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Effect of repeated hot water immersion on muscle strength, power, function and physical activity in healthy older adults: A randomised crossover trial

Daniel D. Piccolo, Jo Corbett, Timothy A. Exell, Joseph M. Moore, Amy Wright, Mohammad G. A. Alnajjar, Luke C. Hudson, Poppy A. Marsh, Veronika Praskacova, Melitta McNarry Orcid Logo, Kelly Mackintosh Orcid Logo, Zoe L. Saynor, Anthony I. Shepherd

Experimental Physiology

Swansea University Authors: Melitta McNarry Orcid Logo, Kelly Mackintosh Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1113/ep093501

Abstract

Ageing leads to an increased prevalence of sarcopenia and frailty, characterised by progressive declines in muscle strength, power and function and reduced physical activity. Hot water immersion (HWI) could potentially improve muscle function, but this is yet to be explored in older adults. Twelve m...

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Published in: Experimental Physiology
ISSN: 0958-0670 1469-445X
Published: Wiley 2026
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71740
first_indexed 2026-04-14T11:08:40Z
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Hot water immersion (HWI) could potentially improve muscle function, but this is yet to be explored in older adults. Twelve middle-aged to older adults completed a randomised, controlled, crossover trial (ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT05618197), undergoing assessments before and after a 6-week HWI intervention (two to three 60-min HWIs per week) or control condition with a 6-week washout between study arms. During HWIs, body position was adjusted to maintain rectal temperature at 38.5&#x2013;39.0&#xB0;C. Pre- and post-intervention and control measurements of peripheral muscle strength (isokinetic and handgrip dynamometry), lower body power and functional performance (Short Physical Performance Battery consisting of balance, walking and sit to stand tests with motion and external force capture) and physical activity (accelerometry) were taken. 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spelling 2026-05-08T13:26:39.2634519 v2 71740 2026-04-14 Effect of repeated hot water immersion on muscle strength, power, function and physical activity in healthy older adults: A randomised crossover trial 062f5697ff59f004bc8c713955988398 0000-0003-0813-7477 Melitta McNarry Melitta McNarry true false bdb20e3f31bcccf95c7bc116070c4214 0000-0003-0355-6357 Kelly Mackintosh Kelly Mackintosh true false 2026-04-14 EAAS Ageing leads to an increased prevalence of sarcopenia and frailty, characterised by progressive declines in muscle strength, power and function and reduced physical activity. Hot water immersion (HWI) could potentially improve muscle function, but this is yet to be explored in older adults. Twelve middle-aged to older adults completed a randomised, controlled, crossover trial (ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT05618197), undergoing assessments before and after a 6-week HWI intervention (two to three 60-min HWIs per week) or control condition with a 6-week washout between study arms. During HWIs, body position was adjusted to maintain rectal temperature at 38.5–39.0°C. Pre- and post-intervention and control measurements of peripheral muscle strength (isokinetic and handgrip dynamometry), lower body power and functional performance (Short Physical Performance Battery consisting of balance, walking and sit to stand tests with motion and external force capture) and physical activity (accelerometry) were taken. Repeated HWI had no effect on the primary outcome peak quadriceps torque (P = 0.127, η2p = 0.125; n = 7), whilst grip strength increased in the control arm (P = 0.004) and decreased post-intervention compared to control (P = 0.039). SPPB total and component scores, lower body power, gait measures and physical activity levels were unchanged (all P > 0.05). Repeated HWI under the conditions employed did not improve strength, power, lower extremity function or physical activity levels in this cohort, and does not appear to be an effective method to improve indices of muscle function in healthy older adults. Journal Article Experimental Physiology 0 Wiley 0958-0670 1469-445X ageing, grip strength, lower body kinetics, lower extremity function, passive heating 20 4 2026 2026-04-20 10.1113/ep093501 COLLEGE NANME Engineering and Applied Sciences School COLLEGE CODE EAAS Swansea University Another institution paid the OA fee SPATEX and the British and Irish Spa and Hot Tub Association. Grant Number: 00229288; Ceperich Educational Trust 2026-05-08T13:26:39.2634519 2026-04-14T12:05:37.7937226 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Sport and Exercise Sciences Daniel D. Piccolo 1 Jo Corbett 2 Timothy A. Exell 3 Joseph M. Moore 4 Amy Wright 5 Mohammad G. A. Alnajjar 6 Luke C. Hudson 7 Poppy A. Marsh 8 Veronika Praskacova 9 Melitta McNarry 0000-0003-0813-7477 10 Kelly Mackintosh 0000-0003-0355-6357 11 Zoe L. Saynor 12 Anthony I. Shepherd 13 71740__36684__b09bd3a4706b4ad785f0767015803d16.pdf 71740.VOR.pdf 2026-05-08T13:24:11.8149647 Output 1048162 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2026 The Author(s). Experimental Physiology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Physiological Society. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Effect of repeated hot water immersion on muscle strength, power, function and physical activity in healthy older adults: A randomised crossover trial
spellingShingle Effect of repeated hot water immersion on muscle strength, power, function and physical activity in healthy older adults: A randomised crossover trial
Melitta McNarry
Kelly Mackintosh
title_short Effect of repeated hot water immersion on muscle strength, power, function and physical activity in healthy older adults: A randomised crossover trial
title_full Effect of repeated hot water immersion on muscle strength, power, function and physical activity in healthy older adults: A randomised crossover trial
title_fullStr Effect of repeated hot water immersion on muscle strength, power, function and physical activity in healthy older adults: A randomised crossover trial
title_full_unstemmed Effect of repeated hot water immersion on muscle strength, power, function and physical activity in healthy older adults: A randomised crossover trial
title_sort Effect of repeated hot water immersion on muscle strength, power, function and physical activity in healthy older adults: A randomised crossover trial
author_id_str_mv 062f5697ff59f004bc8c713955988398
bdb20e3f31bcccf95c7bc116070c4214
author_id_fullname_str_mv 062f5697ff59f004bc8c713955988398_***_Melitta McNarry
bdb20e3f31bcccf95c7bc116070c4214_***_Kelly Mackintosh
author Melitta McNarry
Kelly Mackintosh
author2 Daniel D. Piccolo
Jo Corbett
Timothy A. Exell
Joseph M. Moore
Amy Wright
Mohammad G. A. Alnajjar
Luke C. Hudson
Poppy A. Marsh
Veronika Praskacova
Melitta McNarry
Kelly Mackintosh
Zoe L. Saynor
Anthony I. Shepherd
format Journal article
container_title Experimental Physiology
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publishDate 2026
institution Swansea University
issn 0958-0670
1469-445X
doi_str_mv 10.1113/ep093501
publisher Wiley
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Sport and Exercise Sciences{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Sport and Exercise Sciences
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description Ageing leads to an increased prevalence of sarcopenia and frailty, characterised by progressive declines in muscle strength, power and function and reduced physical activity. Hot water immersion (HWI) could potentially improve muscle function, but this is yet to be explored in older adults. Twelve middle-aged to older adults completed a randomised, controlled, crossover trial (ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT05618197), undergoing assessments before and after a 6-week HWI intervention (two to three 60-min HWIs per week) or control condition with a 6-week washout between study arms. During HWIs, body position was adjusted to maintain rectal temperature at 38.5–39.0°C. Pre- and post-intervention and control measurements of peripheral muscle strength (isokinetic and handgrip dynamometry), lower body power and functional performance (Short Physical Performance Battery consisting of balance, walking and sit to stand tests with motion and external force capture) and physical activity (accelerometry) were taken. Repeated HWI had no effect on the primary outcome peak quadriceps torque (P = 0.127, η2p = 0.125; n = 7), whilst grip strength increased in the control arm (P = 0.004) and decreased post-intervention compared to control (P = 0.039). SPPB total and component scores, lower body power, gait measures and physical activity levels were unchanged (all P > 0.05). Repeated HWI under the conditions employed did not improve strength, power, lower extremity function or physical activity levels in this cohort, and does not appear to be an effective method to improve indices of muscle function in healthy older adults.
published_date 2026-04-20T06:42:10Z
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