Many of us enjoy relaxing in a traditional hot sauna, a room heated to temperatures between 150 and 195 Fahrenheit.
However, I discovered the new fitness trend infrared saunas. They are a great way to recover after a workout, and I’ll never give them up!
What are infrared or IR saunas (including near, mid, and far), and what are some precautions and benefits of such saunas?
What Is an IR Sauna?
An infrared sauna, built with a wall, floor, and ceiling, utilizes specialized lamps that emanate light waves that heat an individual’s body but doesn’t warm the room.
We can’t see the infrared light, but we can feel the heat.
Whereas traditional saunas can reach as high as 195 Fahrenheit, IR saunas typically hit around 140 Fahrenheit.
Steam or heat saunas warm the air surrounding you and, thereby, warm your body.
But infrared light penetrates your skin deeper because of warming your skin directly, thereby warming you more in-depth and more efficiently.
What Is a Near, Mid, and Far Infrared Sauna?
Near
According to NASA, near-infrared or NIR combines light and heat therapy that can penetrate your body up to nine inches.
As a result, the air surrounding you stays cooler while your body is heated. IR saunas give off electromagnetic fields or EMF.
A NIR sauna (the shortest of the wavelengths) gives off less EMF than a MIR or FIR sauna.
Mid
A mid-infrared sauna or MIR penetrates deeper and gives off more heat than a NIR but not as much as an FIR.
Far
Far-infrared or FIR is the longest of the wavelengths. An FIR sauna, therefore, penetrates the deepest.
What Are Precautions and Preparations of Using Infrared Saunas?
Precautions
Before we discuss the benefits, let’s go over the precautions. The focus is on preventing dehydration, which occurs when you lose more fluids than you take it.
The condition can go from minor to severe, and the warning signs of dehydration in adults include extreme thirst, dizziness, confusion, etc.
For example, I became so dehydrated once that I could not stand. It took me ten to fifteen minutes to recover.
- There is the danger of getting overheated in a sauna, which causes you to sweat, lose fluids, and get dehydrated. To combat this, make sure you’re drinking water or an electrolyte drink before, during, and after the sauna.
- If you have kidney disease, diabetes, a heart condition, or some other chronic condition, you are at a greater risk of getting dehydrated. Consult your doctor before enjoying saunas if you have a pre-existing condition.
- Do not spend more time than recommended in a sauna. Spending an excessive amount of time in a sauna puts you at greater risk of dehydration.
Preparations
In general, preparations to use an infrared sauna are as follows:
- Heat the sauna – Ensure your sauna is heated to the right temperature. Each IR sauna will have its own mechanism as to how fast it heats up.
- Have appropriate fluids – As I’ve discussed, the danger of dehydration can occur while using a sauna. Therefore, you must stay hydrated either with eight to ten ounces of bottle water or eight to ten ounces of an electrolyte drink. If you start feeling dizzy, nauseous, etc., get out of the sauna immediately.
- Have towels – Be sure you enter the sauna with towels. You can either enter an IR sauna naked or in something light, such as a bathing suit. But if you wear clothes in these saunas, make sure your skin can breathe. Frankly, I prefer to go in naked. However, what I do with one towel is cover my naked body, and what I do with the other towel is put it down to sit on it. A word about sweat – It’s good. Sweating helps your body function properly. It helps with detoxification, healing, regulating hormones, and more. Some people sweat a lot in these saunas, and some don’t sweat right away but sweat eventually. I sweat a lot in these saunas, almost from the beginning. So the towels help.
- Set the timer – Most quality saunas will have a timer. The typical time to stay in these saunas is 15 minutes. Don’t go over 30.
- Relax – Relaxing in a sauna can take many forms, such as reading a book or listening to music while you’re doing it. However, when I go into a sauna, I close my eyes and do nothing but sit there.
- Exit carefully – Don’t rush out of a sauna. Take your time and exit slowly. Let your body temperature adjust to the temperature outside of the sauna. Drink some more water. You’ll probably want to take a shower right away. I tend to wait for about 30 minutes before I jump into the shower. I like to let my pores close before I introduce the water.
What Are 5 Benefits of Infrared Saunas After a Workout?
I don’t relax in IR saunas every day, but I do get the opportunity about twice a week utilizing a friend’s IR sauna.
I do it after I swim laps in his pool, which is one of my preferred workouts. There are many benefits of stepping into one of these saunas after a workout.
What are 5 benefits of infrared saunas after a workout?
1. Infrared Heat Helps Your Muscles
What’s one of the parts of your body that gets a lot of use when you exercise? It’s your muscles. Using an IR sauna after a workout has benefits for your muscles.
Getting rid of lactic acid
When you sit in an IR sauna after a workout, you sweat out toxins and get rid of built-up lactic acid in your muscles. That helps your muscles to recover faster.
Soothes the muscles
An IR sauna will soothe your muscle cramps while you relax to help you not have sore muscles the next day.
Muscle strength
According to Dr. Ai Mukai, a board-certified physical medicine, pain medicine, and rehabilitation doctor, “muscle strength and power” can build after sauna use.
One of the reasons is due to the extra release of HGH or human growth hormone that occurs while in the sauna.
HGH helps to maintain your organs and tissues throughout your life. However, by middle age, HGH growth slows.
2. Infrared Heat Therapy Helps Your Mental Health
Many Americans are stressed and are negatively affected when it comes to mental health. I’ve been one of those Americans at times.
However, I’ve found that my trips to an IR sauna help my mental health. According to Dr. Jari A. Laukkanen, a sauna can aid in your body and mind relaxation.
He also asserts that studies he has participated in suggest that frequent sauna visits may help reduce the risk of mental disorders.
However, more research is needed to confirm that.
3. Infrared Saunas Help You Heal In General
I consider IR saunas as a form of natural therapy.
For example, these saunas can help your tissues and wounds heal and can also heal the collagen and elastin production in your skin, which helps to get rid of wrinkles, something that women like me appreciate.
4. IR Therapy Helps You Lose Weight
How many people out there want to lose weight? I’m raising my hand. Perhaps I’m already at the right weight for my body, but it seems we’re never satisfied, right?
Let’s say you truly need to lose weight. It seems IR saunas can help you get there. For example, Binghamton University did a study of exposing people in IR saunas weekly and found that after the study, individuals lost weight.
So if you combine eating right with exercise and then IR sauna use, perhaps you can reach your weight loss goals.
5. IR Heat Therapy Helps You Cleanse Your Skin
As I discussed earlier, you sweat in an IR sauna, and when you sweat, you’re cleansing your skin.
While you sweat, your skin pores are opening, and your dead cells are removed. When that happens, it makes way for the growth of new cells.
As you shed dead skin cells, your skin takes on a healthy and renewed glow. After a workout, it’s even better.
Because chances are, you were sweating during your exercise, and now, in an IR sauna immediately after your workout, you sweat some more.
As you can see, infrared saunas can be a good thing for the body after a workout for more reasons than one.
You can go to something like health clubs or health spas to enter one of these saunas, but today, many people have their own IR saunas, we like this one in particular for home use.
Best Home Infrared Saunas
| SereneLife Portable Full Size Infrared Home Spa | HigherDose Infrared Sauna Blanket | Crew & Axel Infrared Sauna Individual Home Spa |
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| We like that the SereneLife Portable Full Size Infrared Home Spa mimics the experience of a spa for your home at a fraction of the cost. | The HigherDose Infrared Sauna Blanket is a premium heat therapy experience that is portable and perfect for those who want to relax on the go. | The Crew & Axel Infrared Sauna Individual Home Spa is best for those who want to experience an infrared heat therapy experience on a budget or want to try it out before investing in a more premium model. |
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