The Case for Running and Walking in Water

In 2010, Endless Pools® introduced the Underwater Treadmill, our proprietary design. Since then, it's been available exclusively in Endless Pools Original Series pools and swim spas. Now, we've brought the same innovative fitness technology to the traditional backyard pool.

The new Endless Pools Hydrostride™ underwater treadmill, designed for aquatic environments, lets traditional-pool owners enjoy the benefits of low-impact aquatic exercise from the convenience of home. With the Endless Pools Hydrostride treadmill, it's possible to get excellent walking, jogging, and running workouts in the backyard pool.

The Hydrostride treadmill can be installed in just a few hours during new pool construction. It lets you exercise at any pace, from a gentle walk at 0.5 miles per hour up to a challenging run at 5.5 miles per hour. Adjusting your pace couldn't be easier with our water-resistant remote or the optional Endless Pools Fit@Home app.

Using an aquatic treadmill offers a great many benefits. A solid body of research has already been published on some key areas of health and recovery.

Weight Loss with Aquatic Running

Research has found that running in water can burn more calories than running on dry land. In an interview with Dr. Robert Wilder, Director of Sports Rehabilitation at University of Virginia, the London Times reported:

"He found that while regular runners burn about eight calories a minute, aqua-runners burn 11.5 in the same time, which he attributes to the upper body and arms having to work harder than they have to on a regular run outside because of water resistance."

That's because water is "800 times denser than air and provides up to 12 times the resistance you get on land," so running in water requires more effort.

Aquatic running can also help with weight loss in another way. Two 12-week studies at Texas A&M University found that overweight and obese adults lost body fat on both an aquatic treadmill and on a land treadmill. Significantly, those using the underwater treadmill gained more lean body mass. That's important because the increases in lean body mass mean that the aquatic treadmill users will burn calories more efficiently!

Fitness on the Underwater Treadmill

Increases in lean muscle mass were the results of another 12-week study of healthy adults, also at Texas A&M. The adults used an underwater treadmill in conjunction with traditional resistance training, and their benefits also included reduced soreness and increased strength; that's in contrast to resistance training alone as well as resistance training plus a dry-land treadmill. Blood pressure was lower with the aquatic treadmill workouts too.

Osteoarthritis Relief from Water Walking

Adults suffering from this most common form of arthritis exercised on both a traditional treadmill and an underwater treadmill. Utah State University researchers found that, on the dry-land treadmill, the patients reported that the pain was 140% greater than on the aquatic treadmill.

In a separate, 10-week study, seniors with osteoarthritis showed reduced joint pain and improved balance and mobility from aquatic treadmill use. The researchers, from Utah and Arizona State Universities, noted a high rate of adherence to the water workouts, even though they included challenging High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) workouts.

Reimagining the Backyard Pool

If you're planning to install a traditional backyard pool, see how you can transform it for fun and fitness with the Endless Pools Hydrostride treadmill or any swim-in-place product from our Fastlane series.