The Importance of Heat Therapy: Post-Workout Recovery

A heat soak after a workout can be incredibly soothing for sore muscles. Heat therapy offers benefits that go beyond pain relief, it’s a great way to relax after a long exercise.

At Backyard Canada, we offer a variety of options, but first, let’s explore how heat therapy works and its benefits.

How Does Heat Therapy Work? 

Heat therapy is a treatment that uses heat, or a form of energy, to treat pain in the muscles. When heat transfers to the muscles, it raises the temperature in the targeted area. By raising the temperature, it seeps into the muscles and blood vessels effectively. As a result, it relaxes the muscles, making them feel warm and flush to the touch. 

After exercise, the muscles experience microscopic tears in the fiber, resulting in soft tissue damage. For those who exercise regularly, the purpose of exercise is to rebuild and strengthen the muscles. 

Without proper recovery, the muscle fibers won’t heal effectively. For athletes, post-workout therapy is essential for quicker recovery and preparation for the next training session.

Heat therapy is a powerful recovery tool, promoting blood flow and accelerating the healing process. It’s an excellent choice for athletes and workout enthusiasts due to its ability to relax tight muscles and reduce soreness. 

Dry Heat vs Moist Heat: Which is Better? 

There are two methods for transferring heat to the muscles: dry heat, a form of heat transfer. Second is moist heat, or heat that transfers using moisture. These two therapies both penetrate the skin, but they offer their own advantages when it comes to muscle healing: 

Dry Heat: Dry heat operates at higher and more consistent temperatures. Because it doesn’t rely on moisture, it’s more applicable in smaller devices. This includes heating pads, warm compresses, and even hot water bottles. However, because it relies on dry surfaces and heats up quickly there is risk of dry skin and burns. Otherwise, it’s a good choice for aching joint areas, such as the knees, elbows, and shoulders. 

Moist Heat: Moist heat is often the preferred choice for heat therapy due to its ability to transfer heat quickly. It penetrates the skin and muscles deeper and can be used to increase blood flow, which assists with healing. Because it relies on moisture for heat transfer, it also helps keep your skin moist and healthy. 

Heat therapy is excellent for sore muscles, but to maximize its benefits, keep the temperature warm rather than hot. Aim for temperatures between 40 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Any warmer than that can cause damage to the skin and cause more injuries to the muscles. 

Alongside that, make sure to limit your heat use between 10 to 30 minutes at most. Heat therapy aims to reduce damage and help your muscles heal. Anything over that time limit can cause skin irritation and increased muscle inflammation. This is the opposite of what you’d want from a post-workout session. 

Your Options For Heat Therapy At Backyard Canada 

While your choice of heat therapy comes down to personal preference, how you use heat therapy also matters. If you’re ready to move beyond heating pads, here are some fantastic additions for your backyard.

Hot Tubs

Hot tubs aren’t just a luxury item they can also be used for therapeutic purposes. They use a heating system to heat the water and pumps to generate flow. When combined it massages and soothes aching muscles. It’s a great option after a long workout session because it is a full-body experience. Instead of sitting in a bathtub for an aching muscle, you can hop right in. Turn up the pumps, take a breather for a short while, and take some stress off your shoulders. 

Outdoor Saunas

Outdoor saunas, on the other hand, can provide both wet or dry heat to heat up and soothe sore muscles. They provide a high amount of heat within a luxurious, private space, and the type of heat you use will depend on the design and function of your chosen sauna. Some varieties include:

Traditional Sauna

Traditional saunas can use either dry heat or wet heat but are often designed with dry heat in mind. They use a variety of heat sources, including wood-burning, gas heat, or electric heat, and promote higher temperatures. However, they heat up slower and create less moisture. They’re considered ideal if you’re looking to control how much steam your sauna produces and find dry heat more enjoyable to experience. 

Barrel Sauna

Barrel saunas are smaller, more heat-efficient versions of a traditional sauna. Their unique shape and rustic appearance allow them to heat up the space quickly. They can offer dry heat or wet heat depending on the heating system used but are generally good for wet heat therapy and offer higher humidity due to how condensed the space is. Also, because of how little materials they require to build, they’re cost-efficient for their size and can fit in smaller backyard spaces. 

Infrared Sauna

Barrel saunas use any heating source, infrared heat is considered the most cost-effective for any design. Infrared heat converts electricity into infrared radiation, a type of heat that produces energy through wavelengths rather than light. It provides the deepest heat transfer for any sore muscle, as it doesn’t rely on steam, rocks, or water to create heat. As it relies on dry heat, it’s considered a great option for energy costs as you’re able to control the temperature better while inside the sauna. 

Find Your Heat Therapy Dream with Backyard Canada

Whether you’re an avid exercise enthusiast looking to improve your gains or just someone who wants to heal your cold, aching muscles, our experts at Backyard Canada can offer many options to choose from. From cedar wood barrel saunas to high-end hot tubs, we work with locally sourced companies across Canada to give you the best backyard experience possible. For more information, reach out to us today for a custom quote on any of our products.