Deep water running: an effective non-weightbearing exercise for the maintenance of land-based running performance.

Deep water running (DWR) has become a well-recognized from of cardiovascular conditioning for injured athletes and has been used successfully to maintain running performance. DWR provides for decreased stress and weightbearing to injured tissue and joints, allows for maintenance of cardiovascular fitness and a training effect, and offers greater specificity of exercise in relation to running. During a 22-month period, 181 active duty Army soldiers, placed on temporary profiles for injuries that precluded them from their regular weightbearing physical fitness activities, participated in a DWR program. Injuries to the back, knee, and ankle were the most common reasons for referral to the program. This article reviews the physiological characteristics of DWR, specifics of DWR program design, DWR mechanics, and the advantages of DWR over other aerobic forms of exercise to maintain land running performance in military personnel on temporary non-weightbearing profiles.