In the last article I looked at programs for prehab and strengthening. In this article I will address program design for fat loss and conditioning.
The aqua bag has an unstable nature, so when carrying out a normal movement the aquabag attempts to pull you off your course. Receptors in your muscles and joints monitor how the aquabag is trying to pull you off course and adapt to it.
The aquabag is randomly attempting to pull you off balance, this will load your body causing you to resist the load created by the directional pull of the aquabag.

These random contractions created by the muscles make the aquabag great for conditioning and core training/stability to name a few.
This is because of the load the aquabag spreads over your entire body, forcing you to contract muscles that are seldom used with conventional equipment.

Your stabilizing muscles will come into play a lot more and your prime movers will not fatigue as quickly (though they will still get a great workout) in the non jumping/ throwing exercises, because a lack of stability is often the weakest link. Eg, the difference between performing a squat and a lunge with a barbell. Most people will go from squats to lunges and they struggle with their balance until their stabilizers strengthen. Now, imagine performing a lunge with an object which has a tendency to become very unstable and random in its loading, as opposed to a smith machine which has a fixed plane of movement.

I’m sure we’ve all been privy to the latest craze in vibrating platform exercises (they’re all the rage with the over 70’s) that are probably just ok if you can justify forking out a few K on them, but if you want real, affordable, and challenging exercises then the aquabag is a great bit of equipment.

Remember, that with the aquabag you can regulate how unstable the load is. So if you want more strength, just fill up the bag which will decrease the amount of room the water has to splash around in an attempt to put you off balance… but if you want more stability, you can decrease the amount of water in the bag giving the water more area in which to move.

You can easy work aquabags into your workout or use them for a workout by them selves. Complexes are great for over all conditioning and fat loss.  You can use the complexes below or make up your own. Uses the table below for a month of training. If your are doing intermediate or advanced programs alternate program 1 and 2 with each session. If your just using the aquabag complexe in your workout add in a few more set. There is 3 months of training if you work through all the programs , enjoy.

Week

Session

Set

Reps

Load

Rest

1

1

2

3

5

5

6

7

60- 90 seconds

2

1

2

3

6

7

8

45-75 seconds

3

1

2

3

6

7

8

9

Add 2-3 kgs of water

4 (recovery week)

1

2

3

9

9

Fat Loss and Conditioning workout  Advanced 1

Jumping squats (bag in back squat position), jumping lunges, press, zercher throw squats, snatch, bent over row.

Fat Loss and Conditioning workout Advanced 2

TGU, jumping squats (bag on one shoulder), jumping lunges (bag on one shoulder), shoulder to shoulder press, bent over row

Fat Loss and Conditioning workout  Intermediate 1

Lunge press combo, overhead side lunge, shouldering/back lunge combo, bent over row, push press.

Fat Loss and Conditioning workout Intermediate 2

TGU, shouldering, overhead back lunge (holding bag back and forth), shoulder to shoulder press, bent over row

Fat Loss and Conditioning Beginner workout

Cleans-squats-press combo, back lunge, bent over row.

You can pauses or flow into the clean after the press.

Adding a New Dimension to your Aquabag