Whatever your excuse is, it doesn’t cut it at Liquid Gym.
Liquid Gym is quite literally an underwater workout space. In the deep end, you’ll find bikes, treadmills, steps, an aqua cage, floating boards, trampolines and aqua-poles. Being underwater makes the gym accessible to people suffering from joint problems or coming back from injuries, as well as being spot-on for people looking for a new, enjoyable way to exercise.
Do you like boxing, Pilates, spinning, or other group workouts? There’s plenty of choice at Liquid Gym. You can do aqua-boxing, aqua-jogging, aqua-Pilates, aqua-pole, aqua-spinning, aqua-Xfit, steps, aqua-yoga and standup paddleboard yoga throughout the week, all supervised by kinesiologists.
Each exercise is given with a varying degree of intensity to suit athletes of all levels. Whatever you like or however fit you are, you’ll find something for you!
Liquid Gym Advantages
Exercising underwater makes it easy to complete a moderate-to-intense workout with little impact on the joints, mainly because the human body is only one-tenth its weight when it’s submerged to the neck. An adult weighing seventy kilograms, for example, weighs just seven kilograms underwater, which makes the impacts far less intense on joints than they are on solid ground. Furthermore, the heart rate can decrease by approximately ten beats per minute relative to a similar exercise out of water.
Finally, perhaps the greatest advantage of working out underwater is that it significantly decreases the post-workout pain and delayed onset muscle soreness that typically follows training sessions.
How to Prepare
Liquid Gym is accessible to people of all ages, swimmers or non-swimmers, at any fitness level. No preparation is required, nor do you need to get into shape prior to trying it out. In the gym, you’ll find fitness lovers looking for new challenges, athletes looking for an extra edge, or those who have a hard time with everyday movements.
There’s no need to book ahead of time: you can simply show up at one of the available time slots. You can buy a seasonal unlimited membership or pay for each session individually. For Liquid Gym Rehab, you should call Andrée Dionne at 514-987-3000, extension 4092, to confirm your spot.
Where to Go
There are only three liquid gyms in the world, and we’re lucky enough to host one of them in Montreal: UQAM’s Gym liquide réadapation, located on Rue Sanguinet. It’s open to everybody and has preferential fees for UQAM students and alumni.
To try it out, just choose a time slot and show up with $12 in your pocket ($7 for members) and the right workout gear. It’s as simple as that!
What to Wear
For your Liquid Gym session, you can wear a one- or two-piece bathing suit or tight-fitting shorts and a top.
You also need water shoes, and don’t forget your water bottle and towel.
Check out Marie-Claude during her workout!
Products wore by Marie-Claude Perron may have become unavailable.