The ‘pool pump’: exercises to take care of that muscle pump in the pool

Geschatte leestijd: 4 minuten There you are; on vacation by the pool. Those few days or weeks of the year when you can walk without a shirt, but no muscle pump because the gym is 2 hours away by plane. With the exercises below, you can cool down and step out of the pool pumped up. Although cooling down…

Pool pump

I never understand when people say it’s ‘too nice a day’, ‘too hot to go training’. For me, it works the other way around. My motivation to train increases as the required amount of clothing decreases. That doesn’t mean I don’t train properly all year round, but the need for a muscle pump is often less when you’re wearing three layers of clothing. And let’s be honest; isn’t it wonderful to take off your shirt at the beach with a post-gym pump, pretending to be indifferent. Enjoying the vitamin D and soaking up envy. However, on vacation, you don’t always have access to a gym, and that rickety ‘gym’ in the hotel, consisting of two bikes and a broken treadmill, doesn’t get you anywhere. Fear not! With these exercises, you can work on your pump unseen in the pool. So you can come out pumped from the pool and walk to your towel shaking your hair in slow motion. Right away, the first tip: When you leave the pool, do so like a ‘seated dip’, with your back to the edge of the pool and your hands behind you on the edge. You effortlessly and smoothly push yourself up (which can be quite a challenge) and, of course, linger unnecessarily long at the top of the movement because your triceps are so beautifully tensed. Only then do you pull your buttocks onto the edge and stand up. Preferably with a ‘naked terminator rise’, real fans will understand what I mean. The easier variant is, of course, to push yourself up while facing the edge, with your hands in front of you. But if you want to make an impression, do it right. You can also enter the pool with the ‘water dip’. However, you’ll look a bit like a sissy if you sit at the edge as if you’re still getting used to the water. The only way to enter the water is, of course, with an elegant dive with your arms in perfect position for the most beautiful V-shape.

Pool pump exercises

Fellow narcissists have of course long discovered that you can do most arm exercises underwater that you also do in the gym. Advantage of the water; you have the natural resistance of the water with every movement. Disadvantage; that natural resistance sucks. Of course, you could take a barbell and 80 kilos of weights on vacation. I just don’t think the lifeguards will be happy if you dive into the water with a barbell from a stiff-legged deadlift. Also, you’ll have little space left in your luggage on the way back for the fake brand clothing from the black market. But well, it’s all about the muscle pump here. Sending enough blood to the ‘show muscles’ to blow them up like balloons. Once in the water, let’s start with the shoulders Front water raises 4 x 30 reps: Exactly like a dumbbell front raise for the front of the shoulders. Plenty of repetitions due to the low resistance. The only difference is that you perform these with open hands, fingers together, and palms facing forward. Ideally forming a flat bowl. In this way, creating the largest possible surface area and as much friction with the water as possible for more resistance. Moreover, in terms of hand position (‘supinated’), it’s a great way to isolate the front shoulder. Water side raises 4 x 30 reps: Also like normal side raises for the side shoulders. Now with the hand completely closed and fully extended, pushing the back of the hand outward. Breaststroke and freestyle: By now, you’ve been in the water in the same place for about ten minutes, making somewhat strange movements from the bystander’s perspective. So it’s time to tackle the rear shoulders with an old-fashioned breaststroke. Let’s make it four laps. The scientific basis for this is that the breaststroke doesn’t really look manly, so you quickly want to move on to the freestyle, aptly named for its potential to engage chest muscles. As a bonus, you also activate the latissimus dorsi (large back muscle) and triceps. Here we make eight laps. Just enough to come across as an experienced swimmer before you seemingly unscathed seek out the edge. Seemingly, I say, because this is probably the first time in a year that you’ve done cardio. After all, that six-pack is developed in the kitchen where you fortunately don’t have all-inclusive service all year round. Water cross overs: Once at the edge, we finish the chest exercise by standing with your back against the edge and bringing your arms to the side until horizontal. Then, with open hands, bring the palms facing forward toward each other. Keep the arms almost straight. Of course, do this with your back against the edge so you can’t push yourself backward and have more resistance. Let’s make it 3×30 reps. Water curls: Finally, a quick pump for the biceps with the water curls. Performed like a barbell curl, so palms facing forward. Again, however, with the hands open to form a flat bowl for ‘optimal’ resistance. You can increase resistance with some aids in almost any exercise except for the swimming part. You could perform the exercises with two table tennis bats for a larger surface area and more friction. It would just look a bit ridiculous to dive into a pool with two ping pong bats. However, you can take off swim fins underwater and place them on your hands. After your workout, leave the pool as mentioned, bathed in admiring glances. Directly and not first cooling off in the water, of course. Otherwise, you’ll lose your pump!

Water pump for the buttocks

The modern fitgirl, of course, also values well-developed chest muscles and arms. She also understands that you can’t pump blood everywhere and those smaller muscle groups benefit relatively more from it. But the average fitgirl nowadays often sees the buttocks as a unique selling point. In the next part, therefore, specific ‘pool pump’ exercises for the buttocks.