After a hard day at work, stepping out of the car just as the heating kicks in, there’s nothing better than pouring a drink and setting up a warming and relaxing steam shower session.

Our fantastic range of steam showers boast a range of features, which take your steam experience to a new level. A steam shower session will cleanse and moisturise dull winter skin and boost circulation to promote a healthy glow. Our vitamin E & C showers replace essential nutrients to skin and hair, lost through cold weather and central heating, chromatherapy lighting and aromatherapy distribution is available in many of our popular models to soothe and heighten the senses.

Steam clears the sinuses, raises the body temperature to levels where viruses find it hard to thrive and improves immune response. Great for fighting winter coughs and colds, and another great reason to indulge.

Alternatively, step into one of our luxury whirlpool baths, switch on the waterproof TV or indulge in your favourite music and let the warm water loosen tension from cold muscles. A range of our whirlpool baths feature overflow rims to allow you to sink into the deep tub, whilst the water splashes over the lip to be recycled back into the bath…. Lavish luxury.

The powerful, yet quiet hydro massage jets in our steam showers and whirlpool baths relax and warm cold, stiff joints by applying deep, soothing acupressure at key points of the body. Most of our units feature adjustable body jets to allow you to tailor hydrotherapy to your own changing requirements.

Springwave also offer a variety of steam showers and whirlpool baths to accommodate 2 people. The finest way to catch up with family, discuss the day and plan the weekend whilst unwinding, there’s nothing better.

Feel free to browse our website; you can contact us for more information on any of our products. Alternatively, spend some time looking over the superb quality and craftsmanship of our steam showers and whirlpool baths at our Bristol based bathroom showroom. We would be delighted to demonstrate the features of our range that promote wellbeing, relaxation and a beautiful bathroom.

Diet

BUT there are a few BIG problems with this firstly any crash diet is likely to see you losing the wrong type of weight. If you suddenly cut out all the fat from your diet your body will start burning your body fat in its place right? Well sadly NO this is not really true. If you starve your body of fat it is more likely to hold onto the body fat you already have as its supply has been cut of, put simply it rations! You may well loose weight but it is likely to be muscle wastage (this is called atrophy) and is especially true if you have quite a lot of muscle to start with.

The other big problem is even if you loose weight as soon as you stop the diet you will put it straight back on again! what you really need to do is change your lifestyle and diet (as in your life diet not a diet period) if you eat badly it is almost impossible to just change just like that, the key is to start small and make little changes that are realistic and you can stick to. For example start by cutting crisps out of your daily diet or replacing them with a baked alternative, once you have got used to this change make another one say eat 3 average sized meals + 2 - 3 snacks per day as opposed to gorging yourself on 3 massive platefuls! This will keep your metabolic rate up and means your body will be burning calories more consistently.

Other than diet the main factors which can effect you reaching your targets are lack of sleep and stress!

Stress and Worry

Stress is an unavoidable fact of life, if your lucky it will be infrequent but its likely it could be a daily inevitability if your job involved pressure and stress. When you are stressed you body releases a hormone called cortisol and reduces the amount of testosterone that your body produces which is a terrible combination which will stop you from putting on muscle or making cardiovascular fitness advancements.  This is similar too, and can be linked with, lack of sleep.

So What Can You Do?

But what can I do about it? Well there are no magic fixes and its not as simple as flicking a switch, but there are a number of things you can do to improve your sleep routine and help your self to de-stress and stop worrying.

Sleep and Stress can be a very difficult lifestyle factors to solve, many people cannot 'turn off' when going to bed and constantly have worries and thoughts running through their minds, others cant wind down from what they have been doing immediately before bed. Sadly this can be a difficult problem to resolve but doing the following will certainly help:

• Stop watching/listening to any vibrant and immersive media about an hour before bed - watching Die Hard before bed might seem like a good idea but your brain will be wired and you will find it harder to sleep
• Have a hot milky drink before bed - milk and honey or a malty drink are perfect and milk contains casein which is a slow release protein which will stop you from waking up starving the next morning
• Write down your thoughts and worries - if they are constantly spinning round your head get a pen and paper and write down your ideas, thoughts and worries, this should keep them on the paper and keep them out of your head
• Carry out a relaxing activity - Having a relaxing bath is absolutely perfect for this! A bath should mentally relax and de-stress you by allowing you to let go of your concerns, try reading a book or listening to some relaxing music or even just day dream, this should take your mind away from life's problems and take your mind to where you want to be, think about things you have to look forward to and things you want to achieve. As well as changing your state of mind a bath, shower or steam will physically relax your body, soaking the muscles and loosening up your body and joints means you should be free of any physical aches and pains which might be keeping you up leading to a better nights sleep and a relaxed mind set.

Conclusion

Everyone deals with stress and sleep problems at some point, if you are into your fitness and well being these can be severely detrimental to your training and health. A healthy mind and a well rested body are much more important than they are ever given credit for. This is true regardless of your lifestyle.

Relaxing and loosening up both mentally and physically will mean better rest, better mental well being and better results no matter what you training program involves be it running, cycling or building muscle, rest and relaxation are key to progressing in them all.

So get to it, chill out before bed, take a bath to de-stress and loosen up your body with a steam or a whirlpool bath, after very little time at all you will be feeling more alert, more positive and most importantly happier not to mention seeing improvements in your lifestyle and fitness goals. Relaxation and happiness are often under rated and pushed aside in our busy lives.....pull them back into focus!

Further Reading

http://www.uncommon-knowledge.co.uk/relaxation/techniques.html

http://build-muscle-gain-weight.com/managing-stress-to-maximize-muscle-growth.html

http://healthruns.com/bathing-stress/

http://www.womenshealthcaretopics.com/bn_bathshower_Bath_time_Oasis.htm

http://www.sleep-deprivation.com/articles/effects-of-sleep-deprivation/index.php

With volume and track selection handled by the showers control panel you will be able to hear exactly what you want when and as loud as you want it.

Why Music?

The brain is a very impressive tool which can be affected in so many different ways, sometimes without us even really realising. I am sure you have previously experienced a kind of natural high or euphoric experience when you have been in a good mood and one of your favourite songs has come on the radio or your MP3 player and heightened your mood and happiness? Well music can also alter your state of mind as well as just enhancing it.

Music can be great therapy, it is great for relaxing and coming down from a busy day before you go to bed. Alternately you could help yourself to wake up and get energised in the morning by playing a more upbeat track in the shower before work. Music therapy is becoming more and more popular for treating problems such as insomnia and stress, why not couple stress reliever’s together by listening to your favourite chill out track in the shower.

How does it work?

Research has shown that your brainwaves can be affected by the tempo of music. If you are listening to an upbeat or fast paced track you will experience heightened alertness and concentration whereas if listening to slower music you will be calmed and soothed.

With these changes in brain waves comes other bodily changes such as reduced heart rate and suppression of feelings such as depression and anxiety. Finally music can be seen to lower blood pressure which eases muscle tension and helps you to relax.

Further Reading

http://stress.about.com/od/tensiontamers/a/music_therapy.htm

http://ezinearticles.com/?Benefits-Of-Music-Therapy&id=649910

http://naturalmedicine.suite101.com/article.cfm/music_therapy

http://stress.about.com/od/tensiontamers/a/musicrelaxation.htm

Aromatherapy is a form of alternative medicine which involves the use of plant materials and other aromatic compounds to alter the users mood, health and mental state. There are a few main methods of conducting aromatherapy including:

• Inhalation– Breathing in aromatic vapour (Aerial diffusion and direct inhalation)
• Topical – Applying oils directly to the skin
• Orally – Ingesting materials

In the case of our steam showers and whirlpool baths the inhalation methods is the most applicable. A number of our products facilitate for aromatherapy, many of our saunas and steam showers outlets have specially designed locations for aromatic materials to be placed in so that the heat will cause them to turn to vapour and the fans will circulate this vapour around you. They can then be absorbed by your hair follicles and sweat glands to help promote healthy and bacteria free skin as well as being processed by your repertory system via inhalation. This is the quickest and most direct route for the material to affect your state of mind and wellbeing.

How Does It Work?

Each method of application works in a different way, as we have just seen by applying oils to the skin it can be absorbed into the blood stream and also kill bacteria on the skin. With inhalation the vapour passes tiny nerves in the top of our noses which then transmit data to a part of our brain called the limbic system. This are of the brain is responsible for heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, memory, stress levels and hormone balance.

As previously mentioned this is the most effective and fast acting method of aromatherapy, we suggest placing aromatic oils or materials in the special designed sections of our products or even adding plant oils to your bath water. This will help you to relax, lower your heart rate and settle your breathing making it more consistent. The result will be a calmer and happier you.

Criticisms

The positive effects of aromatherapy have yet to be 100% proven by science. Many critics suggest that it is another case of the placebo effect. That said MANY people swear by its effectiveness, the brain is an amazingly powerful tool which can be affected in many surprising ways. There is certainly no real evidence of its use being harmful or damaging in anyway.

Related Links

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aromatherapy

http://www.aromatherapy-at-home.com/howdoesaromatherapywork.html

http://solework.wordpress.com/2007/11/20/aromatherapy-steam-inhalation/