Looking for a fun and unique way to spice up your aqua workout routine? Here are two new aquatic fitness products that may be coming to a facility near you! Whether you’re into studio cycling or paddleboarding, we’re sure one of these new fitness platforms will interest you.

Floating Fitness Mats

Floating fitness mats are popping up in aquatic centers all over the country. These mats are made to float on water challenging the user to use his/her core strength to balance on top of it, using the same principles of fitness paddleboards have become accustomed to.. In a typical class, an instructor will lead the class through many different workouts, including yoga, pilates, and even throwing in some crossfit moves (floating burpees anyone?) to get your blood pumping.

Both Aquaphysical and Boga are sellers of these floating fit mat products, and you’ll pay $795 from Boga or $699 from Aquaphysical. If you are a trainer or facility owner planning on buying more than one, both companies provide a discount when purchased in bulk.

While some of the exercises focus more on balance than others, any exercise performed on an Aquabase or Boga FitMat will engage your core muscles for the entire class. Simply having to balance on top of the mat while it’s floating in the pool is a challenge itself, but adding common workout moves to the mix makes things a lot more interesting. The best part about falling — water makes for a pretty soft and cool landing!

While there are not too many classes available yet, once the trend catches on we’re sure that many more facilities will join in. Both Aquaphysical and Boga FitMat have search engines on their websites to find classes near you — take a look!

Find a Bogafit class

Find a FloatFit class

Aquacycling

Studio cycling has long been a workout favorite, as different routines and techniques have been used and loved by many fitness buffs around the world. Now there’s a twist to it — cycling underwater! Well, not completely, users shoulders and above are out of the water while the rest of the body sits on a cycling bike submerged in the water.

The bikes provide certain fixed resistance established before class starts, so that you do not have to make any adjustments while cycling. On Aqua’s website, they state that aquacycling can burn up to 800 calories per hour. They also claim that the exercise will leave you with no soreness and is impact free on the joints. Amy Klein from the New York Times said that though she felt like she was using minimal effort during the workout, her legs wobbled when she stepped onto land. Trainers are quick to boast about the cardiovascular and toning benefits that somehow seem much easier to accomplish while in the water.

You may be wondering if snagging one of these aquacycles for your home pool is possible? It is! However, the Hydrorider Easy Line Aquabike will run you $995, and the cost goes up for higher quality bikes. We recommend trying out some classes first before you make the investment, it could become part of a fun new home workout routine! Aquacycling classes are beginning to appear in aquatic fitness centers around the world, and is especially popular in Britain. Take a look to see which facilities offer classes near you, and if no one does, speak with your facility manager about adding this relaxing yet demanding new class!

Though swimming will always be a classic and favorite water workout, we love the idea of switching things up to keep it interesting. We’re hoping you’ll enjoy these new aquatic fitness trends and add them to your exercise routine.