Health and Wellbeing - Saunas

You should always seek medical advice prior to beginning any new exercise, or recovery protocol such as saunas or cold water immersion.

No one actually knows where the first saunas were built, but the tradition is thought to originate somewhere in northern Europe around 2,000 BC and to this day remain remain an important part of social culture and wellbeing for many people.
More recently there has been significant research on the performance benefits of using saunas.

Benefits for strength and hypertrophy:

• Increased cardiovascular function.
• Increased growth hormone release.
• Increased healing and recovery rates.

Benefits for general health and wellbeing:

• Decrease in inflammatory cytokines.
• Better sleep quality.
• Better skin health.
• Better relaxation due to no phone or distractions.
• Heat stress – post training or early morning.

We've already covered the why and when to use sauna sessions. Next let's look at the how:

• If you are not experienced with saunas, you should start with two to three mini exposures lasting three to five minutes per visit.
• You should finish with a cold shower or dip in the plunge pool where possible.
• Start with one to two sauna sessions per week and monitor how if impacts your performance.
• Post sauna session you should increase your water intake, sipping water regularly rather than gulping excessively.

Depending on the type of sauna available the temperature and humidity will vary, and you should seek recommendations from manufacturers for any variation between sauna units.

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