We all have good intentions when it comes to exercising. Boxercise on Tuesday? Yes! Pilates on Thursday? Ofcourse. Run on Saturday? Count us in… But when it comes to the reality of that 6am start or you’ve got that thing this weekend that you just cannot get out of… it turns out there’s a solution. According to research conducted by Loughborough University, taking a bath, (yes, you read that correctly!) is just as good for your health as exercise and in fact, can help you to loose weight!
Investigating the effects of ‘passive heat’ on the human body, Loughborough University concluded that aside from being a lovely, relaxing (and lets face it, necessary) experience, taking a bath or external sources such as being out and about on a hot day can have a positive effect on the body, in a similar manner to exertive exercise. Who knew?
Bathing resulted in about as many calories being burned as a half-hour walk.
Measuring the effects that a bath can have on ones blood sugar level, which is an important measure of metabolic fitness and calories burned, the researchers read the participants blood sugar levels once before bathing and for 24 hours after the bath. This helped identify how many calories that an hour-long bath could burn. They then compared this to the blood sugar levels before and after exercise.
Speaking to Discovery Magazine, Steve Faulkner, experienced exercise physiologist and human performance consultant, explained the method behind the madness:
We recruited 14 men to take part in the study. They were assigned to an hour-long soak in a hot bath (40˚C) or an hour of cycling.
The activities were designed to cause a 1˚C rise in core body temperature over the course of one hour…
…Cycling resulted in more calories being burned compared with a hot bath, but bathing resulted in about as many calories being
burnedas a half-hour walk (around 140 calories).
So whilst it seems that taking a bath won’t compete with Tuesday night cardio, it is better than just sitting around and doing nothing at all. So, if you (like us) have already got the taps running, why not take a look at our top picks for the most luxurious bath yet!
