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Muscle growth doesn't happen during the workout—it happens during the rest and recovery periods after the workout, when the muscles repair themselves and become stronger in the process. The recovery period matters just as much as the workout itself, no matter what your individual health goals are. The body requires adequate sleep, rest, nutrition, and even mental calm to recover. But science has been digging deeper into what constitutes a good recovery period, and steam showers play a pivotal role.
Take a closer look at why steam showers and the benefits they provide should be one of the elements you start building into your post-workout recovery routines.
Muscle Relaxation and Recovery
Steam showers are well-known for their relaxing effects. The gentle heat of steam can make your muscles physically loosen and relax, allowing them to enter a deeper state of recovery. This is beneficial for a couple of reasons—and for people at any stage of their fitness journey:
- Get Rid of the Pain and Soreness of a Hard Workout: Whether it's weight lifting, long periods of cardio, or HIIT workouts, most people feel sore after their workout. That soreness and stiffness can linger long after the endorphins of a great workout are gone through a phenomenon called delayed onset muscle soreness, or DOMS. This pain can make people reluctant to continue working out, especially if the soreness affects the rest of their day. By stepping in a steam shower after a workout, you can minimize or completely eliminate that soreness.
- Treat Overworked Muscles: Sometimes, working out means pulling a muscle, overstretching, or simply working harder than your body might have been ready for. Steam showers can help reduce soreness and deliver oxygen more quickly throughout your body, promoting a faster recovery and delivering nutrients to muscles that need extra help repairing themselves.
Detoxification
Any time you see 'detoxification' in the health and wellness industry, it's important to look twice. But the science bears out for the beneficial powers of steam when it comes to detoxification. Steam encourages sweating and opening up your skin's pores, allowing for the healthy and natural release of toxins, dirt, oils, and bacteria (which can accumulate during a sweaty workout).
It also increases blood circulation, helping your cells move more oxygen into your cells and removing toxins and cellular waste faster. How does this work? Steam encourages small blood vessels around your muscles to dilate, or grow larger, allowing more blood to flow in and out of your muscles. This is critical after a workout, as your muscles were slightly broken down and need to both expel metabolic waste and take in nutrients. Steam showers can even reduce sinus congestion, allowing you to breathe easier if your winter workout schedule gets interrupted by the sniffles.
Improved Flexibility
Whenever you work out, it's important to stretch before and after the workout in order to protect your muscles. These warmup and warm-down sequences are essential for reducing the risk of injuries or stiffness, as well as for increasing overall flexibility. Post-workout steam showers can have a similar effect, and they can go even further.
Exposure to hot steam can increase the flexibility of your muscles and joints over time, significantly increasing the beneficial effects of stretching routines. Even on rest days, a combination of yoga and steam showers can help get your muscles ready for the next big workout.
Stress Reduction
Exercise itself is great for stress relief. But a workout where you missed a PR, felt rushed, or simply didn't get the same rush can be an emotional downer. Let a steam shower do the heavy lifting for mood improvement and stress reduction, as you can experience:
- A meditative stretch of time that lets you let go of day-to-day stress and a sense of always being too busy
- Supplements to a conventional steam shower, such as Aromatherapy, Chromatherapy, and your most relaxing playlist
- Heat and increased blood flow, which can actually help reduce stress on their own—Your body releases endorphins in response to steam room heat, which can physically increase good feelings and keep cortisol at bay
Steam showers are an excellent addition to any post-workout routine because they build on the endorphins released by the workout, can cushion any negatives from the workout, and give you an additional window of time to destress and feel calm.
Respiratory Health
Breathing in steam is good for your lungs. Even aside from the advantages after a workout, the steam can loosen congestion, make it easier to breathe, and reduce the effects of illness. But the effects go even deeper after your workout. Suddenly breathing hard in exertion can irritate your lungs and throat, making them feel sore and sharp—but steam can ameliorate those unwanted effects. If you're running outdoors in the cold, that cold air can exacerbate pain in your lungs, especially if you're training, new to running, or are already feeling a bit under the weather.
Hot, clean steam can relax your airways, make your lungs and throat feel better, and let you enjoy all the benefits of a high-intensity workout without throat irritation or feeling out of breath throughout the rest of the day.
Add Convenient, Luxurious Steam Showers to Your Post-Workout Routine
Steam showers are an excellent part of a healthy lifestyle. Hot steam can relax your muscles, increase blood flow, and reduce congestion. Athletes, workout enthusiasts, and anyone who wants to get the most out of their workouts can also experience significant benefits from a post-workout steam shower. Reduce lingering muscle soreness, relax your joints after a hard workout, and breathe deeply after a long cardio session.
MrSteam showers are built with all the features you need to create and optimize your post-workout routine with whisper-silent steam delivery, Aromatherapy options, and convenient, customizable features. Reach out today to start recovering with your own MrSteam steam shower.
