Floating For Athletes

 

Whether you ran this morning in the HBF Fun Run or your a cyclist, love your F45 or sweating it out with a gym session – Floating is a ‘Must Have’ for any and all athletes!

Every athlete should jump into a float tank to supercharge their sports recovery results. But what is it and why do it?

Floating is when a person lies in a dense Epsom salt water solution. The experience takes place in a Float Tank, that has been specifically designed for this. It is an incredible and highly effective way of relaxing and relieving stress.

This is a very widely-accepted therapy. Float therapy is used by many world-renowned athletes and sporting teams. They use it to treat various sports related conditions and aide in their recovery.

Floating is also beneficial for those who don’t play any sports but want to better manage their stress.

Cumulative Effects

What is notable is that the positive effects of floatation are cumulative.

The more you use this therapy, the greater your benefit.

Our clients comment how they crave time in the float tank, it becomes very addictive.

Athletes, use the experience to optimise the effects of their training routine. It helps them manage fatigue and speed up their recovery from sports injuries.

WHICH ATHLETES USE FLOATATION THERAPY

Learn about floating whilst pregnant
We see the use of floating in a Float tank being widely used within the following sports:
  • Long distance runners
  • Yoga
  • Cross fit athletes
  • MMA fighters
  • Pregnant women

Yes if you are carrying a baby you should be considered an athlete!

This list is not exclusive.

And with growing momentum, we recommend jumping in now for your very own float experience.

It will take over your sport, and currently it will give you the competitive edge!

WHY EVERY ATHLETE SHOULD JUMP IN A FLOAT TANK

The benefits of the floating experience:

The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), sees flotation tank use as integral to their athletes training regimes.
Some benefits of using floatation therapy are:
  • Accelerates the recovery from injury
  • Increases energy (ATP)
  • Ideal space for visualisation and mind setting.
  • Boosts the immune system, by allowing the body to relax
  • Reduces Lactic acid levels in the body
  • Aids in facilitated rest, improving athletes exposure to fatigue.
  • Facilitates the reduction of delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS)
Not an athlete? Float to improve well being
Actually, I’m ready to book a Float
Gravity isn’t a factor in the float tank. The complete relaxation that it provides, allows all the muscles a much needed break.  When the person is in the tank, every single muscle in the body gets the rest it needs and the time to recover.
The benefits are truly impressive!
Furthermore epsom salts are a magnesium and sulphate.
This is a muscle relaxant and a protein builder for your joints. Not only do you decompress whilst floating, you absorb the minerals whilst you float.
This effect is direct into your muscles, allowing you to be less tense as soon as you get up.

Recovery Time Frame

When an athlete is floating, they improve their actual rate of recovery.
After physical exercise the body is fatigued. Floating enhances recovery time beyond recognition.
With such high concentrations of epsom salt in the float tank, the weightlessness experienced removes the pressure of gravity.
In turn, with the weight and pressure removed from strained muscles, joints and bones, the body relaxes.
This increases the efficiency of the blood circulation right through the body.
It also improves the recovery time from injury.

The body has amazing pathways set up.

To alarm it of pain, injury, hot or cold. When the brain receives these signals, it can then react and adapt accordingly.

Yet this mechanism is not just designed to cope with injury.

All positive signals of relief experienced whilst floating also go into the brain. They produce a very profound, complete state of relaxation that is not to be dismissed.

Sports performance improvement

Athletes using float therapy in combination with visualisation techniques, experience a very significant improvement in their performance.
As the person’s brain transitions into a theta state, it becomes much more open to suggestion.
The Central Nervous System (CNS) can essentially be effectively trained.
Athletes will visualise their “perfect performance’.
Today, many top athletes across Australia and the U.S use this technique to relax and up their performance in their chosen sport.
 

Working against gravity

While floating, gravity pressures gets taken off the muscles and joints.

The entire body enters a state of high physical relaxation.

Blood pressure and oxygen intake reduces.

But the blood flow and distribution of red blood cells increases.

These combined effects are especially beneficial to athletes.

It speeds up the recovery from injury and assists in flushing out cortisol, lactate & adrenaline.

Reduces Injury Risk

Float Therapy loosens the muscles and gives athletes a higher degree of control in their nervous systems.
In effect, this reduces injury risk during training and competition. Floatation accelerates the athlete’s recovery process.
It does this by releasing large quantities of endorphins, which is natural painkiller to the body.
 
Sensory isolation, which is another component of floatation, allows the athlete to reach heightened levels of concentration.
The kind of concentration required to have a tangible effect on his/her performance. Many modern training methods are focused on helping athletes master their “inner game.”
This assists in developing perfect synchronicity between body, mind and emotion.
Where better to find yourself than in a setting that is designed to help you lose yourself?

Floatation is also used by many people to help them identify areas of tension they were not previously aware of.

Many people report being able to have a heightened sense of a certain body part whilst floating.

This sense helps draw awareness to an area that may require additional attention in the form of stretching, massage or treatment.

WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO HOP INTO A FLOAT TANK?

What are you waiting for?  Improve recovery and prevent injury. Reduce muscle tension and out perform your competitors.
Harness the under-utilised power of relaxation in sport.
When are you going to float? Click HERE to book an appointment at Salt in South Perth OR click HERE for our pricing options! See you soon!
Original Article from Paramount Health.