to fit into a busy schedule.

Water is like an instantly-adjustable weight machine! Every direction you move a limb becomes an opportunity to strengthen and build balanced muscle groups. As a beginner, you'll simply push your limbs through the water lightly and work slowly. In addition, only work out for as long as comfortable. Keep paying attention to how you feel and pace yourself.

In a week or two you'll feel stronger, so you'll be able to push your limbs faster through the water, which is like lifting a heavier weight. The more you build strength and aerobic endurance, the faster and bigger you can move. So the water keeps meeting and challenging you as your fitness improves, which is why so many WaterGym participants have been in our program for years!

It's easy! You're suspended in deep-water by wearing a WaterGym Water Float Belt around your waist, which leaves your body totally free to work against the resistance of the water.

Most of our exercises are performed in water deep enough so that your feet don't touch the bottom. Therefore, we don’t recommend non-swimmers to participate in WaterGym because OUR WATERGYM BELT IS NOT A LIFESAVING DEVICE, nor is it approved by the United States Coast Guard as a life saving device. The WaterGym Belt is intended to be used by qualified swimmers for exercise purposes only, and should not be used by children or anyone who cannot swim unless properly supervised at all times. This is because the design of the WaterGym Belt will not prevent drowning because the buoyancy factor and its distribution in the belt is not sufficient to float a conscious or unconscious person in a "face out of the water" position. 

That said, many of our customers and clients have enlisted proper supervision (ex: trained lifeguard, swim coach or personal aqua trainer who is working with them at all times) in order to learn our program so they can reap the benefits of WaterGym. In fact, many have fallen in love with the water so much that they learned to swim. We are very proud of them!

If you are a beginner, we do not suggest you learn our workout without a belt for safety reasons, and because we believe in proper alignment and technique. As a beginner, this is difficult without a belt.

WaterGym teaches you how to use the water surrounding your body as a powerful gym. Our precise techniques focus on proper body alignment and torso stabilization BEFORE driving the limbs through the water in order to burn calories and target specific muscle groups.

WaterGym engages your abdominal muscles and core stabilizers the entire workout to keep your torso in proper alignment. Wearing our belt supports your torso, which enables you to drive your arms and legs through the water with precision. The more muscles you utilize by maximizing the drag forces on your limbs, the more calories you burn.

It's similar to working out in a gym. Before you pick up a dumbbell to properly perform a bicep curl, you first msut get in proper alignment and stabilize your torso by using your core stabilizers.

When folks don't use a belt, they tend to wiggle all around and add in extraneous movements just to stay afloat. Their form and technique suffers greatly because of it, and movements become sloppy. That said, we DO allow our most advanced students to take class without a belt, but only after they prove they can do so without compromising their technique.

Yes! Everyone loves the water, and there is nothing more wonderful than an exercise program your whole family can enjoy together, no matter what size, shape or age. As long as your family members are able to swim and in good health and without any special physical considerations, they can join you for your workouts for healthy new habit that will benefit all! 

This decision is entirely up to your physician. Please give your physician our website information so that he/she can see our program and determine whether or not WaterGym is the right program for you. And remember, as with any other form of exercise, a complete medical checkup is advised before starting WaterGym.

WaterGym and swimming are two entirely different workouts that have certain goals that are almost exactly opposite to one another. Swimmers specialize in "drag minimizing" techniques, whereas WaterGym participants specialize in "drag maximizing" techniques.

All action begins with a thought. Change your thought, and your action will change. Being physically fit greatly enhances the quality of our lives. If we are strong, vital, healthy and free of physical problems, we tend to have more energy and ability to do the things that we love. Therefore, a regular exercise program is important.

Yet many of us have a hard time sticking to a regular exercise program for many reasons. So it is important to look at why we don't exercise in order to change. If cannot find a really important reason why you don't exercise, then you might want to look at your excuses that you make in order to talk yourself out of exercise.

It is human nature to be creative, and most of us become VERY creative when we start our day searching for reasons why we cannot workout. We need to congratulate ourselves! We’re clever! And our excuses are probably very predictable and come up every morning.

You have a choice. Do you want excuses to have the power over the quality of your life, your health, your vitality and wellbeing?

Before you talk yourself out of exercising, try changing your focus. What if you couldn't exercise? Really imagine that. What if, for the rest of your life, you were unable to exercise or move your body freely again? Wouldn't you be more grateful to do your exercises today?

Sometimes all we have to do is change a single thought, and we are motivated again. Take a few moments and find out what that thought might be for you.

Think about how energized and alive you feel when you are moving and breathing fully. Imagine yourself young, strong, healthy, fit and grateful to be in a body that can still exercise!

Remember what it feels like to be in the middle of your workout feeling exhilarated and all your problems seem to have disappeared. How many times have you heard yourself say "I'm so glad I’m here. I almost didn’t workout this morning!"

Remember those moments. Remember those feelings. Give them the power. Not the excuses.... Our job at WaterGym is to continually create challenging, fun and stimulating new workouts, so you’re never bored and you look forward to exercising.

Your job is to get out of bed and into the pool!