Swim Spas are fiberglass structures that consist of a jet-powered exercise pool at one extreme and one or more spa seats with massage jets at the opposite end. Swim Spas offer a number of health benefits:
1) Low Impact Aerobics
Swimming is a great, low impact, highly aerobic workout. CNN says, “Swimming works your whole body, improving cardiovascular conditioning, muscle strength, endurance, posture, and flexibility all at the same time”. Swim Spas offer the full body workout benefits of swimming laps without having to sacrifice space to do so. Swimming against the jet flow is a wonderful way to resistance train, building muscle, increasing strength, and toning at the same time! Many Swim Spas also include optional rowing or other water based exercise equipment add-ons.
2) Drug Free Pain Relief
Swim Spas offer pain relief through multiple mechanisms, making them ideal for those who suffer from arthritis, sore muscles and joints, lower back pain, or just the general stress of daily life. Spa heat increases flexibility and provides temporary pain relief. According to SwimEx Inc., the buoyancy offered at both the spa and the pool ends of the Swim Spa help relieve arthritis pain and pressure on the joints. They say, “By submerging yourself to the neck, the water bears 90% of your weight, making water exercises more accessible.”
3) A Great Night’s Sleep
Swim Spas are a great way to get a night’s rest. The heat from the relaxing spa increases your body temperature. Then the Huffington Post Says “[w]hen you hop out and it returns to a cooler state, your brain releases melatonin, triggering bedtime”. Additional aerobic exercise also increases the quality of sleep and helps regulate our sleep cycle.
4) Weight Control
Swimming has long been heralded as an accessible, full body workout that can help exercisers who are overweight, out of shape, elderly, or have mobility challenges to meet their fitness goals. Swim strokes vary in terms of difficulty and calories burned. For example, 10 minutes of breast stroke burns 60 calories, while swimming butterfly for that same amount of time will obliterate 150 calories. Exercise professionals recommend swimming in intervals of increasing length, with time to recover between sets.
5) Better Cholesterol Balance
Swim Spa routines are a great way to improve your ratio of good (HDL) to bad (LDL) cholesterol. In addition, aerobic exercise like swimming helps to maintain the flexibility of the endothelium lining of the arteries, keeping them in working order.
6) Asthma Relief
Swim Spas offer twice the asthma relief, through the heat from the spa and the moist workout environment offered by the pool segment. While dry gym air can aggravate asthma, a pool can be more asthma friendly, helping those susceptible to avoid an attack while working out. Swimmers also develop increased lung capacity and learn proper breather techniques through their sport. The warm vapor of the spa can help open up the lungs, making breathing easier.
7) Reduced Risk of Diabetes
Studies have shown that just 30 minutes of soaking in a tub of hot water six days a week reduced the insulin needs of diabetics after just 10 days. Aerobic exercise, like swimming, helps reduce the risk of Type 2 diabetes, and those with Type 1 diabetes enjoy increased insulin sensitivity thanks to aerobic exercise.
8) King of Cardio
The warmth offered by Swim Spas helps dilate blood vessels, helping to reduce blood pressure. Moreover, aerobic exercise, like swimming, helps strengthen the heart and make it more efficient.
9) Stress Buster and Mood Enhancer
Swimming prompts the body to release endorphins, which make us feel great. The relaxation offered by swimming is comparable to yoga, in that the body is being stretched constantly, breathing is rhythmic, and listening to your own breathing and the splash of water aids meditation.
10) Longevity
Finally, swimming has been linked to longer life, even compared to runners, walkers, and those who engage in other types of aerobic activities.
