What kind of shower to take after exercise?
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What kind of shower should you take after exercise?
“Even if you live three minutes from the gym, take a shower in the sports club” - the trainers never tire of repeating their words. Only beginners ignore this advice, and then are surprised when they have dermatological problems.
During intense exercise, the metabolic processes accelerate, and waste and toxins are released to the surface along with sweat. If you don't shower after your workout, sweat will dry out and clog your pores leaving pathogenic bacteria harm the body.
The benefits of hygiene procedures are not questioned by anyone. But athletes, coaches, and even scientists have been arguing about the correct water temperature for more than a dozen years. Let's try and shed some light on this difficult issue.
Should I take a cold shower after exercise?
Hypothesis: Bathing in cold water stimulates tissue regeneration and accelerates muscle recovery. Cold water improves blood circulation, so that the cells are saturated with oxygen and the skin becomes firm.
Science experiment: In 2015, The Journal of Physiology published an interesting scientific study: For 12 weeks, 20 men trained twice a week. After playing sports, one group of subjects took a cold shower, the second - finished training on a stationary bike.
After each workout, the researchers took muscle tissue from the athletes for analysis. The conclusions were disappointing: after the athletes doused themselves with cold water for another 2 days, muscle cells showed a decrease in muscle activity.
Conclusion: Active training is already stressful for the body. A cold shower is also stressful. It is quite logical that after going from one unpleasant situation to another, the body begins to defend itself: blood circulation slows down, the immune system fails, and muscles slow down their growth.
The best British tennis player Andy Murray and Heptathlete Jessica Ennis Hill take an icy shower after training. They and thousands of other athletes are sure that this very tradition has given them numerous medals.
Jonathan Peak, a professor at Queensland University of Technology who led the study, insists it's time for champions to rethink their strategies.
For sure, when you need to quickly recover, for example, between matches in the same game, you can take a cold shower. You've probably noticed how quickly an ice pack relieves pain and swelling of a stretched muscle. Cold water works the same way. But if the goal is to build muscle and strengthen the body, there is more harm than good from an icy shower.
Post-workout contrast shower
Hypothesis: The alternating effects of water of different temperatures on the body is beneficial. The endocrine, nervous, muscular and circulatory systems of the body are immediately actively involved in the work. The fat burning process starts.
Scientific experiment: The staff of the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam monitored 3,000 volunteers who took a contrast shower daily for several months, and they found out that in comparison with the control group, more muscular people fell ill 30% less often.
The same volunteers who practiced taking a contrast shower immediately after training, additionally noted that they stopped feeling fatigue after the gym.
Heating the body stimulates the rapid growth of muscles, cooling - prevents muscle soreness. The alternation of hot and cold streams speeds up the heartbeat and blood flow, all organs and the system get more oxygen than usual. A post-workout contrast shower is indicated for athletes during periods of weight loss. This procedure is an effective remedy for sagging skin.
Conclusion: A contrast shower is good for our body, but it is worth remembering that a contrast shower after strength training is an even greater shock for the body than dousing it with cold water, and not every organism is able to endure such stress.
A contrast shower is contraindicated for tumor and cardiovascular diseases, and inflammatory processes including acute respiratory infections. But even for absolutely healthy people, after completing your last exercise, it is better to wait 20 minutes and only then start your shower.
Hot shower after a workout
Hypothesis: Hot water is beneficial after an intense fitness session. It will relax your muscles, prevent soreness, and allow your body to recover faster. Moreover, such a water procedure is very pleasant. In response to pleasure, the level of oxytocin in the blood rises, and the athlete feels calm and peaceful.
Scientific experiment: In December 2014, a group of scientists from the University of Eastern Finland conducted a large-scale study to determine how the heating of the body immediately after intense exertion affects a person.
The results were disappointing: 80% of men who regularly take hot showers have serious violations in the reproductive system: the mobility of their sperm is twice as low as normal.
Moreover, laboratory tests have confirmed that glycogen synthesis practically stops at temperatures above 86 °F or 30 °C. Simply put: muscle recovery is inhibited.
Conclusion: After an intense workout, the athlete's body temperature is increased, as is the heart rate. The most reasonable thing in this situation is to let the body gradually recover. A hot shower will only whip up the heart even more, forcing it to work literally for wear and tear. This is a huge stress for the body and a great chance of getting a stroke sooner or later.
Fans of hot baths and saunas are even less fortunate: sports doctors generally do not recommend going to steam rooms on the day of training. But if you still decide to visit the sauna, then the duration of your stay in the sauna should not exceed 10-12 minutes. Moreover, in the first 2 hours after training, an athlete should not enter a bathhouse or sauna!
The best time for such water procedures is a few minutes before training. A hot shower in this case will increase joint mobility and demonstrate the same effect as a good warm-up.
And yet, there is a benefit from a hot shower! It removes toxins from the body, accelerates metabolism, and reduces pain in muscles and joints. Hot water is great for relaxing and relieving stress.
What's the best post-workout shower?
The main rule of showering after sports is that you should be comfortable! Both cold and hot showers should not be torture. Only by choosing the optimal water temperature for yourself will you help your muscles relax and create optimal conditions for their recovery.
After standing under warm streams for 3-5 minutes, you can experiment with alternating temperatures. Moreover, the contrast should be minimal at first. Increase the temperature range gradually, allowing the body to get used to it. After all, your task is to improve metabolism and blood circulation, and not to give yourself unnecessary stress.
Please note: Skin pores are enlarged after exercise. Therefore, special attention should be paid to the selection of cosmetics. Shower gels have the unpleasant property of covering the body with a protective film, but after the gym, this can cause itching and flaking. The best option is natural soap.