Hitting the gym can be intense.  Lifting weights, while obviously great for your muscles and shaping your physique, can be exhausting and make your body tense andhttps://www.livestrong.com/article/268288-a-sauna-muscle-recovery/ sore.  Running or any kind of cardio can also have a similar effect.  What can you use immediately after you finish your workout to help with recovery?  The sauna of course!  The benefits of sauna after workout are many, and I’ll explain them below.

benefits of sauna after workout

When you lift weights, you are essentially creating micro tears in your muscles.  These tears are then repaired by the body which in essence is what makes your muscles grow.  Anyone who’s ever worked out though will be familiar with DOMS, or delayed onset muscle soreness.  Particularly after doing heavy lifts like squats, you can become extremely sore.  Sauna can aid in lessening the soreness in your muscles.  Sitting in the sauna can help your circulatory system move nutrients into these torn muscles faster, and the heat is great for loosening up and stretching yourself out as well.

Another one of the benefits of sauna after workout is that you can get some metabolic waste moving out of your body.  Because the hot air makes you begin to sweat in an attempt to keep your body at a stable temperature, your lymphatic and circulatory systems get moving too.   This can help move things like lactic acid through your system faster, and increase the elimination processes in your body.

Sauna benefits after workout – greater endurance and heart rate training

If you frequently use the sauna for a period of time more than a few minutes, you’ll notice that one of the effects is that your heart rate will rise.  In a way, it’s almost a second cardio workout but you can just sit and relax rather than have to jog or swim.  Your heart rate can rise up to 60% while sitting in a sauna, and there are studies that show regular sauna use can actually increase your cardiovascular endurance. 

Spike your growth hormone

For all you gym rats out there, you will really love this- it is my favorite of the benefits of sauna after workout.  The heat of a hot sauna places your body into a mild thermic stress.  During this process the body creates heat shock proteins, and there are some studies that suggest you can double your growth hormone production with regular use of the sauna.  More growth hormone means more muscle, so make sure to hit up the sauna after you finish with your weight lifting.

saunas help you sleep better

One of the biggest keys in getting in shape is proper rest.  Our bodies do most of the recovering and rebuilding of muscle during sleep.  Now if you’re like me, you love getting a good sleep and the sauna is a perfect way to facilitate  that.  In addition to just feeling mentally better when you exit the sauna after being heated up for a while, the natural process of rising and falling body temperature will make you feel a little tired and sleepy.  The sauna basically primes you for a good night’s sleep and can help to increase your REM (rapid eye movement) and deep sleep.  From personal experience, I know for a fact that the nights I sleep the best, I was visiting the sauna earlier in the day.

This article just touches on some of the main benefits of sauna after workout – there are many more!  To experience the full benefits of sauna in your life, consider adding one to your home.  If you are curious there are lots of ways to buy a sauna online.