A steamy, bubbling hot tub is never more inviting than it is on a cold winter day. As a top hot tub dealer in Pennsylvania for over 60 years, the team at Goodall Pools & Spas knows a lot about both hot tubs and cold winter days.
Beyond just relaxation, using your hot tub regularly provides surprising health benefits like improved sleep, relief from stress and tension, and boosted immunity.
Let’s dive into that bubbling water and try out a few outside-the-box water workouts to reap the plentiful benefits.
Let’s Get Twisty
Stretching is key before any kind of workout, even when water is helping to mitigate the impact. Nothing helps work out kinks better than twisting stretches in soothing hot water.
Interlace your fingers and straighten your arms in front of your chest. Rotate your torso side-to-side, emphasizing the length of your spine’s rotation rather than crunching too quickly.
Place hands behind your head with elbows wide and pulse your abdomen left and right. Finally, cross your right foot over your left thigh and grab the outside of your right knee to deepen the hip stretch. Relax your neck and breathe deeply as you gently twist.
Hot Tub Backstroke
Floating gently while doing the backstroke gives your core stabilizing muscles an opportunity to strengthen without high impact.
Position yourself so the jets massage tense spots as you move, melting away tightness. For an extra challenge, use a foam pool noodle to add a little bit of resistance. Glide it under your back and see if you can keep proper form while battling the float.
Bike It Out
Cycling your legs against the hot swirling water provides both cardio exercise and hydrotherapy for aching joints and muscles.
Sit on an underwater seat or perch on the top step. Pedal forward and backward, and bend those knees to engage different leg muscles.
Vary your speed, too — push to get your heart pumping faster, or take it slow and easy. Want to amp it up more? Try it while wearing small hand paddles, water weights, or aquatic cuffs on your ankles.
Double Dip
Instead of your usual squat or lunge routine, submerge yourself to work against the water’s natural resistance.
Slowly lower down into a squat, focusing on good form, until your shoulders dip below the surface. Push back up powerfully through your heels, engaging your glutes and hamstrings.
For an inner thigh toner, pulse up and down in a wide plié squat. Feeling ambitious? Try jumping jacks, grapevine crosses, and skaters during an intense aqua interval session.
Row, Row, Row Your Hot Tub
Sit tall, engage your core, then drive back powerfully with your legs as you pull water toward you with cupped hands or paddles. Keep your neck and shoulders relaxed as you push and pull the water past your torso.
The rowing motion strengthens your back, arms, legs, and shoulders with minimal impact. For variation, move your hands in different directions — out to the sides, across the body, overhead. The hot water keeps muscles warm and flexible for this total-body toner.
Hot Tub Balancing
Improve stability and sharpen concentration with some simple balance poses.
Rise up onto your toes with arms extended from your sides. Shift weight between feet and hover heels up for an extra test.
For another option, stand in a slight squat with one leg hovering off the hot tub floor. Point those toes! Work on slow kicks, changing the raised leg, and controlling your movements.
The water makes it more challenging, so take it slow to avoid slips.
Go Wild with Weights
Incorporate some strength training into your hot tub workout by using water weights or pool noodles.
Try classic bicep curls, forward raises, and rowing motions that isolate your back and shoulder muscles. Squat or lunge across the spa while holding weights at your hips or shoulders to intensify the burn.
A vertical chopping motion engages your core obliques with each rotation. Start light until you’re comfortable with the resistance.
Aim High or Go Low
Adjusting your height and positioning in the spa creates fresh possibilities for exercise.
Sit on the top step and work on your balance during leg lifts aimed diagonally across your body. Shift onto the bottom bench to immerse your upper body — now practice flutter kicking with buoyant legs.
Lean over the top edge of the hot tub to tone your triceps and latissimus dorsi muscle during dip repetitions.
Moving between levels helps you hit various muscle groups.
Relax and Recover
The best thing about exercising in your hot tub is that when you’re finished with your workout you are already in the place that will be most beneficial to winding down and recovering.
Don’t forget to rest and relax those worked muscles by lounging peacefully afterward. Let the massaging water soothe tightness and prevent next-day soreness.
Goodall Pools & Spas offers top hot tub models from Sundance® Spas and Viking SpasTM. The perfect fit for you, your family, and your gathering place is waiting for you. Reach out today or stop in one of our convenient locations and learn more about the wellness, fitness, and health benefits of a hot tub.
