How to Use Heat And Cold Treatment While Working Out

by Bill Lantz March 5, 2022

If you work out regularly, one of the things you can do for yourself to keep from getting injured is apply heat and cold treatment.

But there are only certain situations when you might do either.

You will want to apply heat to your muscles before working out to loosen them up and apply cold after working out to reduce inflammation.

Read on to get more details as to why this works.

Why you should work out

No one likes to have sore muscles.

For me, I play basketball with some friends, and then the rest of the day and the next, I can barely walk around the house.

When I go out for a run, just my legs hurt.

But none of these things should keep you from getting a regular work out.

According to MayoClinic.org, reasons for working out include, but are not limited to:

Controls weight
Combats health conditions and diseases
Improves mood
Boosts energy
Promotes better sleep
It can be fun and social

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/exercise/art-20048389#:~:text=Exercise%20delivers%20oxygen%20and%20nutrients,energy%20to%20tackle%20daily%20chores.

First, it helps you to control your weight.

When you work out, you burn calories.

If you burn those calories and then do not replace them with food, then that helps you to lose weight.

Second, working out can help you battle different health conditions.

Getting out and moving helps to improve your heart health, which in turn keeps you healthier.

It also improves your mood. While you may be tired throughout the day (maybe take a nap?), it will make you a happier person.

I know from experience that I have felt a lot happier once I've had a chance to go out and exercise.

You can also get a better night's sleep after spending some time working out since you are tiring out your body.

Lastly, if you decide to work out with some friends, it is refreshing to be able to spend time with people you know and like.

I'm fortunate enough to have friends I like to play basketball with and with people who don't get mad while playing.

That way, we all get a good exercise without getting angry.

So working out should be a very important part of your life.

To close, Mayo Clinic says:

"Exercise and physical activity are great ways to feel better, boost your health and have fun. For most healthy adults, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends these exercise guidelines:

Aerobic activity. Get at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity a week, or a combination of moderate and vigorous activity. The guidelines suggest that you spread out this exercise during the course of a week. To provide even greater health benefit and to assist with weight loss or maintaining weight loss, at least 300 minutes a week is recommended. But even small amounts of physical activity are helpful. Being active for short periods of time throughout the day can add up to provide health benefit.

Strength training. Do strength training exercises for all major muscle groups at least two times a week. Aim to do a single set of each exercise using a weight or resistance level heavy enough to tire your muscles after about 12 to 15 repetitions.

Moderate aerobic exercise includes activities such as brisk walking, biking, swimming and mowing the lawn. Vigorous aerobic exercise includes activities such as running, heavy yardwork and aerobic dancing. Strength training can include use of weight machines, your own body weight, heavy bags, resistance tubing or resistance paddles in the water, or activities such as rock climbing."

As I've heard it said, it doesn't matter what you do for exercise as long as you actually exercise.

It is so good for the body, lungs, and heart, that it would be silly not to do it.

During the wintertime, I like to play basketball, since you can do it inside and you don't have to be out in the cold.

As it get's warmer outside, I'll go out for some runs.

No only does running help me clear my head, but the fresh air always feels nice on the lungs.

So make sure that no matter how you exercise, that you actually take the time to exercise.

How hot and cold helps

Now that we've covered why you should work out (and there are many reasons), let's discuss how hot and cold treatment would help with working out.

First, the heat helps the recovery of chronic injury areas.

For example, after I've gone out for a long run, my lower back hurts.

This is a recurring problem for me and it doesn't seem like it will go away any time soon (it might actually be because of my posture while I am running).

Something that will help this problem is by applying heat to the area.

The heat warms up the muscles in those areas and allows them to be more elastic than they usually are.

And this makes for better movement of said muscles during the workout.

This flows into our next point, which is that heat helps with cold muscles and helps to avoid more injuries going forward.

So make sure to apply heat to your muscles BEFORE you work out.

This will give you nice and loose muscles, and could help you to avoid getting injured.

Next, applying cold to your muscles after your workout can do many great things for you and your body.

If you are like me, you've seen basketball or football players get into ice baths after they've finished playing a game.

I've often wondered why they do this.

Well, it has to do with what the cold does to the body and muscles after you've worked out.

According to FanSided.com:

"The ice bath is a form of cryotherapy that requires athletes to submerge themselves in cold water for 10 to 15 minutes. Theoretically, it helps reduce inflammation and improve recovery by changing the way blood flows through the body. When you sit in the ice bath, your blood vessels constrict and blood flow to the muscles is decreased, limiting the inflammatory response to stress, which equals less muscle damage and faster recovery, according to Casey Batten, MD, director of primary care sports medicine at Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles."

Being in a cold bath, or applying a cold pack (which is probably what most people would do), is a great way to try to reduce inflammation and improve recovery after exercising.

Imagine if after a run, you iced different parts of your body and then you didn't feel sore for the rest of the day.

This is what people are trying to avoid when they apply ice.

An ice pack is also good when recovering from a brand new injury.

If you are out exercising, and you find that you've injured a part of your body, then applying an ice pack is the best thing you can do for yourself.

As mentioned earlier, the ice is good at restricting the blood flow, which in turn helps to keep down inflammation to the area.

This helps that area to recovery from the injury.

You should continue to apply cold therapy to that area for up to a few weeks after the injury occurs.

Why lava sand heating pad is perfect for your recovery needs

Now that we know when you should use heat and cold treatment, we can discuss why lava sand heating pads are the perfect solution for both.

You see, most heating pads are filled with something like rice, cherry pits, or wheat.

And these are good fillers for heating pads, but not for every situation.

First, since these fillers are food, then they are eventually going to get ruined.

This means that the fillers are going to end up getting burned eventually.

And once this happens, then the heating pad won't heat up nearly as well as it should.

Plus, it will smell like burning each time you heat it up.

Second, these fillers don't work very well going from heat to cold numerous times.

And that is when lava sand heating pads come in.

First, the heating pads are filled with sand.

And sand is pretty sturdy.

This means that you can heat it up and cool it down without having to worry about ruining the heating pad.

So you can heat up the heating pad one day and then turn around and put it in the freezer the next day.

And you can do this over and over again to your hearts content.

Say, for example, someone in your house has a recurring injury and they need to treat it with a heating pad.

But someone else in your home also has a brand new injury that they need to use a cold pack for.

The lava sand heating pad would be perfect to go back and forth with these treatments.

Second, the lava sand heating pad keeps the heat more than typical heating pads.

A rice heating pad, for example, will need to be heated up at most 90 seconds and then it stays warm for up to 30 minutes.

If you warm up your rice heating pad any longer than the 90 seconds, then you might end up burning the rice filler.

For the lava sand heating pad, you heat it up for 3 minutes and then it will give you at least an hour or heat.

This is helpful because then you don't have to get up every 30 minutes to re-heat your heating pad.

It also keep the cold for awhile too.

So overall, the lava sand heating pad is the best heat and cold treatment you can have for yourself.

Summary

No one likes the feeling of being sore after a workout.

Sometimes, it even becomes hard to walk around your house afterwards.

You can help try to alleviate this concern by using a heating pad on your muscles before you work out and treating your muscles with cold after your workout.

And the lava sand heating pad is perfect for helping you treat both of these situations.