The Health Benefits of Far-Infrared Saunas

We have two of these great saunas onsite at our Christies Beach gym and I highly recommend you come in and give them a test drive to see for yourself!

If you haven’t used infrared saunas before, you have been missing out!  They have amazing health benefits and feel really great to use!

• Weight Loss

  Raising core temperature increases your calorie burn.  Now, it’s not all about calories in/calories out, but a bit of extra calorie loss from the sauna can’t be a bad thing!

• Skin Tone

  Sweating helps your skin to remove excess toxins and dirt and stimulates skin cell renewal by increasing blood flow and nutrient circulation to the skin, resulting in improved skin tone.

• Pain Relief

  Anecdotally, arthritis and muscle aches and pains can be eased by heating the area with infrared.  Once upon a time people used to use infrared heat lamps – these days we have whole infrared saunas!  It is especially wonderful for those with Fibromyalgia.

• Detoxification

  Sweating allows your skin to remove toxins from deep within your body via the skin.  Your skin is your largest organ and is greatly used for detoxification.  Heavy metals, along with other toxins such as petrochemicals, are dragged out of the body via the perspiration mechanism.  BTW: Don’t put chemicals on your skin.  Your skin doesn’t just push stuff out.  It also absorbs chemicals very quickly.  Be very selective with cosmetics, moisturisers, shampoos, conditioners, soaps, fragrances etc and try to stick with natural ingredients.

• Increases Circulation

  The heat stimulates your body to use its cooling mechanisms, which principally involve sweating and moving blood to your extremities in order to increase the volume of the blood that is exposed to the surface of the skin.  Areas that may not normally get lots of nutrient circulation, such as the toes, should become perfused with oxygen rich blood.

• Boosts Immune System

  Raising the core temperature increases the speed of all chemical reactions within the body.  When you get a fever, the purpose of the increased temperature is to speed up the reaction of the immune system to be able to get rid of the invading offender quickly.  By increasing core temperature in a sauna, we are mimicking a fever and giving the immune system a boost.

• Reduces Stress and Fatigue

  By boosting the immune system and detoxifying the body, levels of physiological stress are reduced, allowing mental stress and fatigue to reduce.  Also, taking 30 minutes out of your day to stop and work on yourself is very relaxing to the mind.

• Speeds Healing to Cuts and Bruises

  Due to increased circulation of nutrients within the body and increased immune system activity, cuts and bruises, as well as deeper injuries to the body will have faster healing rates.

• Reduces Swelling, Inflammation and Improves Joint Stiffness

  Generally speaking, don’t use a sauna within 24-72 hours of an acute injury (depending on severity) but after that you should be all good to jump in and allow your increased circulation to clear swelling away from inflamed areas.  Joint stiffness will improve as all soft tissue enjoys greater flexibility when warm.  For chronic arthritic conditions, this is a fantastic way to ease the pain and enable yourself to get on with life, enjoying more freedom and energy.

• Decreases Risk of Fatal Heart Events
  

  A Finnish study on sauna users discovered that middle aged men who used saunas 7x weekly reduced risk of cardiac death by 50%! Healthline review

What to do when you sauna:

• A normal session in an infrared sauna lasts 20 – 30 minutes.  The saunas can be set for up to 60 minutes and will count down.  You can increase the session time as you get more experience.

• It is best to let your body decide on the right temperature and time in order to avoid excess heating.

• Don’t sauna when pregnant

• Be mindful of safety with the drive home after using the sauna.  If you feel any dizziness, ensure it has passed before driving home.

• Sauna AFTER training, not before, unless you are just using it for a light warmup.  Using the sauna after training allows you to train unfatigued and with good hydration levels.  It also means your body is already warm prior to using the sauna so you don’t have to wait as long for your core temperature to rise and sweating to begin.

• Ensure you drink sufficient water before, during and after using the sauna.  It is wise to add electrolytes to your water to replace those lost from sweat.  Himalayan or sea salts are best, with a pinch of sugar and/or lemon juice.

• You can shower before and after using the sauna if you wish.  Please be considerate to those using the sauna after you and don’t go in stinking!

• Wear whatever you are most comfortable sweating in.  Training gear is fine, bathers if you wish!

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