Studies reveal benefits of swimming, hot tubs

Everyone knows that swimming pools are fun, with dozens of easy-to-play games and activities. Your enjoyment in a pool is limited only by your imagination. Everyone also knows hot tubs are a great place to relax and soothe sore muscles. However, you may be unaware of just how beneficial time spent in a pool or hot tub can be for your general health or when recovering from illness or injury.

Dr. Steven N. Blair of the Arnold School for Public Health at the University of South Carolina is one of the foremost health and fitness experts in America. He recently completed a study, supported by the Association of Pool & Spa Professionals and the National Swimming Pool Foundation, which shows that swimming as a regular form of exercise can cut males’ risk of death by 50 percent as compared to runners, walkers and those with a sedentary lifestyle. In an earlier study involving both women and men, Blair found both groups experienced similar health and fitness benefits.

Athletes — from football players to race horses to weekend tennis players — have long used aquatic physical therapy to recover from joint injuries. Exercise in pools provides resistance to build strength and endurance, while limiting impact and weight bearing that might aggravate an injury and impede recovery.

It’s common knowledge that if you’re sore and stiff after strenuous activity or just tense from a rough day, a soak in a hot tub is a good way to loosen up. But the benefits of spending time in warm water go well beyond that. For one thing, soaking in a hot tub can actually lower your blood pressure temporarily.

A study, funded by the Hot Tub Council of APSP and supervised by the Foundation for Physical Therapy, uncovered significant recuperative benefits for knee replacement patients. In comparing patients who did their physical therapy on land versus those who performed theirs in warm water, tests were done measuring pain, swelling, range of motion and function.

The warm-water group enjoyed decreased pain, decreased swelling and increased range of motion and function more quickly than the land-based group. There are more studies to be done. But, this study seems to indicate that joint injuries other than replacements would also benefit from warm-water therapy.

So the next time you dive into a swimming pool or ease into a hot tub remember, you’re not only enjoying yourself, you’re potentially increasing the length and quality of your life.