With the cooler weather rolling in and pools beginning to close, how you exercise may be changing.
Do you enjoy swimming endless laps in your pool during the summer and dread the thought of having to wait for a lane to open at the gym this winter? If so, you may be interested in a backyard solution that would let you have a private swim year-round, no matter the temperature.
This is where swim spas come in!
Swim spas have created a unique way to maintain your exercise regime for 12 months of the year and keep you getting stronger with every swim.
Swim spas offer so much more than just a challenging swim, though!
If you’ve been looking for a way to upgrade your workouts and support your health year-round, keep reading! In this article, we’re going to explore the many health and lifestyle benefits of swim spas.
What Are Swim Spas?
Swim spas are a unique combination between a hot tub and a swimming pool.
Not only have they created the perfect atmosphere for your swim to become ever more challenging as you get stronger, but they also provide a way to swim outdoors even during the coldest months!
Better yet, their compact design makes them a perfect solution for aquatic lovers who have smaller yards that can’t support a full-size pool!
Swim spas have a large open section with powerful jets that create a strong current in the water. This allows you to swim against the water flow while its pressure keeps your body in one place, allowing you to swim without ever moving forward.
These modern pools have heated water, much like a hot tub, and include jet-lined seating either in each corner of the unit or on one side of the spa.
Their heated water makes it possible to comfortably swim in your backyard even when it’s snowing or simply lounge in one of the seats as the jets massage your exhausted muscles!
10 Health and Lifestyle Benefits of Swim Spas
Swim spas have combined the benefits of hydrotherapy, massage, and a gentle yet challenging way to exercise.
This can provide you with extensive benefits, both for your health and your lifestyle, effectively making them an investment you can feel great about!
1. Pain Relief
By incorporating more gentle exercise into your daily routine and recovering afterward with a jet-powered massage, your pain can easily be treated and managed right from your backyard.
Swim spas use hydrotherapy, a well-known therapeutic technique to treat and heal the body using water. This supports your body and helps reduce the pain you experience in several ways.
When you’re in your swim spa, the buoyancy of the water will help remove the weight from your joints and decompress them. This helps remove the pressure they are under, allowing them to move better and recover after supporting your body throughout the day.
The buoyancy your body experiences in water is used in a therapeutic technique called flotation therapy. This technique has been shown to have impressive effects on the pain levels experienced by people suffering from chronic lower back pain.
As an added bonus, the same study discovered it had positive effects on the depression and anxiety levels of these individuals as well! (more on that below!)
Hydrotherapy also helps your body relax, releasing the tension it’s been experiencing. Between precision massage and optimally heated water, your muscles are coaxed into slowly releasing the tension they’ve been under.
One of the root causes of body pain is muscle tension lasting for extended periods of time. If left untreated, this tightness can even lead to intense spasms in your muscles, causing even more pain!
As you lounge in your spa, you’ll feel your shoulders begin to drop, and your stiff back slowly melt into the seat as your muscles relax and loosen.
Lastly, adding gentle exercise to your daily routine will help you get stronger and reduce the pain you feel. This is because as your muscles get stronger, they can better support your body, leaving you with less pain and a higher quality of life!
2. Year-Round Fitness
While many people enjoy heading to the gym after work or kick-starting their morning with an intense cardio session on the treadmill, not everyone can say the same.
Exercising outdoors is usually only possible during the warmer months, and once the temperature drops, many people begin to lose their motivation. It’s cold out, the roads are covered in snow, and getting up extra early to get to the gym is less than appealing.
Investing in a swim spa can alleviate those struggles and make exercise more accessible throughout the entire year without the early morning drive.
Instead, you can sleep in a bit later and climb into your swim spa when you’d typically be walking through the gym doors, making staying on track during winter easier than ever!
Swim spas eliminate the need to adjust to the weather and can give you greater control over your exercise routine.
They also provide the ultimate way to train without causing extra pressure on your joints, making your workouts even more effective while significantly reducing the risk of injury!
3. Better Strength Building
Swim spas are for more than just swimming.
While it’s a great cardio exercise that can help you shed pounds while getting stronger with each swim, these spas provide a unique atmosphere for strength-based training as well!
Most swim spas come with a gripped or textured floor, allowing you to easily move through bodyweight exercises in the water. They also include options to attach resistance bands, providing options for increased resistance during your workout.
Swim spas elevate your workout in a number of ways, including:
- Effortless warmup
- Natural resistance from the water
- Joint protection
- Customizable cardio
- Increased mobility
- Better flexibility
The heated water of your swim spa will immediately begin warming your muscles, making them less stiff, naturally extending their range of motion. Incorporate some light warmup exercises like toe-touches, squats, and arm circles to easily prepare for your workout.
Aquatic exercise creates a way for people at every level to work out.
They offer light resistance simply through water pressure and provide an easy way to add difficulty through resistance bands or water weights. This makes them just as powerful a tool for those recovering from injuries as they are for seasoned exercise lovers.
Swim spas also create a customizable workout through the various strengths you can set the jets to. Whether you’re swimming or jogging in place against the powerful water stream, you’ll be able to increase the intensity when you need it, allowing your spa to grow alongside you!
4. Faster Recovery
As previously mentioned, the heat from the water helps promote better circulation by expanding your blood vessels. This helps your body recover more effectively by allowing your blood to target the muscles that need it most.
Additionally, when your blood is better able to move through your body, you also provide your muscles with improved oxygenation. This can help support your body after a difficult workout or when recovering from an injury.
Amplify this through gentle stretching and a hydromassage at the end of your exercise session. This will help release the muscle tension after a workout, reducing stiffness and pain the next day while decreasing the risk of injury during future workouts.
5. Decreased Inflammation
Inflammation in the body can be caused by several things, whether it be from constant pressure, arthritis, or excessive strain on the body. Inflammation can be detrimental to your everyday life, making everyday tasks more difficult and painful to perform.
Swim spas can help reduce inflammation by providing a gentle way to exercise, reducing the load your body is under during traditional exercise. This removes the compression your joints usually experience, allowing them to support your body through your workout more effectively.
Additionally, the buoyancy of the water will help remove the weight from your joints, giving them time to rest and allowing your blood to treat and reduce the inflammation around them. The increased circulation previously mentioned also helps decrease inflammation as well.
This can help your body function more effectively in everyday life and increase your mobility long-term, giving you more energy throughout your day!
6. Stress and Anxiety Management
Exercise is a well-known treatment method for stress, with many people turning to jogging, boxing, or weight lifting to help them manage their stress or work through their anxiety.
Swim spas create a way to easily incorporate daily exercise to combat your stress, allowing you to swim off a difficult day without having to leave your home.
While exercise can have powerful benefits on your stress levels, the simple act of being in the water can also provide a healthy way to manage your stress and anxiety!
Water provides a great way to “wash away” your stress from the day and can be used as your own personal escape, giving you a way to leave the outside world behind as you disconnect.
While water creates weightlessness in your body, it also provides gentle compression, acting as a warm hug. This helps promote feelings of comfort, safety, and calm, making it a powerful way to treat an anxiety attack and support your mental health when added to your everyday routine.
7. Better Stability
Have you ever finished swimming or tried a new workout and noticed you’re sore in unusual areas of your body, like between your ribs, feet, or ankles?
That’s because certain types of exercise force the smaller muscles in your body to work harder to keep you balanced.
Whether through swimming, jogging, or bodyweight exercises, your muscles are constantly being challenged as the water pushes you off your center of gravity. Naturally, this strengthens those small, usually overlooked muscles over time.
These muscles help support your body in your day-to-day life, and when they become stronger, they can profoundly impact your body!
As they strengthen, you’ll notice your posture and balance improving. This helps maintain your body’s natural posture, reducing pain, inflammation, and tension long-term!
8. Improved Sleep
It’s a well-known fact that exercise can help you get a better rest at night due to the exhaustive effects it has on your body.
Swim spas take this even further through the benefits of hydrotherapy!
When you enter your swim spa, your body temperature will slowly rise. This results in your muscles relaxing and your stress lowering.
Then, as you leave your spa, the air begins quickly cooling your body. This drastic temperature change signals your body that it’s time to sleep, helping you fall asleep more easily.
This also helps you remain asleep longer because of the relaxation effects, keeping your mind from racing and your body from becoming restless throughout the night.
Whether you pair it with a quick swim or simply lounge back in one of the jet-lined seats for just 30 minutes, you’ll be able to support your sleep when done an hour before bedtime.
9. Greater Social Life
Your health isn’t the only thing that will benefit from having a swim spa – your social life will also thrive!
Swim spas create a unique way to include outdoor fun all year round. Pool parties will no longer be exclusive to the summer, ensuring even your children celebrating in the winter can make special memories and have one of the best parties of the season!
Tip: If your kids are using the swim spa, remember to keep the temperature of the water the same as their body temperature to avoid overheating.
These spas don’t only help your kids make lifelong memories. They do the same for the adults of the household as well! Swim spas are a statement piece and can elevate your backyard parties.
They create a fun and unique way to bond with those you value the most. They help people unplug for the day, leaving their phones out of reach, creating more fulfilling moments, and providing a relaxing environment everyone can benefit from!
10. Upgraded Backyard = Increased Home Value!
Lastly (and certainly not least), swim spas are a great way to increase the value of your home!
These compact spas help add value to your space by bringing a unique element of entertainment and excitement to your home.
This, paired with the appeal of enjoying a hot, relaxing soak in the hot tub seats, easily makes your home a coveted property. Whether you plan on selling one day or it’s your forever home, you’ll have a property that will leave an impact on anyone who walks into your backyard!
Swim Spas in Green Brook
A swim spa may be the answer if you’ve been looking for the perfect addition to your backyard. With endless features and benefits that’ll have you living your best life, Sun Pools can make upgrading your life easy!
We offer top-quality service and the best prices on pools and spas in the Green Brook area and have a team of professionally trained staff to support you and your spa for years to come.
Contact us today, or visit our showroom to explore your swim spa options!
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