6 Relaxing Bath Salts for Post-Workout Muscle Relief

A hard session leaves your muscles asking for something, and a hot bath with the right salts in it is about the cheapest recovery tool there is. Below are the six kinds worth knowing about, what each one actually is, and which we stock — everything linked here is in stock as this is written.

1. Epsom salt — the classic

Epsom salt is magnesium sulphate, and it has been the default muscle soak for well over a century. It dissolves fast, costs very little, and there is nothing else in it. Magnesium contributes to normal muscle function and to normal energy-yielding metabolism.

How to use it: one to two cups in a warm bath, soak for 15–20 minutes, two or three times a week.

What we stock: Westlab Epsom Bath Salts 1kg (£6.99) is the one most people buy. If you bath often, Soakin Epsom 5kg (£16.99) works out considerably cheaper per soak.

2. Dead Sea salt — mineral-rich

Dead Sea salt carries a far broader mineral profile than Epsom — magnesium, potassium, calcium and bromide among others — because of where it comes from. It has a softer feel in the water and a long association with skin as well as muscles.

How to use it: one to two cups, soak for around 20 minutes.

What we stock: Soakin Dead Sea Bath Salt 1kg (£4.99) and Westlab Dead Sea Bath Salt 1kg (£6.99).

3. Himalayan pink salt — the trace mineral option

Mined rather than evaporated, Himalayan pink salt gets its colour from iron oxide and carries a spread of trace minerals. It is the gentlest of the three on skin and the one to choose if Epsom leaves you feeling dried out.

How to use it: one to two cups, soak for 15–30 minutes.

What we stock: Soakin Himalayan Pink Bath Salt 1kg (£4.99), or the 5kg for regular use.

4. Magnesium flakes — the concentrated version

Flakes are magnesium chloride rather than sulphate, and they are the more concentrated option — you need less per bath and the solution feels slightly oily on the skin, which is normal. If Epsom has never done much for you, flakes are the obvious next thing to try.

How to use it: two to three handfuls, soak for 20 minutes. They also work in a footbath if a full bath is too much effort.

What we stock: BetterYou Magnesium Flakes 1kg (£10.99), the Muscle blend with added arnica and eucalyptus, and Relax 750g (£8.49) for evenings.

5. Aromatherapy bath salts — salts plus essential oils

These pair mineral salts with essential oils, which does two jobs at once. Eucalyptus and peppermint give a cooling, clearing quality that suits a post-training bath; lavender and chamomile suit one before bed.

What we stock: Westlab RECOVER (£8.99), which blends Epsom and Dead Sea salts with eucalyptus and peppermint, and Westlab SLEEP (£8.99) with lavender and chamomile for the other end of the day. Browse the full essential oils range if you would rather blend your own into plain Epsom.

6. Blend your own — the cheapest route

If you soak often, buying plain salt in bulk and adding your own oils costs a fraction of buying blends. A 5kg bag of Epsom or Himalayan with a bottle of eucalyptus or lavender oil will outlast several boxes of the pre-mixed kind. Add six to eight drops of oil to a cup of salt, stir it through, then add to the running water rather than the still bath so it disperses.

Getting the most out of a recovery bath

• Warm, not scalding — very hot water is less comfortable to stay in long enough for it to be worth it.
• Fifteen to twenty minutes is the usual guidance; there is little to gain from an hour.
• Two or three times a week rather than daily.
• Drink water before and after, particularly after a hard session.
• Gentle stretching afterwards, while you are still warm, is when it does the most good.

If you have sensitive skin, an open wound, or any underlying health condition — particularly low blood pressure or anything affecting your kidneys — check with your GP or pharmacist before taking regular mineral baths.

Where to find it all

Everything above sits in our bath & soaks range, and the wider muscle & recovery section covers the supplements and topicals that go alongside it. We are an independent health food shop in Seaford, East Sussex, and we hold all of this in stock rather than ordering it in.