Doing just two to three hours of one exercise a week could help you lose weight, body fat, and heart rate, boost calorie burning, and reduce the risk of injury.
A new study by Korean and Chinese scientists uncovered this after following nearly 300 participants aged between 20 and 70.
According to the study published in the BMJ Open journal, all participants were overweight or obese and adhered to the exercise regimen for at least four weeks.
Participants engaged in hour-long classes two or three times per week, performing routines such as zumba, yoga, aerobics, or jogging, but in water.
On average, participants lost 2kg, or 4.4lbs, before the tenth week.
Those who continued the regimen for ten weeks or more lost an average of 3kg, or 6.6lbs.
The study found that women over the age of 45 particularly benefited from this exercise technique. Participants also saw their average waist size decrease by 3cm, or 1.1 inches.
However, weight loss wasn’t the only advantage of the water-based fitness programme.
Participants also managed to lower their heart rate and body fat percentage, while keeping the strain and pressure of exercise away from crucial joints like the knees and ankles, which are often weak or painful in individuals with obesity.
Researchers have uncovered that water-based workouts may be a powerful tool in combatting obesity, suggesting they can serve as an “effective intervention” to decrease body weight. But they caution that further investigations across broader demographics are necessary to establish whether aquatic exercises eclipse the efficacy of land-based regimens.
Statistics by the NHS estimate that around one quarter of UK adults and one in five children aged 10-11 are classified as obese, meaning they have a BMI (Body Mass Index) between 30 and 39.9. People with a BMI of 40 or more fall into the “severely obese” bracket.
Meanwhile, individuals with a BMI from 25 to 29.9 are regarded as overweight. Nonetheless, the health service acknowledges that BMI is not a flawless measure as it does not account for factors such as muscle mass—denser than fat—or abdominal girth, which signifies substantial levels of harmful belly fat that can still be a health threat regardless of overall slim appearance.
