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Origin

Similar to other fitness varieties, aquafitness also came into being in the United States. First it was the land-based fitness and aerobics types that were elaborated, despite the fact that the beneficial effects of water on the human body had been known for centuries.  For a long period of time it was swimming that utilized the beneficicial effects of water, but then the increasing significance of aerobics and fitness led to experiments, that is performing the exercises in water as well.  

 

It was more than 25 years ahgo that the popularity of aquafitness began to gain momentum. Glenn McWaters, the American soldier in the picture   - who, at the same time was an athletic trainer in the Navy -  is considered to have been the father of aquafitness. He was seriously injured in the leg during the Vietnam war. Medical experts did not give him any chance to be able to return to athletics, and this is why he elaborated a rehabilitation programme for himself. He also designed and prepared a special gear for himself, a vest, made from sponge-like material. The so-called Wet Vest made it possible for him to run in the water without straining his leg. The water gymnastics, developed by Glenn McWaters became part of standard rehabilitation programmes and the vest designed by him was the forerunner of modern aquafitness belts.  

First water gymnastics was only used for the purposes of rehabilitation. Using the method of water gymnastics sportspeople with injuries could be brought back to their everyday routines as fast as possible., The exercises proved so beneficial that sportspeople soon began to use them as part of their preparatory training programme. It took several years until aqua fitness could be redefined as an independent kind of sports, available for everyday people as well.  

In the United States it was a problem for many people who did land-based aerobic exercises that after a time they had to give up due to spinal and joint problems. Fitness training was also too strenuous for the elderly and for those who were overweight.  They often suffered from muscular injuries. Since these people were more in need of exercise, than the younger and healthier ones, water aerobic exercies were elaborated specifically for them.

For further information see:

http://fittmamiklub.hu/aquafitnesz

The other person who played a major role in the elaboration of the aquafitness movement was Mimi Rodriguez Adami from Italy. Learning from the fitness craze of the 1980s she did water gymnastic exercises with music as early as 1988. In 1995 her attempts were recognized by the relevant international sports organiztaions and she elaborated and launched an official  training programme in Italy for trainers who would become the instructors of this new kind of sports. She is the one who first called it aquafitness.

Aquafitness combines the exercises of aerobics and those of gymnastics. It can boast all the beneficial health effects of water-based movements.