It’s getting HOT in herre…

Hey Guys,

About a year ago, while traveling for the wedding of our friends Shan and Jennifer, we decided to enjoy some time at a local spa. While we were there, we decided to try out their infrared sauna.  I had always heard about saunas being “good for detox,” and Brendan reminded me that in places like Turkey and Finland saunas are a part of every day life. But I never really bought into the idea that just sitting and sweating was all that beneficial – I mean, I do enough of that in my car in Florida, right?   

However, I began to read about the many health benefits of sauna usage: improved athletic performance, better sleep, stress reduction, decreased inflammation, weight loss, increase in growth hormone – and this is just to name a few!  As I read the list, I was instantly intrigued.  We had been learning about the benefits of cold exposure (i.e. cold plunges/cold showers).  So it made sense that the sauna would provide similar advantages. 

When we got home from our trip, I started using the sauna at our gym a few times a week post workouts to “cool down” and stretch. Brendan posted a graph recently demonstrating how a quick workout followed by the sauna gave him a similar workout profile to that of an intense spin class.  Pretty impressive, and I’ve seen the same trends in my own workouts.   A year later, I have really started to look forward to my sauna time.  I notice myself feeling energized afterward, my skins has improved, workout recovery is quicker, and my muscles are noticeably less tense.  

You may be asking, Rachel what the heck do you do in there for 20 minutes?!  Well, it goes faster than you may think.  I listen to music, pray, stretch, and sometimes I just cut my sauna session short if I’m not feeling it that day.  It certainly took me time to build up to my usual 20-30 minutes sessions and of course sometimes there’s just not time in the day,  so I do what I can.  Needless to say, we are now sauna fans and love this extra tool on our health journey.    

Just thought I would share a little bit about our sauna experience and experiment with you.  Try it out and let us know how the heat affects you!!  

~ Rachel