This time of year usually involves a familiar pattern: winter hibernation gives way to a suddenly sunny spring, and you find yourself trying to make quick progress on your fitness goals for the summer. As you ramp up your workouts and take advantage of more opportunities for outdoor exercise, don’t forget about the second half of the equation – rehabilitating your sore muscles in the wake of all your increased activity.
As you plan for and track your body’s cycles of stress and recovery through exercise, strategic hot tub soaking can enhance your workouts and your progress towards a healthier body and lifestyle. Check out the following Do’s and Don’ts before you make your spring fitness master plan!
What to Do?
- Consider soaking in your hot tub for 10-20 minutes before your workout, to loosen up your muscles before exertion. Soaking both before and after any high intensity activity can help prevent injury.
- Plan accordingly to incorporate rest and recovery phases into your workout schedule. It’s best to alternate heat and cold therapy (soaking in your hot tub vs. occasional cold showers) to promote healing.
- Be careful to wait until your heart rate has slowed down and your muscles have cooled a bit before plunging into the hot water. Therapeutic hot tub water will increase blood flow and circulation, helping your tired muscles recover and build, and the mix of heat and jet pressure soothes soreness and muscle tension, minimizing post-workout pain.
- Hydrate before your workout and often during it. Plan to drink even more water if you’ll be soaking in your hot tub post-workout.
- Think of the well-earned post workout jet massage as preparing you for the next phase of your fitness journey, and reap the mental benefits of relaxing in swirling hot water.
What Not to Do?
- Neglect your limits and push too hard. This is never a good approach, but particularly if done early in your fitness journey, can also have a discouraging effect and prevent you from sticking to your fitness resolution or progressing.
- Neglect to stretch before a workout or starting too quickly when your muscles are still cool and stiff. Even if you feel like you’re getting the hang of an increased activity level, not taking enough care with stretching is likely to lead to injury.
- Hydrate insufficiently. Your body’s natural process of sweating during exercise and in the warmth of the hot tub needs to be counterbalanced by drinking more water than you may be used to.
- Miss out on the benefits of a hot tub! This is a “Don’t” that you can easily avoid when you decide that owning a hot tub will be complementary to your fitness journey. Take the first step towards this investment, by checking out our hot tub Buyer’s Guide…
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