5 Reasons You Should Hit the Sauna After Your Workout
Sauna after workout?
Crushing a workout always feels great. However, the last thing on anyone’s mind is getting into a steamy sauna after feeling hot and tired. However, most people don’t know that hitting the sauna after a workout has some serious benefits. For starters, muscle recovery should be high on your list so that you can continue to work out and improve. And not to mention the cardiovascular benefits. Let’s discuss the top five reasons to incorporate this into your routine.
Helps Recover Your Muscles
Quick recovery is one of the best benefits of hitting a sauna right after your workout. Sore muscles that develop a lot of scar tissue can slow you down in your progress or even cause injury if you don’t take the necessary precautions after your workout. So how does it do this:
- Getting into a sauna increases your blood circulation. With better blood circulation, the muscles can recover quickly and regenerate cells to heal the scar tissue that develops when exercising.
- Because of the increased blood circulation, you are much less likely to cramp or experience muscle tightness after a workout.
Being in a sauna can also help stretch things out. Be careful when stretching in a sauna. There is the possibility of being overstretched because your muscles are relaxed.
2. Extra Weight Loss
One of the more obvious benefits is that saunas cause you to sweat. For anyone who has a weight loss goal, this expedites the process of losing more weight. Of course, this has to be done in a safe manner because heat exhaustion is a real possibility.
Tips for Safely Entering the Sauna After Workout
- Give yourself at least 10 minutes after your workout before jumping into the sauna. If you have just completed the intense exercise and you jump into extremely hot conditions, you can make yourself lightheaded. Passing out in a sauna is dangerous. It’s important to take a second to let your body recover.
- Drink plenty of water. One of the drawbacks of using a sauna is that it can dehydrate you. This is especially true after a workout. Drinking water and, more importantly, liquids with electrolytes can keep you safely hydrated. Interestingly enough, dehydration and incontinence go hand in hand. You may want to drink less water and not have to go to the bathroom, but it’s the exact opposite!
- Let someone know you are going into the sauna. Just as a secondary precaution, you can tell someone you are going in and have them check on you at the beginning and the end of your sauna. Or, at the very least, let them know how long you will be in there.
- Don’t overdo it. You don’t need to spend extreme amounts of time in the sauna to get benefits. Just like you wouldn’t push yourself more than you can handle in a workout. Treat the sauna the same way.
Following these tips help ensure your safety and reap the benefits of hitting the sauna after workout.
3. Heart Health First
A 2019 study showed that saunas immensely positively impact cardiovascular health. Interestingly, being in a sauna had the same effect as doing a moderate-intensity cardio workout for a short period. However, it’s important to note that certain people with heart issues should not use a sauna. This is contrary to the fact that using a sauna improves heart health and can be a preventative factor in heart disease.
4, Relax Your Body
Aside from the other benefits, using the sauna is often something that is done in a spa. This is because the heat relaxes your body and muscles. It’s often peaceful and used as a meditative atmosphere. This is probably because it is also a chance to unplug.
5. Cuts Muscle Tension and Joint Pain
Naturally, our bodies feel stiffer in cold weather and loose in warm climates. Going to a sauna helps cut the tension by getting our body to relax. But other types of saunas are used for specific joint pain. Infrared saunas have the ability to fight inflammation and reduce issues like arthritis and osteoporosis.
Infrared Sauna Wrap Vs A Traditional Sauna
It’s worth noting some of the differences between using an infrared sauna wrap and a traditional sauna because they offer different benefits.
Infrared Sauna Wrap
- Infrared sauna wraps are portable and easy to do at any time from your home.
- Uses infrared light for your body to absorb without heating the air around you. Focuses on heating the body.
- Usually stays between 120-150 degrees fahrenheit
Traditional Sauna
- Brings the air to a certain temperature that ignites your body’s cooling process (sweating).
- Temperatures can get to around 185 degrees Fahrenheit
- Much higher level of humidity
Do Not Use The Sauna Before Working Out
Some people think hopping into the sauna pre-workout is the same as using it after. This, however, is not true. Using the sauna before working out can be incredibly dangerous. This is because you loosen your body quicker, and then trying to exercise immediately after can result in tears or pulled muscles. Using a sauna post-workout to come down is a much better idea. Saunas can also make you sleepy from a relaxed state. This is why working out after can also be difficult because you’ve zapped the energy out of you.
Take Advantage of the Benefits of Sauna After Workout
Working out has such a positive impact on your body. From the endorphins you release to the physical gains from working out. But capitalizing on your hard work by going into the sauna after a workout continues the streamline of benefits. Cardiovascular, physical, and muscle benefits are just a few to name. Just make sure to do it after your workout and not before. Also different types of saunas have different benefits. Infrared saunas use light therapy as opposed to just heat. As long as you are cleared from a doctor to use a sauna it’s worth the effort!