20 mins a day, 4x a week is all you need to live a longer and healthier life
There is a reason why people have used saunas for health and enjoyment over the years - actually for centuries. 3,000 years ago the Mayans were sweating it out in sweat houses, and Finland has been on the sauna wave since 7000 BC.
There are amazing health benefits to sauna bathing. Mentally we unwind, allowing our stress and tension to fade, and after a workout we give our muscles time to recover and relax.
Sweating in the sauna cleanses our skin and releases toxins from our bodies, so there is no mystery to why after a sauna session we emerge feeling rejuvenated and revived.
However, the most impressive benefit we receive from routine sauna use is that we are actually increasing our lifespan. One of the most exciting benefits of routine sauna use is that we are decreasing our chances of sudden cardiac death by 60%.
A few minutes a day is all it takes to look better, feel better, and live longer.
So, let's talk about living longer and some of the amazing fitness benefits of sauna use.
Live Longer (Cardiovascular Improvements)
When our hearts work better, we lower our risk of heart disease and cardiovascular events like sudden cardiac death, fatal coronary heart disease, fatal cardiovascular disease, and all-cause mortality.
The elevated temperatures in a sauna heat the skin and cause our core body temperature to rise. When this happens our blood vessels near the skin dilate and increase cardiac output.
Basically our hearts beat faster and eject a greater volume of blood; which makes our hearts more efficient.
Using the sauna 3x a week makes us 22% less likely to experience sudden cardiac death than someone using the sauna once a week.
Hoping in the sauna 4-7x a week makes us 63% less likely to experience cardiac death, and 50% less likely to die from cardiovascular disease compared to someone hitting the sauna once a week.
As we can see there is a dose-response relationship to sauna use and heart health, and surprisingly the duration to see these benefits is only 20 minutes per session.
For only 20 mins a day, 4x a week, we can hop in the sauna, increase our heart rates (110-120bpm), and add extra years to our life.
Seems like a no brainer, huh?
Improve Physical Fitness (Post Workout)
A sauna session after a workout helps to relax our muscles and soothe the pain in our joints by reducing inflammation.
IMPROVE RECOVERY
When we have a good workout our muscles are usually sore over the days that follow. Depending on the intensity of the workout we could be out of commission for 2-4 days. But a good sauna session, after we’ve left it all on the gym floor, could have us back at it with less down time.
When our body temperature rises in the sauna we experience increased blood flow and circulation which brings more oxygen rich blood to our depleted muscles, and speeds up our natural healing process.
One of the best remedies for DOMS (delayed onset of muscle soreness) is to get blood flow to the muscles. The increased blood flow in the sauna helps to reduce tension in our muscles and eliminate lactic acid.
The increased temperature of the sauna also causes our body to release endorphins that minimize pain.
IMPROVE ENDURANCE AND AEROBIC CAPACITY
Hoping into the sauna after a good training session not only helps our bodies recover faster, but it also helps us perform better.
One way the sauna does this is by increasing our mitochondrial activity. Our mitochondria takes oxygen and turns it into energy that your cells can use. The healthier our mitochondria, the more energy it puts out.
Sauna use also increases our red blood cell count. Our red blood cells travel through our bloodstream, and deliver oxygen throughout our bodies, specifically to our working muscles during physical activity.
Having more red blood cells means we have more available oxygen during aerobic activity. And the more available oxygen we have the more of an increase we will have in our endurance and aerobic capacity.
Some runners have seen an increase in run time to exhaustion by 32%, simply by hitting the sauna weekly for 30-35 minutes after their runs.
STIMULATE MUSCLE GROWTH
If we are all about our “gains,” then sauna therapy can reduce muscle breakdown and increase muscle growth.
Sauna sessions increase the production of heat shock proteins, which repair damaged proteins in our bodies and protect us against oxidative damage. This means any damage done to our cells during strength training would be repaired, and any future damage from oxidative stress would be minimized.
Sauna use also has an effect on muscle growth by increasing insulin sensitivity which improves our intake of amino acids, and helps us to build and maintain our lean muscle mass.
Heat exposure in the sauna also increases our growth hormones production. Two 20-minute sauna sessions a week can double our GH.
If we increase the temperature during our sessions we could see up to 5 times an increase. And when we become heat tolerant from frequent sauna sessions we can produce up to 16x GH from a 1-hour session.
This mean sauna use has a direct effect on the mechanisms inside our bodies that impact muscle degradation, muscle breakdown, and muscle growth
So if you aren’t hitting the sauna after your lifting session, you should be!
Burn Calories
The average person can sweat off 500 grams in a single sauna session which will burn about 300 calories.
Sweating requires a lot of energy, and that energy comes from a conversion of carbohydrates and fats which in turn burns off calories.
We burn calories in the sauna due to an acceleration of our heart activity. Our heart activity increases due to our core body temperature rising, then our heart demands more oxygen, so our bodies begin to convert more calories into viable energy.
When we discuss burning calories we also think of weight loss. If we were to step on our bathroom scale before a sauna session, we would probably get a lower number after we finished a sauna session. But we know this is only “water weight.”
However there have been studies that found people who use the sauna 3x a week for 45 minutes lost up to 4% body fat in four months. So we can definitely add sauna sessions as another tool to our fitness tool belts.
Start Sauna Bathing Now
Our body’s natural response to persistent heat has been well-documented over the years, and doctors are recommending its purifying benefits as well.
It is being practiced by people all over the world to improve their fitness and add extra years to their lives.
Learn about our early member offers before the launch this summer of our boutique wellness spa in Huntington Village, NY.
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