FITNESS IS ASSOCIATED with challenging exercises rather than rehabilitation, stretching hamstrings and spatial awareness. With age comes wisdom. Exercise wisdom does not mean tedious exercise – it means training smarter, not harder.
I created Midlife Fitness as a recovery program to strengthen my body following various surgeries and injuries. The most important lesson I learned is that there is no quick fix. I have spent years self-experimenting: I have trained with the like of Tatsuo Suzuki, the Japanese karateka who is instrumental in spreading the martial art of karate to Europe and the United States. I climbed a mountain and sat with a sage, travelled to India to practice yoga and explored many ancient disciplines to enable me to teach what I know to be the ultimate fix.
In the times we live in today, practices like yoga and meditation are essential components being incorporated into traditional training regimes to calm people down or increase their focus.
Researchers from Ulleval University Hospital in Norway report that people who use meditation after training reduce their production of lactate, the ache-inducing by-product of anaerobic exercise, and recover their fitness levels faster.
More people should do KUN-AQUA, which emphasises slow movement, static positions, and extension poses. These movements do not negatively impact concentration and body function and make it harder to hyper-extend joints. KUN-AQUA emphasises awareness and quality of movement, two significant components to living well.
Static poses in the water require the muscles to work hard to stabilise the body. Not only is core stability a foundation for movement, but being more stable allows you to increase your range of motion.
The great thing about KUN-AQUA is that it's performed at a slow pace. When walking or running outside, you don't have time to think about hip rotation, but you'll have all the time in the world to focus on body movement while doing KUN-AQUA. It can improve your kinaesthetic awareness, and that can improve your gait.
Again, the slow, controlled movements of KUN-AQUA allow you to detect muscular imbalances. Most people tend to have stronger muscles on one side of their body because we are generally left or right-sided. Those asymmetries can lead to injury if not corrected. KUN-AQUA can help.
I often meet middle-aged people with various aches and pains who quickly tell me why they cannot exercise. Although I have chronic knee pain, exercise enables me to function and control the pain. My mother had arthritis and I am beginning to develop the disorder myself. I suppose that makes me an 'Arthritic Athlete'.
I can't reverse my arthritis, but I am slowing down the progression of the disease and managing the condition. The KUN-AQUA exercise not only eases my pain but also helps me maintain and even improve my own self-awareness.
KUN-AQUA exercise avoids putting too much strain on the joints. The low impact exercises are a better option for people with arthritis. Also, there are not too many movements that twist the joints, which can increase the pain that arthritis causes.
I have witnessed how this exercise effectively reduces pain and improves function and quality of life in clients with osteoarthritis.
Strengthening the muscles around the joints is an essential element of the treatment for osteoarthritis, as it helps to improve cartilage quality, nerve activation and coordination between muscles. Moreover, stronger muscles help the joints to absorb body weight while walking. Strong muscles facilitate the absorption and distribution of weight at the hip and knee joints, thereby increasing stability and improving function and mobility.
KUN-AQUA exercises are particularly beneficial for overweight and older patients with osteoarthritis. The waves and buoyancy of water support the body's weight, reducing the impacts on joints and the intensity of pain.
To conclude, the water’s aqua static pressure helps relax the muscles, relieve stress, reduce muscle stiffness, and facilitate movement. Athletes who use KUN-AQUA exercises do so because they understand that it is the epitome of training smarter, not harder. So, if it is good enough for world-class athletes, it is good enough for you.
