An increasing number of gyms worldwide have been adding saunas to their regular services. Anyone who’s enjoyed a sauna after exercising knows how deeply the heat can benefit the body, from soothing sore muscles to promoting relaxation. But depending on your workout habits, some people may skip the sauna after workout to save time or because they simply aren’t interested.
The trick is, though, that the sauna isn’t just a space for leisure. Your body does some magnificent work in the heat! So adding a quick session in the sauna after exercise can have a multitude of benefits of a sauna after a workout. Whether you're looking to enhance sauna and muscle recovery, reduce inflammation, or enjoy a sauna detox, the rewards are clear.
Let’s explore the major reasons why you should consider using a sauna after your workout. This simple routine can fundamentally improve your post-workout recovery.
Why Use a Sauna After Exercise?
The major reason why you should consider using a sauna after exercise is to aid sauna and muscle recovery. Saunas have been regarded by the scientific community as a method for post-workout soreness relief and a way to preserve muscle mass for some time. But this barely even scratches the surface of the total benefits that can come from regularly using the sauna after a workout. The heat initiates a series of physiological responses that support post-workout recovery at the cellular level.
Namely, saunas are tied to improved cardiovascular health. If you're already working your cardiovascular system by getting a sweat going during your workout, using the sauna post-workout may help extend the gains you’ve made in heart health.
Additionally, saunas act as a natural relaxant. Even though the body’s heart rate goes up in a sauna, the ultimate effect is a deep sense of relaxation. This sensation can make anyone feel great after a hard workout.
It also pays to explore each of these benefits of sauna after workout in detail to understand the best way to maximize how the sauna boosts the body after exercise.
Sauna and Muscle Recovery: How It Works
The benefit that most people on a regular workout regimen are curious about is likely what saunas do for muscle recovery. There is a remarkable body of scientific literature that has recently come from Finland and Australia. Their findings show that using a sauna after a workout can actually reduce muscle soreness DOMS that would have occurred without taking a sauna. This means that using a sauna for muscle recovery right after exercise could help you dodge the biggest setback in fitness... The sore recovery day after.
Many scientists believe that post-workout soreness is reduced through sauna use because of how saunas promote blood flow. It’s likely the inactivity right after a workout that leads to delayed soreness. So by keeping your blood moving in the sauna post-workout, you may ease the sudden blood pressure change that happens when you go from exercise to a complete stop.
More than just relieving post-workout soreness, saunas are also linked to preserving overall muscle mass. Even better, recent findings show that regular sauna sessions can lead to increased muscle mass. These gains are due to a process called mitochondrial biogenesis, which leads the body to create more cells that preserve and grow muscles. Researchers recently observed that young, healthy participants who used saunas regularly experienced enhanced activation of the Akt/mTOR pathway. This is a critical pathway for skeletal muscle growth. Combining regular sauna sessions with strength training can significantly boost your chances of building muscle.
How Using a Sauna After a Workout Improves Blood Circulation
The overarching goal of just about any workout is to get your blood flowing. Whether you’re going for a run, using a rowing machine, or lifting weights, it’s all about increasing blood circulation. But using a sauna after exercise is also a fantastic way to boost your blood flow in ways that your body may not naturally seek out. Unsurprisingly, it offers significant benefits for your overall health.
While using a sauna after a workout, the body’s heart rate increases, just like during exercise. Including a sauna session after exercising can complement your workout and accelerate your journey toward better health. Include using a sauna after a workout as a key part of your post-exercise routine.
Moreover, there is growing evidence that pairing sauna use with workouts that push your stamina or endurance limits can help you extend those limits over time. While consistent practice is key to improving at any exercise, incorporating sauna and muscle recovery into your regimen may accelerate the process. Pushing your stamina to the max prompts your body to recover with greater strength and resilience. This will improve your future performance, muscle growth and cardiovascular improvements.
Spending time in the sauna after exercising can lengthen your workout’s impact by keeping your heart rate elevated. The result, as supported by scientific research, is improved cardiovascular health and enhanced performance during future exercise sessions.
Sauna Detox: How Sweating Helps Cleanse Your Body After Exercise
Not many people immediately associate working out with skin health. But by pairing your workout with sauna use after exercise, you can maximize the skin benefits that saunas offer. Even without a workout, taking a sauna session is incredibly beneficial for skin health. Every sauna session promotes the cleansing of toxins and oils from your skin’s pores. Even more, the body produces significantly more collagen when it sweats in a sauna.
Now, consider this: if you’ve already started sweating during your workout, using a sauna after a workout is an excellent way to continue that cleansing and detoxifying process. Spending time in the sauna post-workout helps your body keep promoting healthy skin. This is due to your body already being in the optimal state for sweating right when you enter the sauna.
Let’s dive deeper into the blood circulation benefits of saunas. Increased blood flow isn’t just beneficial for your heart; it also greatly enhances the overall health and appearance of your skin. When your body heats up in the sauna, blood flows closer to your skin’s surface, normalizing these pathways for future circulation. Exercise promotes the same process, making the combination of working out and using a sauna post-exercise even more powerful for your cardiovascular health. This means that both exercise and sauna use produce the same positive, healthy byproducts for your body, promoting healthier skin along with overall health benefits.
Saunas are Good for Post-Workout Respiratory Health
There are many ways saunas improve respiratory health, particularly when integrated with a fitness routine. Let’s start with the most obvious: what happens when you first step into a super hot sauna? Your body naturally begins drawing in long, slow, rhythmic deep breaths. This is a passive response to the heat, as breathing quickly in a sauna can lead to overheating or hyperventilation.
Saunas naturally lead to relaxation because the heat and dryness slow down your breathing, which can be doubly soothing after a workout that has your breathing running fast. While jumping immediately into a sauna after a workout can pose its own issues (which we’ll discuss later). Weathering out your cooldown in the sauna is a heavenly way to enhance post-workout relaxation.
But spending time in the sauna after a workout doesn’t just make you feel relaxed. There is considerable data showing that regular sauna use can help increase your breathing capacity. This benefit likely comes from the body’s natural response to slow down and deepen breathing in the sauna. Cardiovascular exercises that test your lung capacity, like sustained running, HIIT workouts or other aerobic workouts increase your heart rate. Pair this with a sauna session after these exercises is an excellent way to work toward your overall health goals.
By regularly incorporating sauna after exercise into your routine, you’re not only giving your body time to relax but also improving your respiratory system and capacity for deeper breathing. This combination of sauna recovery and cardiovascular exercise provides long-term benefits of sauna after gym for both your fitness goals and overall wellness.
What Type of Sauna is Best to Use After a Workout?
You don’t have to spend too much time wondering what type of sauna is best. The good news is that traditional wood-burning, steam, and infrared saunas alike can aid in your recovery after exercise. However, since the heat from these three types of saunas works differently, each offers unique advantages. Some potentially being more beneficial for post-exercise use than others.
In short, traditional wood-burning saunas may offer the most post-workout benefits. This is primarily backed by extensive research showing that traditional wood-burning saunas can aid muscle recovery and support heart health after workouts. Steam rooms and infrared saunas are still excellent choices, but with less research currently available. Their benefits for post-workout recovery are less well-documented. As more studies on steam rooms and infrared sauna heat therapy emerge, this could shift.
Can Saunas Cause Post-Workout Weight Loss?
Saunas are often associated with weight loss myths, though the majority of these claims are inaccurate. Although it’s true that you shed pounds through the water lost in sweat, this only reflects temporary water weight, which isn’t a lasting or healthy form of weight reduction. Once you rehydrate, the body restores this water weight quickly. Unless you’re aiming for extreme methods like dehydration (which isn’t recommended). Losing too much water weight in a sauna isn’t a healthy or effective way to achieve weight loss goals.
If you’re combining sauna use with a workout, the weight loss you experience will mainly come from the exercise itself, not from the sauna. True, sustainable weight loss requires consistent exercise and dietary changes. Using a sauna after exercise can improve sauna recovery and make your workouts feel easier. Over time, this may enhance your overall performance and support more effective, long-term weight management. While saunas won't directly burn fat, they can play a role in a broader weight loss journey by supporting your exercise regimen and recovery process.
Things to Consider Before Using a Sauna After a Workout
Using the sauna after a workout can deliver a variety of health benefits, such as speeding up muscle recovery and aiding the body’s detoxification process. That said, it’s important to take certain precautions. Whether you’re a seasoned gym enthusiast or new to saunas, being aware of the potential risks of combining sauna use with your workouts is essential. Before making the sauna a staple part of your post-exercise recovery, be aware of these concerns to ensure you maximize benefits while minimizing any risks.
Be Sure to Drink Enough Water Before Using the Sauna After a Workout
Whether or not you’ve just completed an intense workout, it’s crucial to stay hydrated before any sauna session. Using sauna after a workout drains your body of water almost as quickly as an intense exercise routine, making hydration essential. Now, imagine the amount of water you’ll lose if you hop into the sauna right after a tough workout. No post-workout recovery is worth the risk of dehydration. So be sure to drink water regularly during your workout and immediately before entering the sauna.
While many of the benefits of sauna after exercise focus on using the sauna directly after a workout. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take a moment for hydration. Taking a few minutes between finishing your workout and stepping into the sauna won’t reduce your ability to take full advantage of the benefits of sauna post-workout. Entering the sauna right after exercising, or within 10 minutes, helps maintain your body’s active state, maximizing sauna recovery benefits. This allows you to maximize your sauna and muscle recovery.
Remember, dehydration is a real risk when using a sauna, especially after exercise. A 20-minute sauna session can easily push you toward dehydration. Imagine how much worse it can be if you’ve already been sweating during your workout. Staying well-hydrated is key both during exercise and when using the sauna afterward.
Avoid Using the Sauna if You Have Major Rashes or New Cuts
It’s not uncommon for exercise to result in minor cuts or rashes from friction caused by clothing or shoes. However, even minor skin irritations can worsen with sauna use after a workout. If you have new cuts, rashes, or skin conditions like eczema, it’s wise to think twice before heading into the sauna. The increased blood circulation from the heat can cause inflammation. Any open cuts may have difficulty healing because post-workout sauna sessions encourage more blood flow to the affected area. Those with rashes on their legs or thighs should be especially cautious, as sitting on irritated skin in a hot sauna could lead to discomfort or pain.
If you have a cut or rash, think carefully and decide wisely before using the sauna. Furthermore, skin conditions like eczema can sometimes flare up during exercise, and using the sauna afterward could worsen the irritation. This doesn’t mean that individuals with skin conditions can’t enjoy the benefits of a sauna after exercise. Simple precautions, such as placing a towel between irritated skin and the sauna bench, can help mitigate discomfort. If you have existing conditions, it’s a good idea to consult a doctor or dermatologist to determine whether regular sauna sessions could improve or exacerbate your condition.
Sauna Before or After Working Out: What’s Best?
Let’s get straight to it. Saunas can be intense, especially for beginners. Using a sauna after a workout in the middle of an already strenuous routine can push you past your comfort zone & increase the risk of exhaustion. This is particularly true for those new to either working out or sauna use. The goal for many dedicated athletes is to push their limits with every extra rep or mile. But that doesn’t mean everyone needs to aim for that level of intensity every time.
If you’re exhausted after exercising and new to saunas, it’s usually best to wait until you’ve fully recovered before stepping in. Even if you’re experienced gym go-er, jumping into a sauna after working out when you’re feeling fatigued might not provide the relaxation you’re after. The body, even in a post-workout sauna session, is working hard to maintain internal balance—regulating temperature and achieving homeostasis. Even though relaxing in the sauna feels soothing, your body is still experiencing physical stress.
Ease your way into sauna use after exercise just like you would when starting a new workout routine. There’s no harm in skipping a post-workout sauna session if you feel too tired. Listen to your body and make decisions based on how you feel. Whether you use the sauna before or after working out, it’s important to recognize that your wellness comes first. Saunas after workouts offer incredible muscle and sauna recovery benefits, but only if your body is ready to handle the heat.
What to Wear in the Sauna After a Workout
First and foremost, avoid wearing the same clothes you just worked out in when entering the sauna. While it might seem like a natural continuation of your workout sweat, there are more pressing concerns than prolonging the sweat session. Wearing sweaty gym clothes in a sauna is not only unsanitary but also inconsiderate in shared spaces. Saunas are warm, enclosed environments that can promote bacterial growth. Wearing sweaty, used gear, you’re contributing to a less hygienic and potentially smelly atmosphere for fellow sauna users.
After a workout, it's best to take a quick shower and enter the sauna after exercise wearing something clean. A towel is the most common attire. Many gyms and clubs have their own rules for using public saunas, so it’s important to follow their guidelines. A clean and sanitary environment allows everyone to experience the advantages of a post-workout sauna comfortably and safely.
Conclusions on Saunas Post-Workout
Including a sauna after exercise can help maximize your workout benefits while supporting general health. While using a sauna after exercise can extend the benefits of your workout, saunas alone are also incredibly beneficial. They promote positive body processes such as improved circulation, detoxification, and relaxation. Regular sauna use can also support a sauna detox, helping your body flush out impurities. Pairing a good workout with a sauna session is a fantastic choice for maximizing your well-being.
Furthermore, a post-workout sauna session extends the afterglow of your exercise while leaving you refreshed and relaxed. Anyone who’s enjoyed a sauna after an intense workout can attest to its rewarding feeling. Beyond the immediate sense of calm, regular sauna use after exercise offers health benefits that can positively influence your everyday life. From enhanced recovery to improved mental health and cardiovascular function.
As long as you stay hydrated and heed your body’s signals, adding a sauna to your post-workout routine is a smart, pleasurable way to support fitness and overall health.
