Nowadays, many fitness and health enthusiasts believe that the only way to get fit is by training hard. However, it is important to also understand the importance of rest and recovery. That is why there is a lot of hype and focus on recovery using an infrared sauna.
What Happens To Your Muscles During And After A Workout?
Most people are under the assumption that your muscles grow while you’re working out. However, this assumption is not necessarily correct. Instead, your body and muscles usually grow, repair, and rebuild after or in between workouts.
You should keep in mind that the essential factors of recovery are sleep, nutrition, hydration, and stretching. Also, some tools can help you accelerate this process to enhance the rate of your recovery, and one of these powerful tools is an infrared sauna.
What Are The Infrared Sauna Benefits For Muscle Soreness And Recovery?
Before you ask about the home sauna cost, it is important to understand how the sauna benefits muscle soreness and recovery. One study investigated the effects of infrared sauna bathing based on recovery from strength and endurance training sessions.
During the research, ten healthy physically active male participants were asked to sit in an infrared sauna for 30 minutes after either a 60-minute strength training or a 30-40 minute endurance training session. Afterward, the researchers tested the participants’ performance on bench presses, leg presses, jumps, and oxygen uptake during a run on a treadmill.
After testing, the researchers concluded that infrared heat has a deep penetration that can reach 3 to 4cm into fat tissue and neuromuscular system using mild temperatures (35-50°C), and light humidity (25-35%). Far infrared bathing seems to be better for the neuromuscular system to recover from maximum endurance performance.
Further studies examined the effect of infrared sauna heat on the endocrine system and growth hormone secretion. The sauna leads to changes in the secretion of hormones, some identical to changes activated in other stressful situations and others are characteristics of sauna exposure. The study found that the concentrations of the growth hormone and prolactin, especially, secreted from the anterior pituitary are boosted in the circulation.
Within the second study, they revealed that heat exposure of at least 15 minutes in a sauna at a temperature of 72 degrees Celcius, resulted in a rise in growth hormone levels from 2 to 5 micrograms/L. Growth hormones are important for healing muscle soreness and improving muscle recovery, because it plays an important role in muscle growth, cell repair and metabolism.
What Are The Other Benefits Of Infrared Sauna Use?
There are many other benefits that an infrared sauna provides for muscle recovery. The deep heat emitted from an infrared sauna encourages the blood vessels to dilate which increases blood circulation.
Consequently, this promotes the elimination of metabolic waste from the muscles such as lactic acid and increases the delivery of nutrients and oxygen to the muscles aiding to repair damaged muscles and tissues.
It is vital to remove lactic acid build-up and helps the muscles relax and loosen up. Over time, infrared heat can also reduce soreness on nerve endings and muscle spasms while muscle joints and fibers are heated.
When You Should Use A Sauna?
Generally speaking, you should avoid using a sauna before your workout. Sitting in a sauna before you start your workout could be counter-productive.
Here are a few reasons you should use a sauna after exercise.
Feeling Too Relaxed
Sitting in a sauna is a relaxing experience. Some might go as far as saying it’s a luxurious and pampering experience. It helps clear your mind and flush the stress away.
Getting into this mode is great before going to bed, but not so appropriate before a workout. Most people do not go to the gym after a spa massage, and it is the same when it comes to a sauna session.
When you feel mellow, your energy levels can diminish, which signifies that you may not have the stamina that is needed to hit your fitness potential.
Higher Risk Of Injury
Not only will your mind feel calm, but your muscles will also relax during a sauna session, which can result in them being more prone to injury during your forthcoming workout.
Also, there is a risk if your mental state is too relaxed since you are not as aware and sharp when using gym equipment. Furthermore, replacing pre-workout stretches and warmup exercises for a session in the sauna can also make your muscles less inclined for the workout you plan on doing.
Lots Of Sweat
You are going to sweat a lot in a sauna, which is impractical to your exercise routine. Imagine sweating profusely in a sauna and then having to sweat all over again during your workout.
If you do this, it can easily result in dehydration, especially when you don’t drink a lot of water before and during exercise. This can result in feeling ill, dizzy and exhausted during your workout.
How Does A Sauna After A Workout Increase Muscle Mass?
The combination of gym and sauna can help to encourage your body’s ability to generate muscle mass. This is because of the boost in blood circulation. When the body’s circulation is enhanced, this boosts the delivery of nutrients and oxygen to the muscle cells. However, the heat can do a lot more than that.
Heat Boosts The Human Growth Hormone (HGH)
Sauna heat is associated with levels of HGH in the body, a hormone that is important for breaking down fats and building muscle.
In 1976, a Finnish study monitored the HGH levels in 55 healthy people before and after they spent time in a sauna. This study was published in the Annals of Clinical Research and found that people’s HGH levels were 140 percent higher after they spent time in the sauna, and then went back to normal about an hour later.
So, don’t forget to jump into a sauna after your workout to ease muscle soreness and recover faster so you can hit the gym and achieve the results you are aiming for quicker.
