The Health Benefits of Water Therapy

The Health Benefits of Water Therapy

Exercising is one sure way of taking care of your health. While there are various types of exercise routines, few, if any, match the health benefits of water therapy. Water therapy is one of the far-reaching and unique healthcare practices. It involves using water to aid in attaining good health or healing. Hydrotherapy has been used to treat disease and pain for centuries. However, specialized equipment is available that enhances our effectiveness in leveraging the properties of water.  

The Hydrorider AquaBike, Hydrorider Underwater Trampoline, Underwater Treadmill, Riderband or a Floating Fitmat are a few new aquatic developments that can be used to help you to improve your health.

Here are some health benefits of water therapy;

1. Better Cardiovascular Health:

Fatty material can build up in your blood vessels. This buildup of fatty material in your arteries is mostly caused by inactivity. This can lead to cardiovascular problems or a heart attack if the arteries that deliver blood to your heart and other major organs get clogged or damaged.

When exercising, people tend to focus on the arm, chest and quad muscles, forgetting that the heart is also a muscle. Like any other muscle, the heart also needs regular exercise for it to work properly. With water therapy, you will exercise the heart by making it pump the blood harder to reach all muscles as you work out. Moreover, hydrostatic pressure helps improve the circulation of blood in your body. This is where the pressure on the body while submerged in water helps improve blood flow to and from the heart.

According to the Australian Heart Foundation, inactivity can increase the risk of developing some heart and circulatory diseases by as much as 40%. Regular, varied intensity physical activity reduces the risk of developing cardiovascular complications and significantly decreases the possibility of dying from heart disease or heart complications. Water therapy helps burn excess calories that build up in the body into fatty material. An hour-long hydro fitness class can help you burn up to 800 calories, which significantly decreases the fat content in your body and improves your heart health.

2. Musculoskeletal Fitness:

Water therapy has immense benefits for your joints, bones, tendon, and muscles. Your body is built like a mechanical machine, a little like a car – if you don't run it regularly, it will gradually deteriorate and eventually run down. Lack of exercise leads to the shrinking of muscles and the stiffening of joints. Movement is essential for maintaining good joint health. 

Moving the joints regularly increases their strength and flexibility, and the motion aids in lubrication and reducing swelling.  Not only does movement help to maintain long-term joint health, but it also helps to reduce joint pain symptoms. This makes hydrotherapy great exercise for people with joint problems such as arthritis, or people who are recovering from injuries or surgery.

Water therapy also builds muscle strength and protects the muscles from injury. The high resistance of water forces your muscles to work harder as you exercise. This significantly increases muscle strength. Moreover, the buoyance of water makes hydro therapy a low impact exercise with reduced risk of injury. The water reduces the risk of muscles having micro-tears that are common results of on-land exercises. This reduces the pain and soreness often felt the day after exercising as well as any long-term muscle damage.

Regular movement also significantly improves your posture and balance. Having poor posture isn't just a 'bad habit,' it is often caused by weak and inflexible muscles. For example, The upper body is controlled by muscles in the hip, and weakness in these muscles could disrupt your posture. Similarly, tight muscles in the chest muscles can pull the shoulders forward, and weak core muscles lead to slumping and can tip your body forward and off-balance.

3. Improved Respiratory Function:

Water therapy has significant positive impacts on the respiratory function of the body. Your lungs carry oxygen into the body, providing the necessary energy to function and removing carbon dioxide, the waste product created during the production of this energy. The heart in turn pumps oxygenated blood from the lungs to the muscles that are exercising. Regular and consistent exercise strengthens your muscles and improves your endurance. This means it takes longer and/or more intense exercise to get to the point that we feel out of breath or breathless. 

As your muscles grow stronger, they require less oxygen to move and produce less carbon dioxide, helping breathing to become much more efficient and shortness of breath becomes less common. With water therapy being a high-intensity workout, the high muscle growth significantly improves your respiratory function.

4. Reduced Stress Levels & Better Mental Health:

Hydro fitness classes ensure you have a consistent exercise routine, and regular movement that can help to reduce your stress levels. Movement triggers the release of cortisol, a hormone that helps you to process stress. Regular hydro fitness classes will help your brain secrete more of the stress-processing hormone, leading to reduced stress levels. 

Exercising also gives the brain something else to focus on and is a great coping strategy for challenging times. Additionally, the movement also releases other feel-good hormones that make you feel better about yourself and reduces the risk of developing depressive symptoms. Water therapy will help you feel more relaxed and in better mental condition.

5. Better Sleep Quality:

Water therapy contributes to better sleep by increasing the time we spend in deep sleep, the most restorative phase of sleep. Deep sleep boosts immune function, supports cardiac health, and controls stress and anxiety. Moreover, reduced stress leads to better sleep quality. 

High intensity exercise can also increase sleep. Movement and physical activity require you to expend energy, leaving you feeling more tired at night while also alleviating drowsiness during the day. Water exercise helps relax the mind as well as increase fatigue and is increased with intensity. This leads to better sleep quality which is essential to proper functioning of the body.

Get Wet:

Water therapy has immense benefits for your physical and mental well-being. The high-intensity, low-impact exercises done in water therapy help ensure you are physical fit and maintain your mental wellness.

Speak to your local pool about hydro fitness classes, or contact Water Resist for equipment for a pool near you. If you have a pool at home My Pool My Gym has some great equipment for your backyard pool.