Hotter immersion after exercise lowered blood pressure in a small trial
In inactive middle-aged adults, hotter versus thermoneutral immersion after exercise lowered average arterial blood pressure. Several fitness and metabolic outcomes showed no statistically clear additional improvement.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Among inactive middle-aged adults, hotter water immersion after exercise produced a greater reduction in mean arterial pressure, an averaged blood pressure measure, than thermoneutral immersion after exercise. An artery-widening measurement also improved. The trial did not find additional improvements in fitness or several metabolic markers, and it does not establish lasting cardiovascular benefits.
The trial was small and brief. The abstract gives no confidence interval for the blood pressure difference and does not establish longer-term effects or whether the findings apply to physically active adults.
What researchers found
Mean arterial pressure
After 8 weeks, hotter versus thermoneutral immersion following exercise: between-group mean difference −4 mmHg. The abstract reports a statistically significant difference but no confidence interval.
What the comparison isolates
Both groups performed supervised aerobic exercise before immersion. The comparison therefore examined adding hotter water after exercise, rather than comparing exercise with no exercise. The findings apply to that combined program and its study population.
Where additional changes were unclear
There were no statistically clear between-group differences in cardiorespiratory fitness, aortic stiffness, glucose, blood lipids or inflammatory markers. These results preserve the uncertainty: a nonsignificant comparison does not prove that the groups had equivalent effects.
The original publication
Post-exercise hot water immersion enhances haemodynamic and vascular benefits of exercise without further improving cardiorespiratory fitness, glucose, lipids or inflammation.
Steward CJ, Hill M, Menzies C et al.
J Physiol · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 40719540
- Record checked
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