Kickboards are an inexpensive investment that can power up your pool workout routine and help you achieve toned, svelte legs. Made of foam, the boards come in many shapes and sizes, offer varying degrees of flotation support and are virtually indestructible. As far as exercise accessories go, they are universally beneficial for both beginning and advanced swimmers.
Floatation and Stability
The swimming pool is an ideal environment for low-impact, total-body workouts, but not everyone is confident in their water-treading abilities. Gripping a kickboard for floatation and stability can help you take advantage of a water-based workout. The buoyant device allows you to focus less on staying afloat and more on effective form as you propel through the water. Kickboards are helpful for training with a partner or swimming coach, who can stabilize the board while providing tips on skills, from mastering the basics of timed breathing to more advanced stroke techniques.
Leg Strength
A kickboard is a powerful and affordable piece of equipment that can accelerate the path to gorgeous gams. According to “Fitness" magazine, pool workouts help target and eliminate fat while strengthening and shaping muscles, especially in the legs. Concentrate your efforts on sculpting those stems by employing a kickboard and kick your way to long, lean muscles. As a bonus, exercise in the water helps save your legs from higher-impact injuries, such as shin splints or knee pain.
Kicking Skills
To develop stellar swimming skills, it’s often helpful to concentrate on a singular strength before working to combine them into coordinated, fluid movements. Even competitive swimmers of advanced standing use kickboards to build and sustain their kicking abilities, according to USA Swimming, the United States’ governing body for the sport of swimming. Occasionally, a kickboard may aggravate shoulder muscles as it pulls the body up towards the surface of the water. If you find using a kickboard makes your shoulder sore, the U.S. Masters Swimming organization recommends using a smaller board equipped with less floatation support.
Resistance
Kickboards also provide upper-body benefits when they are used in combination with water tension to create resistance. MayoClinic.com recommends holding the submerged kickboard out to the side with a hand on each end. Then, push the board through the water towards the center of your body and back again. Complete several repetitions of this movement on each side of the body to strengthen and sculpt arm muscles that are worthy of your favorite sleeveless blouse.
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Writer Bio
Based in Los Angeles, Monica Stevens has been a professional writer since 2005. She covers topics such as health, education, arts and culture, for a variety of local magazines and newspapers. Stevens holds a Bachelor of Arts in journalism, with a concentration in film studies, from Pepperdine University.