Sauna Benefits
Ever tried out the sauna? Yes, it may be ridiculously hot and a little difficult to breath.. but it's so beneficial for your health and fitness results! I've been adding it in on the weekends post-workout and I love it! I did a little research to find all of the benefits I'm receiving...
The most obvious is that the sauna makes you sweat, which makes you lose water weight. But, the sweat also acts as a detoxifier! All of the toxins that we ingest daily from our environment are able to be removed from our body through sweat. This is huge for our health, as many toxins that pile up over time can be very harmful. I mean...you could always exercise to work up a sweat, which would have the same effects, but the sauna increases the sweat. Increased sweat= increased detoxification!
A great effect the sauna has on people who are trying to gain muscle is an increase in muscle hypertrophy. Muscle hypertrophy is dependent on the balance of protein synthesis vs protein degradation, or "net protein synthesis". Heat acclimation caused by the sauna reduces the amount of protein degradation, which then would increase the net protein synthesis, and therefore induces muscle hypertrophy. Also, the sauna increases proteins called "heat shock proteins". These proteins also prevent protein degradation. They do this by preventing oxidative stress. Exercise causes something called oxidative phosphorylation which has a by-product of oxidative stress. To sum this up.. You exercise, you cause oxidative stress in your muscles, and then using the sauna causes heat shock proteins (HSPs) to prevent protein degradation which increases muscle hypertrophy causing muscle growth!
A couple of other fitness benefits are a decreased core body temperature during work, an increased sweat rate, an increased rate of blood flow to skeletal muscle, and a decreased rate of glycogen depletion.
As I said earlier, saunas also have great benefits of health that are unrelated to fitness. Some of these include: an increase growth of new brain cells, improvement in focus, learning and memory, and an increase in longevity.
My gym offers a sauna in the locker room, so when I have extra time, post-workout, I like to go in for 15ish minutes. I bring my bluetooth headphones and leave my water and phone directly outside of the sauna (because I don't want them getting too hot-yes I've made that mistake!). I lean against a wall and listen to music. In addition to all of these great benefits I use this time to do some form of meditation. I focus on my breath and relax.
All of these benefits just for 15 minutes in a hot room! Can't beat that! If your gym offers a sauna and you've got some extra time, give it a shot!
xo,
Cam