• integrates water exercise research, fundamental water skills, and training guidelines to assist instructors in helping students reach their individual fitness goals
• design workouts for 3 different water depths
• organize routines to create classes that run smoothly
• covers the use of many different kinds of equipment
• 356 pages;  paperback

Chapters Include:

Part I - Program Development and Leadership

Chapter 1:  Overview of the YMCA and The Water Fitness Program

• What are YMCA's?

• YMCA Programs

• YMCA Health and Fitness and Aquatics Programs

• YMCA Water Fitness Program Objectives

Chapter 2:  Leadership Principles for Instructors (Mary E. Sanders)

• Developing a Positive Teaching Philosophy for Life and Health

• Being a Responsive Instructor

• Being Ethical

• Bibliography

Chapter 3:  Water Exercise Program Safety (Shirley Archer)

• Pool Regulatory Environment

• Lifeguard Guidelines

• Duty of Care

• Negligence per Se

• Safety Procedures and Prevention

• Other Risk Reducers

• Ensuring Participants' Safety

• Bibliography

Part II - Healthy Lifestyle and Fitness Principles

Chapter 4:  Healthy Lifestyle Principles (Carol Kennedy)

• Exercise for Healthy Living recommendations

• Water Exercise and the Health Care Continuum

• Body Image and the Exercise Experience

• Bibliography

Chapter 5:  Fitness Principles (Adapted for The YMCA Exercise Instructor Manual)

• Exercise Science and Training Principles of Cardio-Respiratory Endurance Training

• Anatomy and Biomechanics

• Bibliography

Part III - Fundamentals of Water Exercise

Chapter 6:  What Research Reveals About Water Exercise (Mary E. Sanders, Carol Kennedy and Nicki E. Rippee)

• Review of Water Exercise Literature Up to 1994

• Review of Water Exercise Literature from 1994  to 1998

• Conclusion

• Bibliography

Chapter 7:  Physical Laws and Properties of Water (Mary E. Sanders and Mary Curry)

• Buoyancy

• Hydrostatic Pressure

• Gravity versus Buoyancy

• Speed, Power, and Force

• Inertia

• Resistance

• Leverage

• Action/Reaction

• Bibliography

Chapter 8:  Fundamental Skills and Exercise Design (Mary E. Sanders and Mary Curry)

• All Depths

• Shallow Water

• Deep Water

• Transitional Water

• Bibliography

Chapter 9:  Specificity of Training and Training Guidelines (Mary E. Sanders)

• Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Body Composition 

• Muscular Strength and Endurance

• Flexibility and Active Range of Motion

• Weight Management and Healthy Body Composition

• Functional Activities of Daily Living Training

• Bibliography

Part IV - Water Fitness Class Design

Chapter 10:  Designing a Workout:  A "Blueprint" for Success! (Mary Cury)

• Components of a Program

• The Class Blue Print

• Music and Movements

• Bibliography

Chapter 11:  Teaching Responsively (Mary E. Sanders and Debbie Miles-Dutton)

• Choosing a Teaching Method

• Responsive Teaching

• Checklist for a Smooth Class

• Water Fitness Instructor Survival

Chapter 12:  Progressing Your Programs:  Equipment and Advanced Formats (Tatiana Kolovou and Mary E. Sanders)

• Equipment

• Advanced Formats:  Sets, Workouts, and Programs

• Bibliography

Part V - Responsive Programs for Participants with Individual Challenges

Chapter 13:  Functional Training For Healthy Living ON Land (Mary E. Sanders and Cathy Maloney-Hills)

• Functional ADL Fitness

• Golden Waves™ as a Sample Functional ADL Program

• Sample Golden Waves™ Exercise Progressions

• Sample Workout Format

• Bibliography

Chapter 14:  Exercise Considerations for Older Adults (Cathy Maloney-Hills and Mary E. Sanders, with adapted excerpts from Active Olders Adults in the YMCA: A Resource Manual by Ann Hooke and Mary Zoller)

• Physical Changes Due To Aging

• Benefits of Exercise

• The Unique Benefits of Water Programs for Older Adults

• Exercise Modifications for Older Adults

• Principles of Exercise

• Components of Older Adult Fitness Programs

• Health Screening

• Exercise Safety and Injury Prevention

• Bibliography

Chapter 15:  Guidelines for Working with Special Populations (Cathy Maloney-Hills and Mary E. Sanders)

• Your Role as Water Fitness Instructor

• Common Terms

• Orthopedic Conditions

• Neurological Conditions

• Cardiovascular-Respiratory Diseases

• General Medical Conditions

• Bibliography

Chapter 16:  Functional ADL Field Assessments (Mary E. Sanders and Cathy Maloney-Hills)

• Static Balance

• Dynamic Balance

• 8-Foot-Up-and-Go

• 6 Minute Walk

• 30 Second Chair Stand

• Arm Curl

• Chair Sit-and-reach

• Back Stretch

• Stair Climb

• Bibliography

Appendix A:  Program Forms

Appendix B:  Additional Workouts

Appendix C:  Pool Cue Cards

Glossary

Index