Can You Use A Hot Tub to Recover from Triathlete Training?


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Can You Use A Hot Tub to Recover from Triathlete Training?

Training for a triathlon can be one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of your life. While the training itself can be grueling, perhaps even more grueling is the intense pain you will feel after each training session if you don’t allow your body to recover adequately. That’s why it’s important to invest in various recovery methods before you invest time and effort into training for a triathlon. Hot tubs, in particular, are one effective way to help your body come back strong after expending a lot of energy. Here are a few reasons why that’s the case.

Increases Bloodflow

To help your muscles recover after a training session, you need to remove the lactic acid by increasing blood circulation throughout your body. The lactic acid buildup is what makes your muscles feel sore and can prevent you from training the next day or even for a few days. In addition to staying highly hydrated, there are a few other ways to decrease lactic acid. A common way is to get a message after your training, however, many people don’t have access to a massage therapist or massage gun. In comparison, many gyms provide you with access to a hot tub so it is more readily available for people training for a Triathalon. Getting newly oxygenated blood throughout your muscles is the number one way to prevent lactic acid build-up. Hot tubs are a fantastic way to accomplish this goal. Since submersion in hot water helps increase your heart rate, you can help your muscles recover and relax much more quickly when you’re using a hot tub. In addition to reducing soreness, a hot tub can also decrease your risk of headaches, stress, and other issues common with triathlete training. 

Loosens Muscles

There’s nothing like a long massage after training to help you recover. Unfortunately, massages can be expensive and time-consuming. Rather than heading to your massage therapist after a training session, you can try a hot tub. Jets on the hot tub, for example, can act as a moving message. This pressure is different than any pressure that you can get from a massage therapist because the water is constantly moving and hitting your muscles slightly differently. By increasing the pressure of the jets in the hot tub, you will be able to keep smaller strands of your muscles moving slightly. This is similar to what you do when you perform cool-down exercises after a workout. A soak in a hot tub can help prevent cramps and give you an overall feeling of wellness. Many gyms have a hot tub that you can use with the membership that you are probably already paying. However, you may be interested in getting your own hot tub. A nice thing about a hot tub at home is that you can use it whenever you want, even if it’s in the middle of the night. Additionally, you can get a hot tub that has seats with armrests to rest your arms under the water. This can help further loosen your muscles considering that you don’t have to use muscles to hold them in place when they are resting on a support. Additionally, some home hot tubs have more water jet locations compared to the limited ones you may have access to at the gym. If you have questions about the most comfortable hot tub or what to consider if it will just be for you, then consider reaching out to a company like Wellis Hot Tubs of Colorado for assistance. 

Improves Sleep

Quality sleep is absolutely essential when you’re training for a triathlon. While there are plenty of steps you can take to help promote good sleep, one of the best ways to get yourself sleepy is to take a dip in a hot tub. The warm temperatures allow you to relax mentally and physically so that you’re ready to then crawl into bed and fall asleep. Compared to being at room temperature when you go to bed, your body has already started the process of dropping your temperature to keep the inside of your body cool while you are inside the hot tub. This means that if you go to bed directly after a soak in the hot tub, your body will better be able to drop your temperature, which is an essential step to falling asleep. 

Burns Calories

Though training already helps you burn calories, you may still be trying to lose some pounds to make your triathlon a little bit easier. However, most people have to increase the food they eat substantially to support their training. This can make it so you feel like you have to increase the time you are exercising to combat that issue. Instead of increasing your training time or decreasing your food intake, you could try taking a dip in a hot tub for a few minutes each day. A hot tub can come in handy if you need to lose some weight to adequately prepare for a triathlon. That’s because a soak in a hot tub can help burn calories, effectively eliminating some of the work you have to do to lose weight. If you’re able to shorten your training sessions by burning calories in a hot tub, you’ll be able to recover more quickly from each session. This means that you both burn calories and prepare your body for additional training sessions that may not have been possible otherwise.

Use With Caution

When using a hot tub as a recovery tool, it’s important to do so with caution. The most important thing to remember is that your body temperature will be elevated after you train. This means you need to wait a few minutes after your session ends before entering a hot tub. Waiting to enter will help prevent your body from overheating and setting you way back in your training schedule. Beyond that, though, a hot tub can play an extremely helpful role in your triathlon training.