Should You Hydromassage Before or After Your Workout?
Any time is a good time for a massage, right? Well, not so fast. Contrary to what you may think, timing your HydroMassage correctly could be the difference between soreness, and deep relaxation.
Hydromassage therapy, also known as hydrotherapy, offers a unique and therapeutic experience that can help with muscle soreness, muscle recovery, and deep relaxation. It’s great for anyone seeking temporary relief from muscle tension and minor aches. Let’s look at the different hydromassage benefits and see how they can elevate your pre- or post-workout routine.
What Is HydroMassage?
If you have walked around a Chuze Fitness lately, you have probably noticed either private rooms containing black beds, or a lounge with several large black chairs and a television screen. These are HydroMassage beds. HydroMassage beds are customizable massage beds that shoot jets of water up and down your body. The beds are made with a waterproof covering that keeps the water safe and sound inside of the bed, keeping you completely dry. You can use the remote or screen (depending on the style of your bed) to keep the jets in an area that needs a little more care or allow the water to run up and down your entire body.
These massage therapy beds are great to use on a rest day, or before or after you finish exercising for deep relaxation and muscle recovery. We love this massage therapy amenity because it allows you to enjoy a therapeutic massage while remaining fully– clothed, playing games on the tablet-like device on your HydroMassage bed, listening to music, reading, or enjoying the television screens, depending on your gym’s location.
Benefits of HydroMassage Before a Workout
Enjoying a HydroMassage before a workout can be great if you go about it in the correct way. A HydroMassage session before you exercise allows you to get warmed up and can help aid in flexibility by stretching your tight muscles, ligaments, and tendons. Similarly, the stress and muscle tension reduction can help you to be more relaxed and focused on the workout ahead of you. Pre-exercise massages should be more gentle, though. Deep massages before you exercise could cause muscle soreness and poor performance. So, keep your HydroMassage bed at a lower pressure and allow soothing movements to help with light stretching.
Though a light massage does help to stretch out your muscles, you should still work through a dynamic stretching sequence to make sure that you are fully prepared for the workout ahead. This massage does not take the place of the stretch in general but instead helps to get things moving along.
Benefits of HydroMassage After A Workout
The benefits of HydroMassage therapy after a workout seem to outweigh pre-exercise massage. If you head to the HydroMassage chair directly after a workout, it will aid in reducing muscle soreness, and inflammation. It will also help speed up recovery and minimize the risk of muscle strain or pain so that you have less downtime in between exercises. Better yet, after a workout, you can handle a deep tissue massage. So, feel free to turn up your pressure and allow the deep-tissue massage to take place, really focusing on the areas that you just worked out. After working out, lactic acid builds up within the muscles. This build-up causes soreness because of decreased oxygen in any given area. By getting a post-workout massage, you will help to improve the blood circulation in your body, delivering oxygen to your sore muscles and increasing the flow of oxygen to the affected areas. Improving your body’s blood circulation through warm water and light water pressure also reduces the toxins that your body produced while exercising.
So, Should You HydroMassage Before Or After Your Workout?
The best answer is-both. Do what sounds useful to you. Some may want to massage the sore muscles they just worked out while others might prefer a HydroMassage session before a workout. If you come into the gym and are a little ‘ho-hum’ about getting started, try motivating yourself with a light (remember, light water massage is key!) HydroMassage. The pre-workout massage can help to boost your confidence and will make you feel fantastic enough to face your workout head-on.
If you are ready to get your workout in right when you enter the gym, then tackle that before you head to the HydroMassage lounge. After you work out, you can enjoy a deep-tissue, therapeutic water massage chair.
Explore our HydroMassage lounge at Chuze Fitness
The benefits of using the HydroMassage chair are plenty, whether you used it to get ready for a workout or massage muscles you just exercised. Interested in trying out HydroMassage for yourself? Come on in and visit a HydroMassage lounge at a Chuze Fitness location near you. Find a nearby location in the list below.
California
Anaheim, Chula Vista, Corona, Cudahy, Cypress, Escondido, Fullerton, Garden Grove, La Mesa, Mission Valley, National City, Rancho Bernardo, Rancho Cucamonga, Rialto, San Bernardino, Santee.
Tucson
Westminster Mall, 22nd and Kolb, Ajo and 16th, Grant and Swan, Tucson Mall, Oracle and Wetmore.
Colorado
Broomfield, South Monaco, Englewood, Highlands Ranch, Littleton, Thornton, Westminster.
New Mexico
Coors Paseo, Winrock Town Center.
Are you one of our many HydroMassage users? Let us know if you prefer to enjoy your massage before or after your workout below!
Reviewed By:
Ani is the Vice President of Fitness at Chuze Fitness and oversees the group fitness and team training departments. She’s had a 25+ year career in club management, personal training, group exercise and instructor training. Ani lives with her husband and son in San Diego, CA and loves hot yoga, snowboarding and all things wellness.
Sources:
- “Is it best to get a massage before or after a workout?” Pure Gym. 5 September, 2017. https://www.puregym.com/blog/is-it-best-to-get-a-massage-before-or-after-a-workout/
- Thompson, Jihan. “Is it better to get a massage before or after a workout?” Reebok. https://www.reebok.com/us/blog/478083-is-it-better-to-get-a-massage-before-or-after-a-workout
- Cherney, Kristeen. “What You Need to Know About Hydromassage.” Healthline. 12 August, 2020. https://www.healthline.com/health/what-is-hydromassage
- Agilene, De Villa. “Is it better to have a massage before or after exercise?” Women’s Health. 5 August, 2015. https://www.womenshealthmag.com/uk/fitness/a702920/is-it-better-to-have-a-massage-before-or-after-exercise/