Floating has been widely reported as part of the recovery routines of professional teams and Olympic athletes for years — and it isn’t just a pro-level secret. There’s some interesting research that helps explain why athletes keep coming back to it.
Raising the Performance Ceiling
Could lying in the dark on a bed of saltwater help your performance? A handful of small studies suggest it may.
One study found that high-level athletes who have plateaued – those who don’t see any additional benefits from more training – would see an improvement in performance after floating in conjunction with visualization techniques, even without additional training.
Put another way, those athletes improved their performance after adding floating (with visualization) before competition. A follow-up study not only confirmed this result but also showed that floating multiple times between games led to significant improvements over a single float! Many regular floaters tell us the same thing: floating tends to feel more effective with practice.
Improved Precision
Beyond general athletic performance, a few studies looked at more specific benefits of floating in athletes.
Several studies tested how floating affects marksmanship. All 3 studies had a float group and a control group, with participants from all skill levels.
In the rifle marksmanship study 75% had a statistically significant increase in accuracy pre- to post-float with no such increase was found in the control group (relaxation without floating). A similar effect was found in the darts study, with 80% of participants seeing an improvement. It’s worth noting that in both studies, these improvements were seen regardless of skill level.
While the archery study didn’t see any significant increase in accuracy, it did show that the float-group had more consistent scores than the non-float group, something that the other two studies found as well.
Reduced Recovery Time
While the benefits described above could be explained as a side effect of stress reduction, there’s more to the story of how floating may affect physical performance.
Building off of earlier research, scientists in recent years have started using biometrics to see what’s happening to athletes who float on a physiological level. A 2013 study looked at the effect floating has on blood lactate after hard exercise.
A quick science update: lactate was long blamed for next-day soreness, but research now shows it clears within an hour or so of exercise. Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) comes from muscle micro-damage and the repair process, not lactic acid. Lactate is still a useful marker of how hard the body worked and how quickly it’s recovering.
In that small study, participants who floated after exercise had lower blood lactate than the control group, and they reported less perceived pain.
A follow-up study in 2016 looked at a larger group of athletes across 9 different sports. Researchers reported lower perceived muscle soreness, better mood and less fatigue in those who floated.
Looking at the Whole Picture
When you take all these effects together, you can start to see why so many athletes are curious about floating. When you take into consideration the stress-reduction benefits as well, you can see how floating might help them be at the top of their mental game in addition to their professional one.
The best part about all of this? Floating isn’t just for pros. You don’t need to be an Olympian to give it a try as part of your training. It can be a nice way to cool down after a jog or help you recover after playing in a local league game on the weekends.
Float after your next big training week
Two private float suites in Lincoln NE. Every float is 60 minutes, $75. Members get 50% off every additional full-price service.
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