Prioritizing Wellness in 2025

What are your resolutions for the coming year? Perhaps you intend to lose weight, be more active, spend more time with family, or focus on mindfulness. Would it surprise you to learn that a hot tub can facilitate just about every health and wellness resolution. More than simply a luxury item, a hot tub can be a powerful tool in achieving your fitness goals and improving your overall wellbeing.

Hot Tubs and Fitness Goals

Obviously, soaking in a hot tub will not take the place of hitting the gym when it comes to meeting your fitness goals. You might be surprised, though, at how a hot tub and a workout can go hand in hand when it comes to getting in shape. One of the primary benefits of a hot tub is the way the warm water can soothe sore muscles after a strenuous workout, but your hot tub has more to offer than that. It can also improve your circulation, allowing your blood to more easily carry oxygen and nutrients to your muscles. This aids in your recovery after an intense workout, and it also helps improve your metabolism. What’s more, your hot tub can be a stress relieving tool, alleviating the stress that brings elevated cortisol to your system and hinders your efforts to get fit. 

Facilitating Weight Loss

Just as it helps with overall fitness, a hot tub can help you reach your weight loss goals. By making your exercise sessions more productive and helping your muscles heal, your hot tub can help you reach your goal weight more quickly. What you may not know, though, is that soaking in a hot tub is considered passive exercise, because it stimulates the effects of mild exercise on your heart. As part of a comprehensive approach to health, because of all the ways it benefits your body, your hot tub can help you lose weight.

Promoting Mindfulness

How many of us resolve each year to slow our pace, appreciate the little things more, live in the moment, and practice mindfulness? How many of us live up to this goal. In today’s fast paced world, it can be difficult to calm your mind and body. In a hot tub, however, the world melts away, so that you can relax and just be. If you really want to make the most of your hot tub, you can incorporate mindfulness and meditation practices, as well as enjoying the sanctuary of relaxation that the hot tub provides. As you immerse yourself in the comforting waters, embracing the tranquility, focus your breathing, center yourself, and concentrate on the sounds around you. You can even go one step further, playing a guided meditation program through your hot tub’s built in speakers. No matter how you choose to relax and enjoy your hot tub, the calming waters will trigger your body to release endorphins and help you stay in the moment.

Reducing Stress

Speaking of endorphins, there is no better place to let go of stress than in a hot tub. Endorphins, the body’s stress relieving hormones, counteract cortisol and help keep you on a more even keel. Regular sessions in the hot tub, then, can promote a healthier hormonal balance and alleviate the effects of chronic stress. When you are in a hot tub, you are in a therapeutic spot, where warm water and soothing jets massage your pain and stress away, helping you to feel calmer and more relaxed. Incorporate soft lights, quiet music, and aromatherapy, and the effect is practically magical.

Strengthening Bonds

You always say you will spend more time with family and friends, but when you get together, how much meaningful time do you actually get to enjoy? A hot tub can serve as a gathering place, where people relax and open up about their lives, creating moments that will bond you together. You will be together, feeling happy, enjoying a sense of community. You can socialize with friends, engage with your kids, and reconnect with your spouse in the warm waters of a hot tub.

Supporting Quality Sleep

As you might have deduced, a hot tub can help you sleep better. By relaxing your muscles, alleviating your stress, and generally putting you into a calmer frame of mind, a soak in the hot tub gets you ready to sleep. The hydrotherapy effect of a hot tub can also raise your levels of sleep-inducing hormones like histamine and serotonin, improving the quality of your sleep. Additionally, as you exit the warm waters of the hot tub, your body temperature naturally falls, and this shift in temperature is another signal to your body that it is time to rest. When you get high-quality sleep, your body is better able to repair muscles and regenerate cells, as well as regulating hormones. In other words, all the benefits that the hot tub provides are enhanced by the good sleep that can also be the result of time spent in the hot tub.

Additional Health Benefits of a Hot Tub

Many of the benefits we’ve discussed may have seemed obvious to you, but there are some that are less well-known and somewhat surprising. For example, research indicates that people who participate in hot water immersion sessions can improve their insulin sensitivity, improving glucose tolerance, even for those who are overweight and lead a sedentary lifestyle. More study is necessary, but the implications for better managing diabetes simply by using a hot tub are very exciting. This is in addition to the cardiovascular benefits gained by the improved circulation after a hot tub soak. One Japanese study found that subjects who took hot baths had a lower risk of cardiovascular disease. Other research shows a connection between hot water therapy and lower blood pressure, as well as better overall cardiovascular health.

Safely Using Your Hot Tub

 Of course, with all its benefits, a hot tub must still be used wisely. Time in the hot tub should be limited to 10 or 15 minutes at a time if the water is at its hottest and you are not used to it, though you can spend more time soaking if the water is at a lower temperature. However, if you experience lightheadedness, dizziness, nausea, skin discoloration, or shortness of breath, you should get out of the hot tub immediately. Do not heat the water any higher than 104° Fahrenheit, and avoid alcohol before or during your soak. Be mindful of the fact that hot tubs can be dehydrating, because they cause you to sweat, so you should drink plenty of water while enjoying your hot tub. Once you get out, take off your bathing suit and wash your body with soap and warm or lukewarm water. Be careful never to go from a hot tub into cold water, as this can be detrimental to your blood pressure. Use your hot tub responsibly, and you will find it extremely beneficial to your health.

Aaron Pools and Spas Can Make Your Hot Tub Dreams a Reality

Hot tubs are a wonderful tool for making life better, and they are fully customizable, so that you can meet your unique needs. Built-in speakers, lights, aromatherapy, and more can make your hot tub the perfect relaxation tool for you. There are even self-cleaning hot tubs, for the ultimate in convenience. When you are ready to improve your life with a hot tub, contact Aaron Pools and Spas. We’ve installed countless swimming pools and hot tubs since our company was established in 1972, and this family-owned-and-operated business has a dedicated, award-winning team with over 400 years of combined experience. We love to help improve the quality time that families spend together at home, which is why we provide pools and spas with exceptional craft, bringing your vision to life with the best materials, layouts, and styles available. We also offer pool and hot tub cleaning products to make sure your equipment looks beautiful, feels amazing, and is safe. For the best possible service from our highly experienced installation team, contact us today.