Benefits to adding hydrotherapy in your health routine

Also called ‘the water cure,’ hydrotherapy has been used by different civilisations for many generations. It is essentially the use of water for various purposes – in the context of your regular health routine this could be fitness, healing or downtime. Whether you’re looking for ways to optimise your workout or to aid recovery, hydrotherapy could hold the key.

When – and how – can you get the benefits of hydrotherapy?

• As part of your fitness regime. Working out in the water has a very wide range of benefits, especially if you’re looking to increase the effectiveness of your exercise programme or you’re recovering from injury. The buoyancy of the water provides a supported way to exercise, taking the pressure off joints and bones and helping you to avoid the injuries that often result from other similarly intensive exercises, such as running. You can also optimise the time you spend exercising by doing it in water, which provides resistance to every movement you make. Whether you’re swimming or doing yoga or aerobics in the water, the impact of each movement will be significantly increased as a result of the resistance that the water provides.
• Essential recovery from activity. You don’t have to be a professional athlete to know what aching muscles feel like. Whether you’re training for an event or you’ve simply started a new activity, the outcome is often a whole new set of aches and pains as a result of using muscles for the first time or employing them differently. Hydrotherapy has become essential to recovery, especially in warm water such as that in a hot tub. The warmth of the water helps to improve circulation and blood flow to muscles to aid quicker recovery and can also reduce muscular pain and stiffness after an intense activity session. Soothing exerted muscles in this way is a key part of ensuring that you don’t experience muscle fatigue. As well as heated water there are benefits to cold too, including delivering a boost to your immune system and activating your metabolism.
• Stress management. Wellness and relaxation are as important as physical activity when it comes to health. Hydrotherapy has a lot to offer in terms of stress relief and helping you to relax, both physically and mentally. Just 5-10 minutes of hydrotherapy each day can contribute significantly to stress relief and wellness, helping to calm and releasing essential endorphins. This could be either hot water hydrotherapy or cold – the impact is similarly positive. Balance is the key to establishing a truly healthy routine for your lifestyle and being able to find ways to relax and unwind is as important as setting goals and getting stuff done.

Hydrotherapy provides a whole range of health benefits whether you’re looking to incorporate it into an exercise routine or you’re keen to find more relaxation time for yourself. The impact of the water can be life changing, from soothing away aches and pains to providing the resistance to achieve real gains.