The New Face of Aqua Programmes
Jenny is a fitness consultant with 20 years of industry experience as a manager, educator, Les Mills trainer/presenter. Currently she is the owner director of WaterWorks Fitness Ltd. Jenny consults and trains group exercise instructors in the delivery of WaterWorks.
Now in the summer of 2012 there has never been a better time to bring pool fitness class timetables into the 21st century with the variety of new vogue branded aqua programmes that are now available.
Over the last two decades we have seen studio timetables develop beyond all recognition to what is familiar today with any number of branded class programmes covering all genres of exercise modality and catering for all partialities of the general populace. To date there has been no such revolution in pool programming with classes often simply labelled as shallow and deep where appropriate.
What better time to seize the opportunity to give our pool fitness timetables the look, feel and attitude of the 21st century and help them to then attract new participants of all walks of life. As we know water exercise is possibly one of the best ways to introduce sedentary people into a structured activity programme but has the stigma of being the reserve of the older and overweight participant and not a modality that is overly effective of on trend.
Anyone in charge of a pool timetable has to now seriously consider scheduling Aqua Zumba and capitalising on the draw of the Zumba brand to the pool workout environment. The introduction of one new branded programme such as Zumba gives the opportunity to revamp, dictate class content and rename existing scheduled classes consequently providing timetables with a facelift.
The Zumba phenomenon has got a whole new group of people moving in the community the length and breadth of the UK with arguably the vast majority benefitting more from performing this sort of activity in the water due to its various beneficial properties. Aqua Zumba is obviously a great solution and draw card to swimming pools across the UK.
The basic Zumba formula of Music, Core movements or steps and Choreography of course translates to the aqua exercise to music environment. The four step/music styles of Zumba; Merengue, Cumbia, Salsa and Reggaetron; also convert very well from their land origins to an Aqua workout with both steps being potentially being effective and music tempos suitable. In the hands of a knowledgeable skilled instructor an Aqua Zumba class brings the user friendly, fun and infectious feel of Zumba to the water with the Latin beats delivering a potentially great cardiovascular, muscle toning and lengthening workout. As with so many classes the really infectious environment is generally delivered by a charismatic instructor who builds a great following and therefore that amazing camaraderie that a group fitness class can deliver. Whilst Aqua Zumba choreography is provided for Aqua Zumba instructors as with any Zumba program the actual class content is down to the instructor and therefore exposed to that instructors ability. Understanding how to deliver effective Aqua choreography to music of a suitable tempo is definitely an acquired skill and is therefore a potential problem with the content of any aqua class including Zumba. Despite the potential quality assurance issues that Aqua Zumba poses the marketing potential and on-trend brand should be seriously considered for an injection of life into the swimming pool.
When looking at a pool class timetable revamp obviously existing popular classes should be retained and their content considered prescribing content for other freestyle shallow and deep water classes; so as to create a type of in-house brand.
Other freestyle class types, which are of course, like any freestyle programme, open to fluctuations of quality depending on instructor, that are going to bring a fresh look, and more importantly attract a wider range of participants to water exercise, including new-comers, include Aqua running or Aqua jog, and Aqua Circuit or Aqua Boot-Camp. Both these class programmes will help attract men into this exercise modality.
Another Aqua programme that is available in the UK that is licence free but pre-choreographed and quality assured through assessment is WaterWorks. This relative new-comer to the market provides a well-designed interval based Aqua workout which uses equipment in selected tracks to help improve its effectiveness. WaterWorks uses mixed music styles and genres that tend to appeal to the average UK class participant independent of age and therefore has proved incredibly popular when delivered well. As the training advises a quality assurance assessment of a whole class then the programmer can rely on a competent class deliver if the instructor is certified. The ups and downs of the WaterWorks class journey may not at present be recognised by a participant as the WaterWorks brand as many classes are working where the operator has not seized the promotional opportunity of a new, fresh and on-trend programme for their timetable.
With a bit of knowledge of what programmes are now available, pool timetable design, instructor recruitment and training there is no reason why every pool schedule shouldn’t where availability permits boast a blend of four or five different programmes including, “Aqua Zumba”, “WaterWorks”, “Circuit”, “Running” and traditional “Aqua”. With use of brand logos and an appropriate marketing plan these “New Look” Aqua Timetables have the power to attract a whole new generation of participant as well as to satisfy the existing client base. It is definitely time that we give the power to our pool schedules that our studio timetables have now had for years.
By Jenny Jolliffe