Hydrotherapy programme

Aerobic Exercises

Aqua Jogging

Wearing an Aqua belt start with a light jog around the pool to warm-up.

Do two laps clockwise around the pool followed by two laps anti-clockwise.

Increasing difficulty: running with hands out of the water, Back straight and tall or increase the speed of the running.

Kicking with a float

Instructions:
-Kick from the hip
-Relax knees/feet 
-Small amplitude 

To increase difficulty:
-Increase speed of kick
-Vary the depth of legs High rate (deeper = harder, shallower=easier)

Stretching Exercise

Hamstrings

-Foot up 2-3 steps
-Hold Bars and lean forward towards toes
-Keep the leg on the step and your back straight.
-Hold for 20-30 seconds on each leg and repeat 3 times.

Quads/hip flexors

-Stand on the stairs or in shallow water
-Raise your heel to you buttock, holding your foot with your hand keep body upright with your thigh in line with your hips and back.
-Hold for 20-30 seconds on each leg and repeat 3 times.

Calf

-Standing on the steps
-Walk heels off the back of the steps and allow heels to sink.
-Hold for 20-30 seconds

Adductors

-Stand side on to the steps
-One foot up 2/3 steps, push your hips away from this leg
-Should feel a stretch in your groin.

Chest

-Stand parallel to the wall
-Stretch arm behind body parallel to the shoulder.
-Keeping arm against the wall, turn your torso away from the wall.

Triceps
-Reach behind head with hand.
-Use opposite hand to apply a downward pressure through the elbow
-Stretch should be felt down the back of the arm

Internal Rotators
-Standing with your hand on a pole/wall
-Turn torso towards opposite arm while keeping other arm against pole/wall with the elbow tucked in beside the body
-Hold for 20-30 seconds.

External Rotators
-Bring hand behind your back.
-Walk your thumb up towards your shoulder blades.
-To assist movement hold a towel in hand and use opposite hand to pull hand up back.
-Hold for 20 – 30 seconds.

Lower Back
-In the water facing wall holding on with two hands for support.
-Bring both your knee up towards your chest while holding onto the wall (try to make a small ball)

Strengthening

Obliques
-Standing in chest/waist depth of water
-Hold float in two hands.
-Rotate torso with float on top/underneath the water level
-Try to draw arch in the water
-You should feel the muscles in your side working

Triceps 
-With water weights
-From elbows bent straighten these underwater till down by sides
-Perform the movement slowly to control the speed of the weights

Chest
-With a float in two hands
-Push/pull water away and towards the body.
-Vary the angle of the float to change the difficulty.

Internal rotators
-With hand against pole/wall
-Keeping elbow close to body try to bring your hand towards your body.
-Repeat 5 times holding for 10seconds each repetition.

External rotators
-Standing against the wall with forearm resting against the wall
-Push hand into the wall
-Repeat 5 times holding for 10 seconds each repetition.

Hip Flexors
-In the water either standing in shoulder depth water or in deep water with arm on side of the pool for support.
-Move your leg from fully behind to fully in front of the body.
-Initially start with the knee flexed then move onto doing the movement with the leg straight

Hip Abduction 
-Facing the wall of the pool with hands on the wall for support while in the water.
-Keep your leg straight. Move your leg out to the side as far as comfortable then lower back into your body

Hip Rotation
-Facing the wall of the pool while in the water.
-With one leg bend knee up to around 90 degrees.
-Then take knee out to the side within a comfortable range.