How often should a Kiwi use their spa pool? In searching for an answer, it’s important to consider not just the immediate benefits of relaxation, but also the longer-term wellness benefits. In many ways spa time can be thought of in the same way as exercise—a regular and vital part of your wellness routine.
If you don’t spend much time in your spa, you probably aren’t experiencing anywhere near its full benefits. Here we’ll investigate how often you should soak, how long each session should last, and what you can expect from a regular routine.
How often can (and should) I use a hot tub?
To optimise spa pool benefits and get the most value from your investment, soaking for at least 15 minutes several times a week is advised. You’ll need to find a routine that fits your needs, schedule and lifestyle, but the more you use your spa, the more you’ll see it as a priority—and the more easily you’ll find time for it.
The unique benefits of regular hot tub soaks
Once you begin to use your spa regularly, you’ll notice the difference when you have to skip a day or two. When you soak in a spa pool once in a while, you’ll experience physical and mental relaxation on the spot, but when you soak daily, you’ll likely experience:
- Widespread and lasting stress and tension relief and relief from pain.
- Better quality sleep.
- A reduction in joint inflammation and enhanced mobility.
- Enhanced mental wellbeing and lower levels of anxiety.
Watch the video below to discover how a spa pool can have a profound, positive impact on many areas of your life:
How to incorporate your hot tub into your daily self-care routine
With a little bit of planning, you can make your spa pool an integral part of your wellness routine. Here are a few tips on how to make soaking a long-term habit:
- Begin or end your day immersed in your spa. By making time for a 15-minute soak in the morning, you’ll feel energised, positive and ready for the day. A 15-minute soak before bed can help you wind down both physically and mentally, promoting better sleep. Routine soaks will also ensure you don’t miss out on your spa’s powerful wellness benefits.
- Soak before or after exercise. A 15-minute soak before working out can loosen your muscles and promote better blood flow, while a 15-minute soak after working out can promote relaxation and recovery, doubling the benefits.
- Choose a high-quality spa with a reputation for durability, reliability, easy maintenance, and committed dealer support, choosing a Hot Spring spa pool will ensure that you sustain your soaking routine, reaping the incredible wellness benefits that a spa pool can offer.
How long should you sit in a hot tub?
Featuring patented jet technology and market-leading energy efficiency, a Hot Spring spa pool delivers incredible hydrotherapy while ensuring your power bill doesn’t become excessive. This means you can soak in our spas for as long as you’d like! But if you’re looking to strike a balance between efficiency and effectiveness, at Hot Spring we recommend a 15-minute soak to reap the full wellness benefits of our spa pools.
What affects how long you can sit in a hot tub?
While a 15 minute soak is recommended, people can have very different tastes in terms of the ideal spa pool temperature and length of soak. How long you sit in a hot tub, and the recommended time in a hot tub, will be determined by a number of factors, including:
- Age: Particularly old or particularly young people may not be quite as resilient when it comes to an extended soak in hot water.
- Pregnancy: It’s recommended that expectant mothers enjoy shorter, cooler soaks.
- Personal health: While a soak in a spa pool can be fantastic in terms of health and wellness, those with preexisting conditions should be conscious of the length of their soaks.
- Hot tub temperature: In terms of spa pool temperature, the sweet spot for a healthy adult is around body temperature: 36-37C. Any higher and the risks begin to rise, so the soaks should be shorter.
- Ambient temperature: Be careful about enjoying an extended, warm spa on a warm day, as your body may have no way of cooling itself down.
- Level of immersion: The deeper you sit in your spa, the warmer your body will get. You can have a longer soak with your torso out of the water than you can with the water lapping at your chin.
Can you put ice or boiling water in a hot tub?
Can you put boiling water in a hot tub? While it might feel like a clever shortcut to put hot water in your tub as you fill it, in truth it is a really bad idea. The reason is simple: a spa pool is designed to warm water up to a maximum temperature of 40C, so all its parts and materials are designed to handle that level of heat. Hot or boiling water can be far above 40C, so has the potential to damage the spa.
Can you put ice in a hot tub? Likewise, you should never put ice water in your spa pool, though for slightly different reasons. Spa pool pumps, filters and jets are designed to handle liquids, not solids. If chunks of hard ice are fed through the internal machinery of the spa they have the potential to cause real damage.
Instead, fill your spa with the unheated, unfrozen, perfectly normal water from your garden hose, and leave the job of adjusting the temperature to the built-in heaters and cooling systems.
Can hot tubs cause dehydration?
While it’s true that an excessively hot spa pool can cause dehydration, this is entirely within a user's control. If you set the temperature to 37°C (the same as the human body) or lower, you can safely soak for as long as you’d like. Temperatures above that mark may eventually result in overheating and dehydration, so it’s important to be careful if you enjoy a particularly hot soak.
In the end, safety is simply about listening to your body and following its lead. If you’re looking to enjoy a few extra minutes, soaking without the jets on may serve to extend your stay.
Can babies or toddlers use a hot tub?
Hot Spring spa pools have been designed with safety as the highest priority and are fine to use for anyone tall enough to stand on the bottom while their head is completely out of the water. This means that most models are safe for children as young as five years old. For children who can’t stand on the bottom with their head out of the water, supervision is advised, and it’s up to the spa pool owner to be mindful of the risks.
At Hot Spring we also advise that young children should avoid spending periods longer than five minutes in a heated tub, particularly those set to the maximum temperature.
Can you use a hot tub in all weather?
Featuring a robust, weather-proof shell, ultimate temperature control and a cover to retain heat (even in those often cold Aotearoa winters!), a Hot Spring spa pool is designed to be used all year round. This means that unlike a traditional backyard pool, you can reap the wellness benefits from January right through to December!
Is a hot tub good for inflammation?
Warm water is scientifically proven to relax soft tissues and widen blood vessels, assisting the flow of nutrient-rich blood through the body. A Hot Spring spa pool’s patented directional jets can enhance this flow further. This not only helps to treat chronic pain, it can also help you to rehabilitate from an injury by reducing inflammation.
Give it a try and let your mind and body decide whether daily spa pool use has merit. Just 15 minutes a day is all it takes!
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