Youve heard about the benefits of exercise, particularly for maintaining heart health as well as joint flexibility and strength. And as much as you want to do more, your knees and hips dont always cooperate. Its not surprising, since exercise puts a lot of extra pressure on your joints-three to seven times your body weight on your knees and hips every time you take a step. Exercising in the water can alleviate that additional stress. "Aquatic therapy can be very beneficial because you can use the properties of the water to your advantage," says Lynsey Golden, a physical therapist with Cleveland Clinics Rehabilitation Institute. "And you can make an activity easier or you can make it more challenging just by changing how you do it."
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