← Back to Exercise Catalog

WATER JOGGING AND AGILITY

Develop faster gait, power, and dynamic balance through jogging and quick direction changes in water for higher functioning youth.

Focus Lower Body
Environment Hydrotherapy pool or leisure pool with shallow to chest-deep water and handrail or wall access
Pool Depth Partially Anchored
Supervision Required
Equipment None

How to Perform

  1. Stand in waist-to-chest deep water with feet hip-width apart and arms bent at about ninety degrees at the sides.
  2. Begin jogging on the spot, lifting the knees comfortably and driving the arms through the water in an alternating pattern.
  3. Transition to jogging forward across the pool, maintaining a quick but controlled tempo and upright trunk.
  4. Add short agility drills such as quick side-steps, small zig-zag paths, or rapid forward–backward changes over a marked distance.
  5. Alternate one to two minutes of jogging and agility work with brief walking recovery periods as tolerated.

Key Execution Cues

Remember: Keep movements light and springy rather than heavy, maintain knee alignment over toes, and use strong arm swings to help drive the body through the water.

Safety & Precautions

Important: Avoid in children with acute lower limb injuries or poorly controlled heart or respiratory conditions; modify for high spasticity or severe fatigue.

Additional Safety Notes: Check that the pool floor is non-slippery, maintain adequate spacing between participants, and monitor closely for signs of overexertion or loss of coordination.

Exercise Modifications

Make it Harder (Progressions)

Increase jogging time or speed, add more complex patterns such as figure-eight paths, or shorten recovery intervals between bouts.

Make it Easier (Regressions)

Return to slower marching between short jogging bursts, reduce direction changes, or keep to straight-line jogging only.

Audience

Child

Therapeutic Notes

Pediatric gait training and lower limb mobility rehabilitation in water

Clinical Conditions

  • Cerebral Palsy
  • Developmental Delay
  • Neuromuscular Disorders

Modality

  • Individual
  • Group

Benefits

Improved cardiovascular fitness, Increased lower limb power, Enhanced agility and reaction, Better dynamic postural control

Muscles Worked

  • quadriceps
  • hamstrings
  • glutes
  • calves
  • core
  • hips

Equipment Needed

No equipment required - just you and the water!

When to Use

  • Main set

Exercise Tags

cardio power agility children ADHD Lower Body

Attribution

Source TypePDF
Original AuthorAnna Ogonowska-Slodownik et al.
ContributorAI Extraction Agent
PublicationAquatic Therapy in Children and Adolescents with Disabilities: A Scoping Review
LicenseCC BY 4.0
Credit RequiredYes
Date Created2025-11-30
Last Modified2025-11-30
Original URLhttps://doi.org/10.3390/children11111404

External Source

TypePDF
URLhttps://doi.org/10.3390/children11111404
Additional InfoLevel 4 variant integrating jogging and agility drills, conceptually consistent with moderate-to-vigorous aquatic exercise programs reported for cerebral palsy and ADHD.