Issue 6: Speed and Shape — How Water Drag Changes Your Workout

You don't always need to change equipment to change how an exercise feels in the pool. Sometimes, you only need to change how you move.

When you push your open hand through water, your palm pushes more water out of the way. But when you turn your hand sideways, as if you were cutting through the water with a karate chop, the narrow side slips through more easily.

That difference is water resistance, also called drag. It helps explain why the same pool exercise can feel different when you change your speed or the angle of your hands.

Research Spotlight

A 2022 systematic narrative review examined research on active drag, the resistance swimmers encounter while moving through water.¹ The review describes how swimming speed, the area facing the water and technique affect drag.

The useful takeaway is straightforward: the way you move through water matters, not just the equipment you hold.

What This Means in the Pool

Speed changes resistance. Moving through water faster generally creates more drag. A slow movement and a quicker version of that movement can feel quite different. That does not mean faster is always better. Choose a pace you can control.

The surface facing the water matters. Think about the hand example. Your open palm presents a broad surface. The side of your hand presents a narrow one. This is what “surface area” means here: how much of an object faces the water as it moves.

Technique comes first. Water depth also affects your balance and how the movement feels. If you feel less stable or less in control, slow down the movement or move to shallower water.

Inventor's Notebook: The Hammer Move

The hammer move takes its name from the Olympic hammer throw, but it feels more like swinging a baseball bat or a hockey stick, which is why it carries over so well to other sports. It's one of my favorite AquaBLAST exercises, and it's the best way I know to feel water drag at work. With a full bag, you're moving 40 to 55 pounds of water, and the water pushes back on every swing. Swing harder and it pushes back harder, so you'll find yourself leaning back to balance the weight. Ease off and it gets easier. It's the same bag and the same water. The only thing that changed is how hard you swung.

Myth vs. Fact

Myth: If the equipment and fill level stay the same, the exercise stays the same.

Fact: The physical load may be unchanged, but changing how you move through the water can change the resistance you feel.

Try It Yourself

Use a completely full AquaBLAST bag. Hold the upper handles for a harder version or the lower handles for an easier one. I like to stand in 3½ to 4 feet of water, with my feet firmly on the pool floor and plenty of clear space around me. Keep the bag underwater the whole time.

• Start in slow motion. Make one full, slow swing around your body, like a baseball bat or hockey stick swing. The bag lets you rotate through about 270 degrees, so use the whole path.
• Swing a little harder and notice how you lean back more to stay balanced.
• Ease off again and feel how much easier it gets.

This isn't a maximum-effort swing. Keep a secure grip, and slow down if you lose your balance. If a full bag feels like too much, save this one for later.

Where AquaBLAST Fits

Learn the movement first. Make it harder only when you can keep it controlled.

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Blast Away!
— Rob Magrino, inventor of AquaBLAST

Research Notes

The cited review concerns drag in swimming. It did not test AquaBLAST. The hammer move is my practical training example, not a workout protocol tested by that review.

1. Lopes TJ, Morais JE, Pinto MP, Marinho DA. Numerical and experimental methods used to evaluate active drag in swimming: A systematic narrative review. Front Physiol. 2022;13:938658. doi:10.3389/fphys.2022.938658