Presented by Pfister Faucets

It could be spending time in the gym, going for a run or doing yard work around the house — the how you keep active isn’t as important as actually being active. But however you choose to incorporate exercise into your lifestyle, jumping into a nice, hot shower immediately after working out will help wash the stress away with your sweat, and leave you feeling refreshed and invigorated.

The immediate benefit of a shower after a workout is to cleanse your body of any harmful bacteria and help prevent rashes or breakouts. But warm or hot water also encourages blood flow to fatigued muscles, activating amino acids to aid in recovery and healing. The massage feature on many shower heads also has recovery benefits, kneading tight muscles and boosting energy stores.

“A good workout gets the blood pumping and sweat pouring, but what you do immediately after your workout will determine if you are getting the most benefit out of your exercise,” says Brittany Raposo, Spectrum Brands Marketing Coordinator for Pfister Faucets in Canada. “A shower right after working out is not only soothing, it is restorative. With the latest innovations in showerhead technology, it is the perfect way to cap an invigorating training session.”

Fortunately, it doesn’t require thousands of dollars and a total makeover of your bathroom to bring the spa-like experience of a massaging shower to your washroom. (Although you can do that if you like!) A simple swap of your shower head can do the trick.

Brittany offers the following tips when considering a bringing a post-workout massage experience into your shower:

• Maximum Water Coverage — Some may say more water pressure makes for a better shower, but the best shower experiences are the ones that provide the most coverage. Pfister HydroDrench spray technology — available in the Pfister Vie collection — provides focused coverage with perfect pressure for the ultimate shower — and does so while conserving water. It utilizes bigger water droplets with a unique spray pattern to ensure even, consistent coverage, and five settings from drenching to full coverage to an intense water massage.

• Multiple Settings — It is one thing to stand under a steady stream of hot water. It is another when that water is concentrated into pulsating bursts that activate your muscles and get blood flowing to the area. Make less feel like more with a ThermoForce showerhead. A perfect combination of water coverage, pressure and heat retention, it distributes bigger droplets of water in a helix pattern for a luxurious shower.

• Hand unit. An adjustable massage wand or hand-held shower head helps you get to those hard-to-reach places with a variety of water pressures that allows you to customize your shower after a good run.

• Body jets. If you have a little more budget, a thermostatic shower panel comes equipped with relaxing body jets that help you target those problems areas and get you back in the gym in no time.