To help you look and feel like a svelte mermaid this Summer, today’s fitness guide shares amazing (and fun!) aquatic exercises that can be done in the pool. To inspire you to get fit this season, Inspirations & Celebrations‘ Fitness Contributor, Jacqueline Hinton (a Los Angeles based Pilates instructor and the CEO of the Pilates lifestyle brand Good Citizen) shares 10 pool exercises that burn fat, tone muscles, and increase endurance. The best part is… after getting in a good pool workout, you can lounge poolside to relax. Talk about a perfect Summer vacation!

Summer is officially here, and working out in the pool is a great way to have fun in the sun. Aquatic exercises can burn fat, build muscle, and are a great low impact workout that is easy on your bones and joints while getting some extra vitamin D. Just don’t forget to wear your sunscreen!

Work your way up to 60 seconds per exercise, and do 3 sets. 

10 Aquatic Exercises That Make You Feel Like a Mermaid

1. Running: Run in place while pumping your arms.
2. High Knees: Run in place, getting your knees as high as you can, while pumping your arms.
3. High Knees w/ a twist: Place your hands behind your head and start to repeat high knees, but now add a twist of the upper body towards the opposite knee.
4. Frog Jumps: Standing in place, bend your knees and jump as high as you can with your feet coming off of the bottom of the pool floor.
5. Flutter Kicks: Hold onto the pool wall with your back to the wall and flutter kick with straight legs.
6. Bicycle Legs: Hold onto the pool wall with your back to the wall. Move your legs like you are riding a bicycle. Reverse and move your legs like you are riding a bicycle backward.
7. Pool Side Crunches: Put your legs over the side of the pool with your torso laying flat in the water and hands behind your head. Lift your upper body into a crunch position.
8. Pool Side Crunches w/a Twist: Put your legs over the side of the pool with your torso laying flat in the water and hands behind your head. Lift your upper body into a crunch position towards your right knee, lower and then repeat left.
9. Flutter Arms: Standing with your feet hip distance apart and your arms out in front of you. Move your arms in a fluttering motion.
10. Tread Water: Lift your feet off the bottom of the pool floor and tread with your arms and legs.

For more workout ideas and tips, visit the Fitness section on Inspirations & Celebrations.

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Fitness Contributor: Jacqueline Hinton

[Header image via Inspirations & Celebrations; article images via Shutterstock]