how beneficial are saunas?

angie_sample

So yesterday i tried the sauna for the first time for about 10 minutes. I liked it, it was relaxing and i've heard people say it burns extra calories, its good for your muscles and joints... im just curious is it really beneficial? Should i add it into my work out routine? Its a dry sauna if that makes a difference.

BrianSharpe

They're relaxing and enjoyable but the claims about the calories burned are suspect at best (I've never seen any manufacturer post any scientific evidence of their claims). Think about it, if we could burn hundreds of calories sitting on our derrieres there would be a sauna in every house and no overweight people.

angie_sample

yay thats what i was thinking about the calories. One of those to good to be true things. Thanks

Wilson336

A lot of boxers and wrestlers hit the sauna before weigh-in because you can quickly shed several pounds...but, the problem is that it is all water weight...You literally sweat out a few pounds of water. It is a temporary loss and can quickly dehydrate you if you are not careful. Other than that I don't really see it doing much for weight loss.

shellsrenee01

The dry sauna is my reward after a great workout! I love the heat and the continual sweating. I stretch out my muscles for a good 10 minutes. Even if the only benefit is mental, I recommend using it if you find that you feel good during/after. It may be gross, but I love sitting with my head hanging over my knees and watching the sweat drip drip drip drip onto the floor from the tip of my nose :laugh:

Basia_and4345

If you notice "weight" loss after a sauna it is water weight lost by perspiration. It is super important to make sure you drink enough water prior to and after being in a sauna.

reneegee23

I prefer the steam room and I use it for unwinding after a workout. I think a good sweat can be beneficial for detox reasons, but not for weight loss.

An aside: I have a lot of pet peeves for behavior in steam rooms/saunas, haha. One of them does relate to people who go in there for a "workout". WTF? I'm also a Virgo, so pet peeves are in my nature

angie_sample

lol i do think im going to add it to my routine on my strength training days. I felt really good afterwards and i dont think it hurts. But i for sure wont weigh myself after doing the sauna since if i lost weight it would just be water so that wouldnt be accurate. Thanks for the responses!

angie_sample

i drink tons of water everyday. i spend half my work days in the bathroom i swear lol.

reneegee22- i wouldnt be one of those annoying people i just sat there and relaxed. I think it would bother me to if someone was working out while im in there, especially since the one at my gym is kind of small.

reneegee23

reneegee22- i wouldnt be one of those annoying people i just sat there and relaxed. I think it would bother me to if someone was working out while im in there, especially since the one at my gym is kind of small.

I had a guy almost take me out once with a barbell, haha! Yeah, I try to be courteous to other people when I'm in there (make sure my earphones aren't loud, etc.) since I pretty much figure most are there to relax and unwind.

I think you'll enjoy making it part of your workout routine. It's a nice reward for your hard work

wolfchild59

It doesn't burn any extra calories. I wear a BodyMedia Fit and have a sauna in the fitness center at my apartments. In fact, I just sat in it last night for around 30 minutes.

My average calorie per minute burn when I'm at rest is .9-1.2 and when I was in the sauna, I stayed right in that amount. In fact, I even got as low as .8 at one point, which I don't even get that low when I'm dead asleep, so I must have been uber-relaxed. lol

What it does is sweat out some toxins, some sodium, and makes your skin feel better. It's also nice and relaxing for your muscles as well. Today my skin is super soft, my sore neck feels better than it did last night and I slept really well (not sure if that's related, but I did.)

But I definitely didn't burn any extra calories while in there. I probably would have burned more sitting on the couch watching TV since I'm normally around a 1.1 calorie per minute burn there.

wolfchild59

I love sitting with my head hanging over my knees and watching the sweat drip drip drip drip onto the floor from the tip of my nose :laugh:

heheh - I was just doing that last night too. It made me stay in longer than I'd planned since I was enjoying the heat so much and saw how good of a sweat I had going on.