Take advantage of the warm summer weather to increase your fitness by exercising in water. According to the American Council on Exercise, this type of workout offers special advantages:

• The buoyancy of water reduces your "weight" by about 90%, so there's much less stress on your joints, bones or muscles when working out in the water - and less chance of injuring yourself.
• With the lower effects of gravity, you can do stretches and other flexibility exercises that might be difficult on land. You can move your joints through a wider range of motion and improve your flexibility.
• Water provides resistance, so you can get a strength-training workout without using weights. Do this by cupping your hands and pushing or pulling the water away from you.

If you're used to using exercise for cardiovascular fitness, keep in mind that your heart rate during water exercise will be reduced by as much as 17 beats per minute when compared to exercising on land. So be alert - your heart rate might indicate that your intensity is too low when you are actually exercising quite strenuously.

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