No you perverts, not that kind of fun. Exercise. Low impact, resistance exercises. I love them. My knees and back are so messed up that I'm lucky if I can get to the end of the driveway (about 75 feet) and back to the house without being in pain. I can walk and work out in the water relatively pain free for hours. Literally.

The warmth of the water helps loosen up the muscles. The lack of impact helps the joints not hurt nearly as bad and when I get tired and need to stop, I just float. I already feel better. I have no idea what the comparison is scientifically, but I know I can do for an hour in the water what I could only to for a couple minutes on land.

One thing I love about being in the water is it allows me to comfortably perform many different exercises. I can simply walk in deep water, tread water, use resistance tools (more on those in a minute) all without worrying about damaging my body, not being able to move the following day and not falling on my ass. I can stretch much better in the water than out. That helps with the muscle and joint pain too.

They make some fantastic tools for working out in the water. I use the bar bells almost every time I'm in the water and believe me, they work.

nefitcoThese are quite similar to the ones they have at the pool I use. Just a different company and color, same general tool. I use them to do upper body work, biceps and triceps and my back. Essentially anything you would use a barbell for in the gym. I also use them when walking in the water.

They also have various options for your feet and legs. This company and others. Some simply offer resistance, others offer resistance by using flotation and still others are simply leg weights wrapped in water friendly material, similar to what you would use while scuba diving.

5 Different Types of Water Weights

Those who are looking at the benefits of aqua aerobics or other water exercises may be considering how different water weights can help with different kinds of underwater exercises. Water weights, specially designed with foam to be useful underwater, provide for some specific kinds of exercise that combine enhanced resistance with the natural guided motions that make underwater workouts safe and effective. Here are some of the most popular underwater workout tools that trainers are looking at for helping clients to benefit from an underwater fitness session.

Water Dumbbells

These hand-held underwater weights are much like traditional dumbbells. They are good for a variety of underwater exercises, like curls, lunges, good mornings, lateral raises, and a variety of other "aqua free weight" techniques.

Water Barbells

These free weight tools relate to traditional barbells in much the same way that water dumbbells relate to traditional dumbbell-free weights. Users of water barbells can do raises, deadlifts, etc. The barbell essentially provides for working both arms and the whole upper body equally.

Ankle and Wrist Weights

A variety of foam weights attached to the ankles and wrists provide for increased resistance in underwater aerobics and other activities like running in place or moving the arms in variety of exercises. Many different traditional fitness activities, like calisthenics, tai chi, and other specialized activities, are adapted to underwater practice with these "wearable" aqua weights.

Kickboards and Pull Buoys

These types of water weights attach to either the upper body or the lower body to put demands on the area of the body that is not floating. With a kickboard, the user rests the upper body on the floating board and kicks with the legs. With a pull buoy, the reverse principle is used: the user floats the lower body and swims with the arms.

Foot Pads

Specialized water weights attached to the soles of the feet allow for unique underwater activities that put demands on the lower body. These kinds of new tools are interesting in their role within an aqua fitness session. Some might see these flat boards as the underwater equivalent to snowshoes, but the special resistance that they provide allows for strengthening many of the body's muscle groups as the entire body works to bring the legs up through the water, against the resistance of the weights.
These are just some of the most popular water weights that are used in aqua fitness programs. Trainers are finding these kinds of activities useful for anyone with limitations or joint and muscle vulnerability. The elderly can benefit from modified aqua aerobics or underwater fitness activities. These are also popular in rehabilitation sessions. Even those who are in perfect health can benefit from the guided motions of underwater workouts. Take a look at what these water weight tools can do for promoting a holistic physical fitness regimen under water and helping to prevent first-time or recurring joint or muscle injury.

Get more out of your aquatic workout by using resistance footwear. AquaJogger AquaRunners increase your drag to better tone your muscles and provide a challenging aerobic workout while aqua running. Aquarunners are also used to perform inner/outer thigh, knee flexion/extension, and hip flexion/extension exercises. The one size fits all Aquarunners feature a quick rubber top lace plus heel strap for a secure fit. Constructed of soft, durable EVA foam. Includes a free waterproof workout guide.

isokinetics.inc is another company that offers these tools. In fact if you check google you can find various companies that carry them in various forms shapes and colors. I have even seen a couple people with home made versions.My point is, regardless of personal preference, they work.

Here are some ideas on how to use them:

Hydro-Tone Upper Body Exercises 1-3

Water Weights Exercise #1

Paddle Wheel-Forward/Reverse - Warm-up the shoulders and chest. Start slow and gain speed. Churn the bells one over the other in front of the body in a forward circular motion. Then reverse the motion and "paddle" them backwards.
Focus: Shoulders, chest, and arms
Option: Combine with WW#10 or WW#15

Water Weights Exercise #2

Running/Cross-Country Arms - Begin with imitation of runner's arm movement with elbows bent at 90 degrees. Gradually extend the swinging motion until the arms are nearly straight. Add knee bends to the BIG swing.
Focus: Shoulders, chest, back, and arms
Option: Combine with WW#13

Water Weights Exercise #3

Karate Punch and Pull - Alternately punch the water and draw the bells back to your body. Keep abdominal muscles tight.
Focus: Shoulders, chest, back, and arms
Option: Combine with WW#10, #16, or #17.

Hydro-Tone Water Weights Exercises 4-6

Water Weights Exercise #4

Shoulder Shrugs - With arms hanging at your side, move only the shoulders up, back, and downward, in a "shrugging" motion. Move the bells in larger circles until transitioned to full "plunging" motion. Add knee bends or backward walk.
Focus: Shoulders, back, and arms
Option: Combine with WW#13

Water Weights Exercise #5

Plunges - Begin with bells at your sides, arms nearly straight. Alternately raise the bells to your armpits and lower them. (Up, down, up, down).
Focus:Shoulders, back, and arms.
Option:Combine with WW#13

Water Weights Exercise #6

Lateral Raise/Press - Begin with the bells at your side. Swing the bells out and upward, and then return. Start with small swings and progressively increase up to a maximum height of the shoulders. KEEP ELBOWS SLIGHTLY BENT!
Focus:Shoulders, chest, and back
Option:Combine with WW#12

Hydro-Tone Water Weights Exercises 7-9

Water Weights Exercise #7

Flys - Begin with bells together in front of and close to the chest. Move bells outward and shoulders back; then return. Gradually make the movements wider and farther from the body. Keep abdominals tight and do not allow the back to arch.
Focus: Chest, shoulders, back, and abdominals
Option: Combine with WW#12

Water Weights Exercise #8

Elbow Curls/Extensions - Begin with one arm nearly straight down at your side and the other bent to position the bell near the shoulder. Alternately bend and extend the elbows.
Focus: Arms; biceps/triceps
Option: Combine with WW#14 or #15

Water Weights Exercise #9

Rotator Cuff - Keep elbows at your sides bent to 90 degrees. Rotate the bells outward and then together again.
Focus: Shoulders and rotator cuff muscles
Option: Combine with WW#12

Hydro-Tone Water Weights Exercises 10-12

Water Weights Exercise #10

Walk Forward-Backward - Begin with feet shoulder width apart. Step forward, with small steps and gradually increase the stride. Same for walking backwards. Keep abdominals tight.
Focus: Legs and trunk warmup
Option: Combine with WW#1 or #3

Water Weights Exercise #11

Soldier March - As you walk forward, bring the knee up high and kick the foot forward, before you swing the leg down. Alternate legs. Keep abdominals tight. Squeeze buttocks as you swing the leg down without arching the back.
Focus: Buttocks, tights and legs
Option: Combine with WW#2 or #3

Water Weights Exercise #12

Side Step - Keep the feet facing forward the entire time. Step one foot out to the side and bring the other to it. Step and repeat, then change direction. Take wider steps as you warm up the legs.
Focus: Buttocks, inner and outer thighs.
Option: Combine with WW#6, #7 or #9

Hydro-Tone Water Weights Exercises 13-15

Water Weights Exercise #13

Lunge - Step forward one foot in front of the other. Gradually increase the stride as you drop the back knee, keeping the torso erect. Drive forward on front foot to a standing position. Keep abdominals tight.
Focus: Buttocks, thighs, and legs
Option: Combine with WW#2, #4 or #5

Water Weights Exercise #14

High Knees Out - Alternately raise your knees, bringing them out to the side as far as comfortable. Begin with slow movements and increase speed until it resembles a jog in place. Keep abdominals tight.
Focus: Buttocks, thighs, and legs
Option: Combine with WW#8

Water Weights Exercise #15

Heel Kickers - Stand with feet shoulder width apart. Bend the knee and raise the foot to the rear, as if to kick the buttocks. Alternate legs, keep abdominals tight. Start slow, caution must be taken in training the hamstrings.
Focus: Buttocks, thighs, and legs
Option: Combine with WW#1 or #8

Hydro-Tone Water Weights Exercises 16-18

Water Weights Exercise #16

Karate Kickers - This is a 4-count movement of: 1) lift the foot, 2)kick to the side, 3)bring the foot back under the hip, and 4) stand.
Focus: Buttocks, thighs, and trunk
Option: Combine with WW#3

Water Weights Exercise #17

Runner's Stride - Stand sideways holding onto a wall. Slightly bend the leg closest to the wall to protect the knee joint. Raise the other leg and start to perform a runner's movement. Gradually raise the knee higher and kick the foot out more forcefully, and pull the leg down straight towards the bottom, and then kick the heel up. Repeat this circular type of movement with the same leg. Turn around and exercise the other leg equally. Protect the back and get the most from this exercise by raising the chest and standing tall, with tight abdominals as the leg is pulled down and then the foot is pulled up.
Focus: Buttocks, thighs, and hamstrings
Option: Combine with WW#3

Water Weights Exercise #18

Side leg lift-plie' - Stand facing the wall. Sweep right leg out towards the surface. Pull it back down and behind the left leg while doing a plie'. Repeat several swings up and down with the right leg while standing on the left. Switch legs.
Focus: Buttocks, thighs, and trunk

6 Lower Body Exercises with Water Weights

Water weights are some of the newest fitness gear that everyone seems to be talking about in gyms and training rooms all over the country. Trainers are realizing that using water weights in a swimming pool fitness routine can help build muscles, while providing more support and decreasing the chance of injury. The specific resistance formed by water makes aqua training a superior way to boost a person's overall body capacity. Those who have access to a gym with a pool can incorporate these kinds of innovative sessions into their workouts.
Many water weights are made for specific types of exercise. Some experts classify them according to upper body and lower body categories. Here are some of the most popular lower body exercises that use specific lower body water weights to increase the power of the legs and related lower body muscle groups.

1. Underwater Running

Individuals can run in place underwater to get some of the benefits of traditional running with less of an impact on the joints. Ankle weights can help provide more resistance for this common aerobic activity.

2. Squats

Doing exercises like squats underwater will provide a resistance challenge with water weights that push the body back up toward the surface.

3. Underwater Jumping Jacks

Some lateral motion aerobics can also be done with ankle and foot water weights for increased resistance and training for the foot, leg and hip muscles.

4. Swimming

A different kind of water weight called a kickboard helps to work the lower body in a different way. With kickboards, the user floats the front half of the body, so that the lower body has to do all of the work of propelling the body across the pool. A reverse kind of activity with a tool called a pull buoy works the upper body.

5. Walking with Foot Pads

Wide, flat foam pads called foot pads make walking underwater a good way to challenge a variety of leg muscles. With the feet strapped to these foam weights, muscles have to respond to increased challenge forces, and this helps to build a stronger lower body and core.

6. Underwater Free Weight Exercises

Other kinds of hand-held water weights called water dumbbells or water barbells help individuals to accomplish many different kinds of aqua activities based on traditional free weight routines. From curls and lifts to other more specialized exercises, these handy foam weights help to make sure that different parts of the body get challenged during a routine.
Along with the above activities, those involved in aquatic fitness routines can enjoy a lot of different "weight free" aerobics and other activities where the natural force of the water helps work muscles. Some enjoy traditional swimming and underwater calisthenics, and other prefer to train with water weights. Either kind of training can be a helpful addition to a regular fitness routine, especially for seniors and individuals with physical limitations (or those who are going through rehabilitation from a sports injury).

What Are Water Weights?

Water weights are used for water aerobics and other kinds of aquatic activities that are added to many modern fitness programs. Water weights are specific weighted tools designed to be used underwater. Rather than being made of heavy metals, like traditional free weights, water weights may incorporate foam elements to provide specific resistance underwater.

Using Water Weights

The idea of water weights relates to the general idea of what experts call resistance training. Resistance is simply the force that acts against a limb or body part to challenge the body. In many types of exercise, including exercises with free weights, resistance bands, fixed weight machines, and other tools, the resistance is provided by weight; and the force of gravity is what the body is working against.
Physical fitness experts have found that aquarobics and other water activities provide a unique opportunity for resistance training.
What happens in traditional resistance training is that the limbs and muscles may be tempted to move more quickly or suddenly than they should. This is a problem that has been known to cause workout injuries. However, for some fitness participants, including the elderly, injuries can happen even with the proper use of form in free weight activities, when the resistance becomes too great for a muscle group.
Water workouts provide a lot of injury protection. When someone works out underwater, her limbs and muscles are naturally limited to a slower pace of movement, and the more intense effects of gravity are blunted by the “buffer impact” of the denser aquatic environment. The water guides movements to prevent some kinds of injuries.

Water Weights and Additional Resistance

Those who are working out underwater use water weights to provide more resistance than just the resistance of the water. Additional resistance helps strengthen muscles faster and helps with promoting better bone density and overall body responses. Water weights can be hand-held free weights, or attached to the ankles, wrists, and even the torso, as in the case of a weighted vest. Fixed or attached weights serve a different purpose from those that are actively managed by participants in hand-held exercises such as bicep curls.
Another type of water weights helps with special swimming forms. These are called kick boards or pull buoys. A kick board helps to isolate the lower body by allowing the upper body to float, so the swimmer uses the legs exclusively. With a pull buoy, the idea is reversed and the lower body floats while the swimmer swims with the arms.
Aside from helping to prevent injury, water aerobics with water weights provide much more balanced training options. Trainers also point out that working out under water helps participants avoid a lot of the effects of the sweating that occurs along with exertion.
Personal trainers and other experts can help clients build specific water weight training programs that suit their specific needs. These new kinds of workouts can help those with limited range of motion or vulnerable joints and muscles to work out safely in an aquatic environment.

One more great article from livestrong

I do hope someone finds this information useful, I know it's helped me a great deal and I fully intend to continue using it several times per weak.

****I have included links to all original material that I have borrowed. Please visit the original source of this information so they don't sue me. Thanks*******

Fun in the water