A Hot Bath is as Good as Some Exercises

A new study finds that taking a hot bath and doing nothing but relaxing may be as good for you and your body as a half-hour walk! In a way it does make sense when you think of how popular and useful saunas are across the country, but now we actually have science to back it up.

Fourteen men were put through two tests of bike riding and an hour of bathing. The studies tracked by a group from Loughborough University researchers report that the goal was to raise the body's core temp by 1 degree. Now the bike riding burned a lot more calories, but relaxing in the 40°C bath did burn 130 calories, which is about the same amount as a half-hour walk.

After tracking for 24 hours after the tests, blood sugar of the participants showed that the peak was around 10 percent lower with the bath instead of the bike ride. The bath also helped with anti-inflammatory response with each of the 14 participants.

Now you might be thinking, much like some of the commenters at 9Gag.com, is it really science with just 14 people being tested? Well, because of the findings, more studies are now being done, so only time will tell.