The Unknown Swimmer's Water Aerobics Regimen
Who is the Unknown Swimmer? That’s unknown. But who the heck cares? He has developed a 20-minute aquatic exercise regimen that he finds so helpful that he does it daily. It helps fibromyalgia, hyperaesthesia, PTSD, whiplash, collapsed and/or herniated spinal disc symptoms, myofascial pain, TMJ, and even allergies, in his experience, and works better than medicine, exercise equipment, or anything else, especially if combined with massages and special back stretching exercises.
The big reason this regimen works is that it uses a lot of muscles (gently), gives a reasonable amount of exercise, and
uses the therapeutic value of zero gravity. He repeats a few moves and varies arm motions until he gets in 30 minutes a day, but you may not have the time. If you do, take it!
Any flotation device that keeps you floating with your head above water when you're still and not treading water will give you the zero gravity effect. If you want or need to give leg muscles an extra workout, use aerobic shoes as well. They will increase water resistance 2 or 3 times.
The Unknown Swimmer never goes in the water without a flotation device that allows him to float and this relaxes the collapsed and herniated spinal discs. (It is good to ask a back doctor for back stretching exercises tailored for each individual patient according to his needs, so that the muscles around injured areas can strengthen and thereby act as a better back support system. If you have no injuries but merely find the zero gravity water environment relaxes sore back muscles, that’s okay too.) Another reason the Unknown Swimmer uses zero gravity is because, unlike with swimming, his body can remain relatively vertical in the water, thereby avoiding strain to injured neck areas. Swimming and dog-paddling makes one constantly hold up one’s head and neck, which can be counterproductive to neck health, depending on the type of injuries and their permanence status.
To use the following regimen, study the diagrams and videos (all VERY short and all accessible for running by just double-clicking the mouse button when your cursor is on the silly picture of the Unknown Swimmer demonstrating the move diagrammed to the left of the picture, or by clicking a play button in Windows Media Player).
*DISCLAIMER
Double-click images to animate them except click top Play button for Windows Media Player