How does hydrotherapy help after exercise?

Recovery after prolonged exercise and sporting activity is vital for the upkeep of an athlete’s health and wellbeing. When training or taking part in a strenuous exercise, it is important to plan for the recovery and aftercare just as much as it is important to prepare your body for the initial exercise. The balance between body and mind is fundamental for wellbeing and there are various therapies that help to achieve this; one of them being hydrotherapy.

Our International Sales Manager, Alberto, recently interviewed a group of professional cyclists based in Spain who all focus on hydrotherapy as part of their exercise and recovery routine. As part of the project, the cyclists delved into the health benefits associated with using a hot tub after taking part in training and exercise.

What is hydrotherapy?
Hydrotherapy is a therapeutic whole-body treatment that involves moving and exercising in water; usually a hot tub, swim spa or swimming pool. Hydrotherapy pools are usually different from ordinary pools – the temperature, pressure and movement of water is controlled and changed according to the individuals needs.

Hot tub hydrotherapy
The warm water and the massage from the hydrotherapy jets focus on the muscular recovery treatment. This offers an elimination of toxins after exercise as well as a shock treatment for the muscles after continuous physical activity. Professional cycling is one of the most strenuous sports for the human body due to the length of its stages and the physical demands of its races, therefore recovery and aftercare is vital.

Exercise followed by a soak in a hot tub is the perfect combination. The water pressure from hot tub jets relieves muscle tightness and soreness by removing lactic acid from the muscles. Therefore, after a long period of stress and exercise, which can take its toll on the body and mind, access to a hot tub will provide the necessary muscle recovery therapy and mental relaxation.

Meet the cyclists
Ziortza Villa, ultra-cycling champion, Adrian Garcia, semi-professional cyclist and Alvaro Robredo, ex professional cyclist visited the Reyman Electrobombas showroom in Gordexola, Spain to test out the benefits of hydrotherapy and hydromassage after sport.

The three cyclists took a dip in the Platinum Spas Arizona hot tub located at the Spanish showroom. As part of the interview, each cyclist then highlighted their findings:

Ziorzta Villa talked about the benefits of a hydrotherapy massage: “The key parts of the body to work on are the feet and legs as they are exposed to muscular overload. The hot tub really helps to relieve and strengthen the muscle tone and will also prevent overloads and injuries.”

Adrian Garcia, a young cyclist with a large following on his You Tube channel said: “Massage is not only necessary for competition but also essential if you want to perform daily and avoid injuries. Being in the warm water was the perfect muscle recovery therapy, helping me to feel recharged.”

After seven seasons in professional cycling Alvaro Robredo knows the importance of recovery and how massage can aid this.
He said: “There are many types of massage, but with water is one of the best. Apart from the contrasts with the temperature of the water, hot or cold, water always relaxes your muscles and sometimes something that you can’t do with your hands, you relax more with water.”

“When you first start in sport you don’t realise the benefits that hydrotherapy can bring. You then realise you should have started much earlier. There are differences with the manual massage, there is physical friction because it squeezes you and you suffer a little bit and I think that with water you get a more relaxing point.”

Other hydrotherapy benefits include pain relief, restoring of muscle tissues, improved circulation and relaxation of the mind, limiting fatigue and sleep disturbances.

The hot tub used for the session was the Platinum Spas Arizona hot tub. The team had 20 minutes of massage applied by 43 jets with two x 2HP pumps which is enough to massage all muscles in the body. Alternating between the two loungers and the seated position the jets focused on the feet, legs, lumbar, back, shoulders and neck. Each cyclist highly praised the massage received, confirming it had benefited the recovery and aftercare of their mind and body post-exercise.

To find out more about our products, brands and the health benefits of owning a hot tub, explore our website.

For a detailed overview on the Platinum Spas Arizona hot tub, visit the Platinum Spas website. Other hot tubs that feature in the video are the Platinum Spas Kenya, OEM 5 and OEM 9.