Nothing beats a spa day. When life’s stresses are weighing you down, it’s one of the best things you can do for your health and wellness; taking a day for some physical and mental relaxation!
Taking a day off from your daily life and responsibilities doesn’t mean you need to take a day off from fitness. In fact, many spas offer amenities like a fitness spa, which is essentially a deep hot tub for exercise, or swim spa.
Swim spa exercises not only promote physical and mental relaxation, but they’re also good for fulfilling common personal fitness goals like improving cardio, increasing muscle size, strength, and endurance, burning calories, and enhancing overall fitness.
Read on for more!
Why Spa Treatments are Very Good for Your Overall Health
Let’s not mince words; life is inherently stressful.
Between work responsibilities, keeping up with friends and family, dealing with kids, household chores, everyday errands— it seems like there’s never an end!
Managing stress is extremely important. If left unchecked, stress can have negative physical and mental health ramifications.
A 2011 review published in The American Psychologist found that managing mental health was important for “fostering individual and social well-being,” as well as “preserving and optimizing cognitive function.”
So, keeping yourself feeling your best will help promote good health, social wellness, and healthy brain function, making stress management of paramount importance. Spa treatments promote relaxation, making them an effective stress management tool.
A 2018 study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found that prioritizing stress management produced a positive effect on depression, anxiety, and sleep problems, helping prevent disorders and improve mental health.
That’s why it’s worth it to take the day off, let the phone go to voicemail, and put yourself first every now and then! Your good health depends on it!
How Certain Spa Exercises Can Help You Feel Even More Relaxed
It’s obvious why laying down for a Swedish massage or facial treatment will help melt away the stress, but exercise? Isn’t that the kind of thing we’re trying to avoid when we’re relaxing?
Well, that all depends.
For many, exercise is an excellent tool for managing stress and promoting relaxation. Physical activity releases endorphins, which are known to reduce the body’s perception of pain while increasing feelings of well-being.
In fact, a 2015 review published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports found that exercise as therapy had a positive impact on 26 different chronic diseases, including psychiatric, neurological, metabolic, cardiovascular, and pulmonary diseases, musculoskeletal disorders, and various cancers, to name a few.
Exercise gets your blood flowing, leaving your body loose and nimble, and also gives you something to focus your attention on and allows you to push those nagging worries into the background.
So, while the spa is great for kicking back for some R & R, it’s also the perfect place to perform some specialty spa exercises and keep compounding those health benefits to promote better overall well-being.
Swimming
What kinds of exercises are included in swim spa workouts?
Well, swimming is an obvious one. Whether you’re swimming in an exercise pool spa, an Olympic-sized pool, or even outdoors in your favorite lake, swimming boasts various health benefits.
Harvard Health estimates you can burn nearly 500 calories per hour of swimming, making it a great tool for weight management. Swimming also doesn’t involve impact the same way jogging and running does, making it a joint-friendly alternative for folks looking to shed a few extra pounds.
And that’s not all; swimming promotes healthy lung function, according to a 2021 review published in the International Journal of Nursing Studies, making it a great activity for those looking to increase their cardio abilities and VO2 max.
A 2014 review published in the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation examined the effect of swimming on musculoskeletal disorders, determining it had “beneficial effects on pain, physical function, and quality of life.”
Whether you’re an otherwise healthy individual just looking for a great way to promote fitness, or someone suffering from ailments that require specialized training modalities, swimming ranks among the best exercise types.
Given this, it’s totally worth it to turn your spa trip into a spa swim day too!
Water Yoga
Water yoga is another great way to get in your physical fitness while you’re at the spa.
Moving through your practice, whether on your own or under the guidance of a water yoga instructor, will provide similar benefits to standard yoga, although there are some nuances.
For example, doing yoga on land poses a greater challenge to your balance, as there is no water to help support you when you’re up on one leg or striking other difficult poses. In addition, mat-based exercises become virtually impossible in the water.
On the other hand, completing your yoga practice in water has you fighting against the resistance of the water, making each movement more impactful and requiring greater muscle activation. Given this, you’ll get a little more oomph out of your Warrior pose when you do it in an exercise hot tub or swim spa.
Water Exercises
Let’s say your spa doesn’t have a massive exercise pool hot tub. Instead, they have something much smaller; an exercise jacuzzi, if you will.
No problem. You can still perform various calisthenic exercises, including flutter kicks, lateral arm lifts, jumping jacks, and high-knee lifts, with minimal space.
And, while they seem less intensive than swimming laps or structured water aerobics, aquatic exercises like these can still be highly effective. These movements burn calories and provide activation to various muscle groups throughout the body, promoting healthy weight management as well as improvements in muscle size, strength, and endurance.
Aquatic exercise is good for your mental health too. A 2019 review published in Clinics found that “aquatic exercise [programs]” were useful for reducing depression and anxiety, improving functional autonomy, and decreasing oxidative stress.
All things considered, the spa is already a treat when you need to prioritize relaxation, but performing swim spa exercises like the ones above will also help you stay on track with your personal fitness goals and promote a healthy, happy lifestyle.
Be sure to try some out during your next spa day!
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