5 Reasons You Should Fall in Love with Infrared
Lucille Ball once said, “Love yourself first and everything else falls in line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.” We think she’s right, and since it’s the month of love, it’s a great time to practice self-care and show your body some TLC! Not sure where to start? Infrared sessions should be at the top of your list because they are an excellent way to relax, relieve body pain, burn calories and care for your skin. Simply wrap up in a soothing blanket of infrared heat, allowing your troubles, as well as fats and toxins to gently melt away.
We love infrared year-round, in fact, we love it so much that we shout about infrared and the benefits it provides from the rooftops! Our love is so strong that in preparation for Valentine’s day we want to share 5 reasons you should fall in love with infrared, too.
1. Weight Loss
If you’re on a weight loss journey or just looking to drop a few stubborn pounds’ infrared may just be your new BFF. Immersing the body in infrared heat triggers the sweat glands, but it’s a bit deeper than just sweating. Infrared heat can penetrate the body to break up trapped fat and cholesterol, creating a way for it to leave the body through the sweat glands and regular bodily functions. Studies also indicate that infrared can raise your basal metabolism, the rate at which your body burns calories while resting. The human body responds to the infrared loading experienced during a session by increasing the heart’s output and the rate of the heartbeat. This beneficial “stress” that is applied to the heart during infrared exposure can lead to cardiovascular conditioning training effects, thus the reason a 60-minute session is considered a passive cardiovascular workout. An infrared body wrap is the same idea as an infrared sauna, but it’s even more effective!
2. Pain Relief
Pain in the body can make daily tasks difficult or just downright irritating. When something is out of sync it distracts us from making the most of our day. Infrared sessions initiate increased blood flow, circulation, and the soothing rays can also act directly on irritated nerve endings to calm pain. Many users notice relief about 30 minutes into their session, and depending on the type of pain, the relief can last up to 48 hours. However, infrared can do more than just temporarily mask the pain as it promotes the rebuilding of injured tissue by positively affecting the fibroblasts or the connective tissue cells necessary for repair. It also increases the growth of cells, DNA and protein synthesis necessary during tissue repair and regeneration. Infrared can also aid in reducing soreness in nerve endings and muscle spasms by heating the muscle fibers resulting in natural pain relief. Of course, there are many painful situations infrared can relieve. For example, headaches may be relieved due to the increase in circulation and work infrared can do with tight muscles around the neck, shoulders and head.
3. Skin Rejuvenation and Cellulite Reduction
Two things many of us want? Soft, smooth, glowing skin and an absence of the dimpling we call cellulite. By increasing blood flow and circulation areas of the skin that do not receive good circulation may be improved. Detoxification also helps as infrared sessions get things moving in the body to clear up the skin. Infrared heat therapy may also be useful for skin tightening, anti-aging and delaying the effects of photoaging.
4. Detoxification
A full body infrared immersion is one of the best ways to rid your body of the toxins it absorbs each day. The process of sweating can help the body release pollutants, but infrared sweat is different. It’s special. Why? It contains toxins that are a bit harder to release, like alcohol, nicotine, sulfuric acid, ammonia and heavy metals. When an overload of toxins builds up in our system we may experience recurrent sickness, aches, pains, signs of allergy, mood swings and more. Many conditions can be helped by detoxifying such as colitis, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia and immune deficiency to name a few. Another reason infrared can have beneficial results for a variety of illnesses? Its ability to remove toxins that are trapped in water molecules by vibrating them, bursting them open and allowing you to get all that toxic stuff out!
5. Relaxation
When you’re alone, breathing deeply and simply “in the moment” a sense of relaxation can be felt, but with infrared there’s more to it. Not only does the comforting warmth of infrared heat make you feel cozy, but one of infrared’s many talents is lowering or balancing cortisol levels. High cortisol levels can lead to stress, anxiety, overeating and let’s be honest, it can kind of be a killjoy. During an infrared body wrap session, a few things happen. One, you’re wrapped up for an hour, so it’s a pretty good time to just let it go, take a nap and zone out. Two, infrared gets to work on balancing out those cortisol levels and three, you begin to sweat out toxins, fats, cholesterol and more leaving you with a sense of calm and wellness.
Even if you are not in need of all five of the benefits listed above we’re sure there are one or two that apply to you. This is why we love infrared, it’s versatile, it is effective, it’s safe and it can be used by all different kinds of people for many different health or wellness concerns. Bummed you don’t have a date for Valentine’s? Book yourself a FIT Bodywrap. Have a hot date for Valentine’s? Book yourself a FIT Bodywrap. Either way, your body and mind deserve some love!