Athletes Embrace The Infrared Sauna
Athletes have long known of the many benefits that come from using infrared saunas. Regular sauna use has been linked to increased endurance and greater physical performance, as well as improved levels of tolerance for more anaerobic exercises.
Infrared saunas are an excellent source of a low impact cardiovascular workout. “Many of us who run do so to place a demand on our cardiovascular system, not to build big leg muscles. Regular use of indoor saunas may impact a similar stress on the cardiovascular system, and its regular use may be as effective, as a means of cardiovascular conditioning and burning of calories, as regular exercise.” -American Medical Association
A detailed report in JAMA explains that infrared saunas burn around 500 calories per sauna session on average, making an infrared sauna a great method to born calories, get rid of fat cells and stimulate the metabolism. Although extremely effective, infrared saunas should not be considered a 100% replacement for standard cardiovascular workouts. They are extremely useful as a warm-up, post work out therapy and method to stay fit while your body heals from injury.
Guyton’s Textbook of Medical Physiology tells us that every gram of sweat we produce we burn 0.586 calories. This means we can measure just how many calories each particular athlete is burning by measuring their sweat. The average person will sweat off half a liter during an infrared sauna session, or roughly 1.000 grams of transpiration and 500 calories.
There are many benefits that come specifically from the warming effects of the deeply penetrating infrared rays on sore, damaged or tired muscles. The heat will dilate blood vessels and increase blood circulation which will assist muscles to repair and strengthen themselves. Also, the pain of worn or tight muscles will be lessened by the loosening of muscles and reduction of lactic acids that result from infrared sauna use.
For athletes who want a thorough pre-workout warm-up to increase flexibility and prevent injury, a FIR sauna is the ideal “heat therapy room.” When tissues are warmed to 112 degrees Fahrenheit and then stretched, they retain roughly 0.5-0.9% of their length indefinitely. This means that with twenty sessions of stretching in conjunction with infrared heat, an athlete can produce a 10-18% increase in tissue length. (Justus F Lehmann M.D., Williams and Wilkins, Therapeutic Heat and Cold, 4th edition.)
An athletes joints are notorious for recovering from illness slowly. Heat from infrared saunas is alble to work deep down into the joint area and loosen the muscles to allow greater blood flow. Poor circulation is then eliminated which helps to speed the joints recovery.
Athletes with serious injuries such as sprains should follow the normal process of cold/compression after immediate injury. After the normal treatments have been administered the deep penetrating infrared heat will speed and ease the pain of recovery.
The popularity of the infrared ray saunas continues to grow as more athletes benefit from the many benefits of regular use. No matter your lifestyle, being able to wind down in an infrared sauna after a neighborhood ball game or a professional event is something to happy about.
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In order to find out more information about the many wonderful benefits of a FIR sauna, go to HEALTHandMED.com
