CRISTIANO Ronaldo and swimming pools. A familiar sight in the close season as the Real Madrid superstar is pictured in the fabulous hotels of places like Las Vegas or Los Angeles. But the former Manchester United star is part of a growing group of players spending more time in the swimming pool, during the season.

Swimming pools and injured footballers have gone hand in hand for quite some time thanks to the buoyancy of the water, it offers a really safe environment for players to keep up their fitness whilst an injured body part recovers.

But the importance of the pool is being highlighted even more with the creation of a brand new wet suit called the TNAR Mk X6, one that is being used regularly by Jose Mourinho's players at Real Madrid.

The padding and the design of the suit makes it even easier for players to train in water, protecting injured areas such as their knees, shoulders and ankles from unwanted movement that might set the injury back.

Some players and their fitness coaches are even beginning to use the pool to increase their fitness, even in the absence of an injury. Aquatic workouts can be used to increase speed, strength and stamina and offer an impact-free way of doing it. This is really important if you suffer from problems such as arthritis of your knees or hips, or perhaps you have a long-term back problem.

Avoiding the impact of traditional running is vital in protecting these sorts of injuries. The swimming won't cure the problem completely, but the buoyancy of the water can often substantially reduce impact meaning you can still keep fit and enjoy the endorphin rush of exercise, without aggravating your problem and suffering for days and days after.

But these sorts of fancy suits are a far cry from the days when I was physio at Darlington. We had to make do with a set of arm bands, a float and even a rope as I looked to keep players fit in the swimming pools of the Dolphin Centre or the old council run facility down by the river in Durham City Centre.

We didn't have the funds for expensive suits, so we did what we could and a trip to the pool on a Monday morning was a regular occurrence for the injured. And in the summer months when we were in pre-season, often at Richmond, we would use the baths there for at least one afternoon per week of stamina building swimming sessions.

Things like treading in water, that is where you attempt to keep your self afloat by doing nothing other than kicking your legs and splashing your arms, is much more difficult than you think. I would often ask the players to do just this, always close to the side of the pool, for six lots of five minutes, with only one-minute rest in between each set. By the second and third go, I'd often find that players would be finding it very difficult to talk to me, a good sign that they were finding it tough.

If you are presently injured, give the swimming a go. It's great to get in the pool and exercise and then even stretch out injured muscles such as hamstrings, or get a really stiff ankle sprain moving again. And swimming is particularly great if you're just returning from surgery to say a knee or back operation.

One word of warning on swimming if you're going to add it to your fitness routine, be careful not to spend too much time in the pool in the immediate day or two before you play. Swimming is one of the fastest ways there is to de-hydrate your body. If you're dehydrated you're at a much greater risk of injury to things like muscle tears and even cramp.