If you work out a lot and go up and beyond your limits then you will most likely have experienced muscle pains/sore muscles after working out. When searching around for things to help remove your muscle pain you would usually be faced with two different options. A hot tub vs a sauna. In this article, we will help you decide between the two, including the advantages, the disadvantages and everything in between.
How can either a hot tub or sauna alleviate my muscle pain?
If you are not very informed on what muscle pain/sore muscles are your first question may well be “How does a Hot Tub or Sauna help me to get rid of sore muscles and muscle pain?”. Well luckily, it is quite a simple answer. While muscle pains will slowly fix itself, you can make the process quicker by using either a Hot Tub or a Sauna. This is because heat, in which both a hot tub and a sauna are known for, makes the blood vessels in your arm expand and therefore allows more oxygen to get into you. This allows your muscles to repair the damage quicker as more oxygen is being provided.
How does a hot tub help to alleviate muscle pain
The main advantage the Hot Tub has over the Sauna is that the warm water of the hot tub is extremely good at getting your blood vessels in your arms to expand, and that combined with the jets most hot tubs have means that you’ll also be in a relaxed state. This can, therefore, allow your body to repair the damaged parts of your muscles much quicker and therefore alleviates your muscle pain much quicker than when using nothing to help alleviate your muscle pain.
How does a sauna help to alleviate muscle pain?
The way a Sauna helps alleviate your muscle pain is very similar to how a hot tub does. The heat of the air in a Sauna helps your body circulate oxygen around quicker which makes the muscle repairing process quicker, the high temperatures of the Sauna also allow your muscles to relax better, which relieves your muscle tension.
Pros and Cons of a Sauna
Now we have got past how either the Sauna or the Hot Tub helps alleviate your muscle pain and helps quicken the repair process, let’s get into the pros and cons of using either. First of all, we will begin with the Pros and Cons of using the Sauna.
Pros: There are a lot of positives to using a Sauna over the Hot Tub, mainly with it being that a lot of gyms maintain Saunas running at all hours. As well as that, getting relaxed in a Sauna is as easy as just walking in and sitting down, in which the Sauna will almost immediately do its job by using the heat to expand your blood vessels and calming you down.
Cons: With lots of positives come some negatives with the Sauna. One of the negatives is that the Sauna can only be used for a short amount of time when trying to use it to help alleviate your muscle pain, this is because if you stay in for 2o minutes or more you may overexert your body which will bring negative effects such as dizziness, lightheadedness as well as headaches. If you are new to using Saunas you may have to reduce your time even further, perhaps only spending 10 minutes in the Sauna before leaving. You will also have to make sure you stay hydrated after getting out of the sauna.
Pros and Cons of a Hot Tub
Now we are done with the pros and cons of the Sauna, let’s get into the positives and negatives of the Hot Tub.
Pros: There are seemingly a lot more positives with the hot tub over the sauna, with them being that you can (and it is recommended) to use the Hot Tub before and after a Workout or physically intensive task. This is because when you use it before the workout it will help loosen up your muscles and help make them less stiff, which in turn makes it less likely for your muscles to get damaged during a workout, and then after the workout, you can go back to the Hot Tub in which the warm water and jet massage will make you and your muscles relaxed, allowing you to feel better while your blood vessels expand and allow more oxygen to reach the arms, therefore, quickening the process of repairing damaged muscles.
There also isn’t a time limit with the hot tub.
Cons: There are few cons to using the hot tub, however, the main negatives that are there are that you will still need to hydrate yourself with nice, cold water before and after using the hot tub. Another negative, which is only applicable to some people, is that gyms in smaller towns may not feature hot tubs while they most likely will feature a Sauna.
Short Answer Questions
Where do I find hot tubs or saunas?
Your local spa or gym should have them.
Do I need to use either of them?
No, your muscles will repair with time. You can also use your shower or bath however they won’t have the same effect as the hot tub or sauna.
Conclusion
In conclusion, while it is your option on whether to use either the sauna or the hot tub, we would recommend the Hot Tub over the Sauna. This is mainly because with the Sauna you can’t stay in for too long before it becomes uncomfortable and if you stay for extended periods you will begin to feel dizzy and lightheaded, things which you don’t want to feel after a workout. The Hot Tub, however, while not as hot, still can quicken the process of repairing damaged muscles. However, of course, it is all down to your preference.
Thanks for reading our article, we hope we informed you about the subject, and we hope to see you soon!