Swimming has long been known as a great cardio exercise that protects the joints and offers a way for people to gently support their fitness regime.

Did you know there’s a way to increase the benefits you can experience during traditional swimming?

It’s true! 

Over the last decade, technology has advanced, and swim spas have become a modern and powerful solution to year-round swimming. 

Before we can get into the many benefits of swim spas, let’s discuss what they are

What is a Swim Spa?

Swim spas are essentially a unique combination of a swimming pool and a hot tub. 

They have powerful jets that create a customizable stream of water for you to swim against, allowing you to experience a quality swim without your body ever moving forward in the water. 

This allows them to be a compact version of a pool, making them more versatile and providing a way for people with smaller backyards to swim at home. 

When combined with seating often found within a hot tub and crystal-clear water heated to the optimum temperature, you can reap the benefits of hydrotherapy, personal massage, and access to swimming year-round, no matter the weather!

Swim spas are typically designed with seats on one end of the spa or spread across each corner, optimizing the use of space in your spa without compromising your swim experience. 

Better yet, swim spas aren’t just for swimming! 

Many swim spas come with a gripped or textured floor, making them an ideal space to move through any exercise you want! 

You’ll be able to push yourself and improve your cardio with a challenging swim, strengthen muscles with body weight and resistance exercises, and recover with a personal massage right after your workout session is complete!

Swim spas have created a whole new way to work out!

Now that we know what makes a swim spa so unique let’s check out how they help your lifestyle and health!

The 10 Best Health and Lifestyle Benefits of Swim Spas

Due to their unique build, swim spas have been able to combine the benefits of aquatic exercise with the healing of hot tubs, making them an ideal way to add big value to your life!

While the full benefits list is much too long to include all in one article, here are some of the best ones you can experience when using a swim spa. 

1. Improved Cardio

Swimming is a popular cardio exercise that allows you to push yourself harder and longer than you can during traditional cardio workouts. 

This is largely due to the reduced impact you’ll experience during your exercise, reducing the strain on your joints and removing the energy your body expells by bracing for impact. 

Swimming allows you to focus all your energy on the swim itself and creates a full body workout as your legs propel your forward, your arms push through the water, and your abs maintain the posture you need to swim. 

All these factors increase your cardiovascular strength, make your body work harder, and allow you to exercise longer. 

2. Gentle Strength Building

As mentioned above, training in water can help decrease the impact your body faces during a traditional workout. 

Pair that with the gentle support provided by the water while moving through bodyweight workouts, and you’ll be able to better target certain muscle groups and remove the pressure your body faces while moving through them. 

This reduction in pressure helps you complete more sets than you would outside of the water, allowing you to build muscle faster while reducing the risk of injury. 

3. Hydrotherapy Benefits

Hydrotherapy is a therapeutic technique that uses water to help support and heal the body. While the water can be at any temperature, it’s been shown that using warm water can promote powerful healing in the body. 

Being submerged in warm water will expand your blood vessels to increase circulation and relax the muscles in the body for a greater release. This will help your muscles receive the support from the body they need, while the water removes all weight off the body, allowing every muscle and joint to rest. 

4. Swim Year-Round (without a gym membership!)

Swim spas have created a unique way to include a challenging swim as part of your regular workout without needing a gym membership to access a pool. 

If you don’t have a large enough backyard for a pool, but swimming is your cardio workout of choice, a swim spa could be the perfect solution. 

Due to their compact size, they can fit into smaller yards while their water is heated to a temperature that allows you to swim all year comfortably. There’ll be no need to skip a swim because it’s too cold outside or you don’t want to drive to the busy gym and hope there’s a lane available. 

When you add a swim spa to your backyard, you’ll be able to easily have an enjoyable swim anytime, pushing yourself to the limit right at home. 

Better yet, after your swim, you can float back into one of the hot tub seats, turn those jets on full, and experience a soothing massage to release the tight muscles, rehabilitating them directly after your workout!

5. Improved Sleep

Not only does working out help promote better sleep, but spending time in warm water before bed also has a powerful effect on how well our body rests during the night. 

Swim spas aren’t just about giving you a great swim. 

They also help relax your body after a hard day, even when you dont want to work out. Simply choose the seat with the jet placement you want and unwind as your body temperature rises and you let go of all the tension you’ve been feeling!

The temperature fluctuation in your body naturally signals your brain that it’s time to sleep. 

Once you step out of the water and your body begins cooling down, you’ll begin feeling tired and will fall asleep faster with fewer interruptions throughout the night. 

Your body will also feel more rejuvenated the next day from the relaxed state of your muscles, removing their energy demands throughout the night and letting your body redirect that energy to support and heal itself more effectively. 

6. Stress Relief

Using your swim spa can help promote a greater stress release in two distinctive ways. 

First, it gives you an outlet after a difficult day. Exercise is a healthy way to work through emotions and produce feel-good endorphins. By the time your swim is done, you’ll be feeling less stressed and more relaxed. 

Additionally, you’ll experience a powerful stress release simply from the act of being surrounded by warm water.

The heated water can have an incredible effect on the entire body. It’ll ease your tense muscles, release endorphins from the gentle compression of the water, and will provide you with a welcome space to escape your usually busy world, allowing you time to simply disconnect. 

7. Joint Protection

As previously mentioned, swim spas help alleviate the pressure on your body. 

Submerging yourself in water helps remove the weight your joints are under throughout the day. 

This helps give your joints time to rest and move more freely, promoting healing as they experience increased circulation. 

Swim spas also offer support and protection during workouts, whether swimming or completing bodyweight exercises. 

The water will support the body and reduce the impact it experiences. Even during an underwater jogging session, your knees will feel less pressure and weight each time your foot connects with the ground. 

This will help you have a more effective workout, minimize the risk of injury, and reduce inflammation afterward. 

8. Customizable Swimming

Swim spas offer a unique swimming atmosphere, where you can easily adjust how difficult your swim will be, making them perfect for both professional and casual swimmers.

Simply increase the strength of the stream, and you’ll be able to change the difficulty of your swim, allowing your spa to grow with you. 

This will help you get stronger than you would while using a traditional pool because you can continue to increase the power of the jets, pushing yourself to the limits with every swim for years to come!

9. Better Mobility and Flexibility

Working out in warm water helps loosen your muscles and will give you an easy way to warm up pre-workout or rehabilitate your body post-workout.

Include gentle stretching while using your hot tub, and you’ll be able to increase your range of motion as your muscles release and can stretch more easily. 

Spend a short time stretching each time you’re in your swim spa, and you’ll create lasting results, promoting a better quality of life with less tension and pain throughout each day. 

10. Increase Stability

Working out in water is a unique experience. 

Not only does it protect your body and offer greater support during your workouts, but it also helps strengthen smaller muscles in your body that are responsible for your balance and stability. 

Working out in a swim spa is particularly powerful in strengthening the muscles in your ankles. As you move in the water, it will push your body back and forth. 

As your body attempts to stay still, the small muscles in your ankles flex and tighten to combat the movement and keep you upright. 

This stability will help improve your posture while also reducing the strain on your body throughout the day, as your foundation will be stronger and better able to support your body’s movements. 

Quality Swim Spas In Nothern California

Investing in a swim spa to elevate your backyard can benefit your lifestyle and improve your health for years to come. 

With over 30 years of experience, our All Seasons Pools & Spas team has the knowledge to help you with all your backyard leisure essentials. We’ve expanded to include 5 locations throughout the Northern California region, serving our community with products from industry-leading brands to support their quality of life all year round. 

Visit your local showroom to discover your swim spa, or contact us today!