Hydrotherapy is a tool that can revolutionize the way athletes train, condition, recover and rehab. But what is aquatic therapy and what are its benefits? These are the main reasons why hydrotherapy is an effective treatment tool that offers successful results with winning results.
1. Accelerate muscle recovery before and after practice
2. Provides safe rehabilitation after injury.
3. Create a safe environment for training and conditioning during recovery
4. Minimize joint stress during training
5. Minimizes muscle soreness, soreness, and recovery time
6. Allows treatment programs to start before therapy on land
7. Offers intense workouts without risk of injury
COMPONENTS OF SUCCESSFUL HYDROTHERAPY SPACES
Successful aquatic therapy rooms are dedicated spaces that contain specific hydrotherapy equipment. This equipment may include hot tubs, plunge pools, therapy pools with flowing water, or full-size pools. These are the reasons to include hydrotherapy pools and plunge pools when planning the best aquatic therapy room.
1. RESISTANCE HYDROTHERAPY POOLS
Flowing aquatherapy pools are ideal for aquatherapy and fitness. They pack a powerful punch of function into a small footprint. Due to the flow of water, athletes can achieve full body workouts, swim, run and rehab for overall fitness and conditioning without additional pool equipment. Look for pools where the speed of the water can vary and where there are different areas or performance zones. This allows for progressive treatments at all skill levels and at all stages of injury.
2. IMMERSION POOLS
Another very effective component of hydrotherapy rooms is plunge pools.
cold plunge
During intense exercise, muscles experience microtrauma, or small tears within individual muscle fibers. Microtraumas are beneficial as they trigger an increase in cellular activity that helps strengthen muscles. But they can also cause inflammation and delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS). Low water temperatures in a cold plunge help minimize muscle swelling. Athletes used after exercise get the beneficial effects of microtrauma without the pain of DOMS. For the most efficient use of this effective tool, some elite teams have plunge pools large enough for the entire team to use after practice or a game. Look for providers who can create custom plunge pools to meet your team’s requirements.
hot water pools
Used before workouts, hot pools help increase blood flow, flexibility, and relax muscles. This increased flexibility leads to less muscle tension and a more productive workout. It is also an ideal tool to speed recovery after injury.
Athletic trainers who harness the power of water for training and recovery understand the basic characteristics of water to facilitate success. These include hydrostatic pressure, buoyancy, and viscosity. The ability of water to support, decrease the weight of an object and provide resistance will produce positive results.