How underwater kick-boxing and spinning classes made aqua fitness ‘cool’

It’s a new, if not odd, sight inside some public pools in the American capital, Washington: people kicking submerged punchbags, spinning on poles that rise from the water, jumping up and down on floating boards.

For about six months, hundreds of residents have been getting their feet wet with new “HydroSuite” classes – part of Mayor Muriel Bowser’s #FitDC initiative. HydroPole, HydroKick and HydroBoard join HydroSpin (the water version of land favourite, spinning), offered since 2015.

While hydro fitness has been around for decades, its “cool” factor has shot up over the past few years. Now you can find hydro classes cropping up in gyms in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen and university campuses such as the University of Oklahoma.

They are extremely popular internationally, too, in countries such as Canada, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

The re-brand partly comes thanks to the promotional efforts of the non-profit Aquatic Exercise Association (AEA). Julie See, director of education at the AEA, says that “getting more people to understand the benefits of water … and the wide range of classes now available has helped to promote water exercise as beneficial for all ages and abilities”.

Aqua classes are no longer primarily viewed as the classes your grandmother takes.

That’s because so many of the hip new hydro classes are serious calorie burners, at 500 to 800 calories an hour.

With a focus on cardiorespiratory fitness, muscle strength and endurance, flexibility, neuromotor training and body composition, See says hydro classes can easily be modified to meet different exercise needs.

The biggest downside is the chlorine or bromine used to keep swimming pools clean, which can be a skin irritant for some participants.