Hot and Cold Therapy

 The Washington Redskins football team uses hot tub therapy for the team’s hydrotherapy needs during training camp.  This use of hot tub therapy accelerates recovery of the players after a hard workout.   They have two water vessels, one for hot water therapy and another for cold water immersion.  This is called contrast therapy, during which players alternate between hot and cold water in order to accelerate recovery after a hard workout.
When you go into the cold water, the blood flows towards your vital organs where it’s oxygenated. Then when you get into the warm water that highly oxygenated blood flows back towards the leg muscles where it speeds recovery.
This is how you can do this at home: open your pool and spa app on your smart phone and turn on your spa heater. While the spa heats up take a cold shower.  Cold shower?  Ya right!  Well if you are not a tough NFL player, try starting with a warm shower and slowly turn the temperature down until the water is cold. You will have to do what my kids call the little spa dance.  That is you need to continuously turn in circles in the shower to cool down your body. Then it’s out to the spa for a 20-minute soak.
It feels good. It’s good for the mind and good for the body. Check with your doctor first before you use a spa.
For more information, call 661-263-7503 or visit www.poolsbyben.com.