[Raknarg]

Hot baths are effective, but mostly in conjunction with actual excersise as well (pros, especially ones who are involved in very heavy lifting, regular have hot/cold post-workout baths). This article is very sadly misleading.

[Nomentatus]

I would be interested in any bibliography you can supply regarding this interaction, since I'm currently interested in interventions (including but not limited to heat) that affect extracellular bacterial populations; and this could contradict some other evidence. (There is of course a lot of literature on heat-related illness and deaths during sports and exercise - so much so that it makes it hard to search pubmed for articles concerning the interaction you've pointed to.)