Calories burned in a Saunas

Zero. It's just sitting.

Let me know if you get an answer, that is an interesting question.

I sit in the sauna for about 30 minutes after working out. I always wear my Polar HRM, and I burn maybe 10 calories. I too saw websites that claimed 300 calories for 1/2 hour, but no go.

Its great for my skin and relaxation though.

It's not exercise, you do not count it. All you do in a sauna is lose water that comes back as soon as you drink. It's good for ridding yourself of toxins and nothing else.

Bikram (hot) yoga burns a ton of calories, but the poses themselves are less challenging compared to regular yoga, which hardly burns any. So sitting in a sauna must burn a significant amount.

is this like...sarcasm?

The same amount you burn sitting around my uncle Tito's house.

From the Canadian Medical Association Journal:

Some believe the sauna is useful for weight reduction, but there has been no evidence to support this theory. There is a transient weight loss related to fluid loss just after a sauna is taken; afterwards this weight is regained quickly with the intake of fluids. Salt too is lost during a sauna.

Why, then, do people take saunas? There are few reasons that would stand up to scientific scrutiny. Indeed, most would seem to be word-of-mouth promotion schemes by those of us who enjoy the relaxation afforded by a warm environment; we attribute the relaxation to the decrease in peripheral vascular resistance afforded by heat.

Source: The Sauna: A Health Hazard?; Earl M. Cooperman, MD; Associate Scientific Editor Canadian Medical Association Journal (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1818735/pdf/canmedaj01421-0014.pdf)

And in anticipation of someone saying that you can "sweating out toxins" in a sauna, that would only be true if you had a "true toxic exposure".

LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) – A typical sauna uses steam to heat the body, but a new kind of sauna works by infrared light, in which radiant heat is absorbed by the body. Some claim it's better than steam because infrared saunas will make you sweat more. There have been many claims that any sauna can get rid of deadly toxins, but one expert at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital says here's what you need to know about sweat.

"When we sweat a lot, we are releasing some toxins, but that's only if one has a true toxic exposure," said Dr. Daniel Monti, an Integrative Medicine Expert. "For example they have high levels of mercury or lead in their blood, that needs to be assessed in a medical way and addressed in a medical way."

Dr. Monti says there are many claims linked to infrared saunas like burning calories, speeding anti-cellulite programs, relieving arthritis, and even boosting white blood cell counts, but there is no proof of any of that.

Source: http://www.kcbd.com/story/12260474/facts-and-myths-on-using-saunas-to-cleanse-the-body-of-toxins

My uncle's brother's sister's friend's baby sister Tracy told me it was 300 calories per 1/2 hour!!

1. Log sauna time as 900 calories
2. Eat back 900 calories lost, preferrably McDonalds (calorie dense).
3 ??????
4. PROFIT

It's not exercise, you do not count it. All you do in a sauna is lose water that comes back as soon as you drink. It's good for ridding yourself of toxins and nothing else.

This.

I just want to say with the yoga.... It's not really the fact of the heat that is burning the calories it is the the muscle strength you are gaining from the yoga. Muscles burn 3x more calories after a strength workout. People who combine their strength training and cardio are more likely to burn more calories because they are building muscles and getting the heart rate which isn't necessarily good for calorie burning but is good for your over all health especially heart health (which is a big factor with obesity).

While sitting normally, like at my office chair, my HR is about 65-75. While sitting in the sauna (my dad has an infrared sauna in his basement that gets up to 150 degrees) I wear my HRM and my HR is consistently between 120-140. I'm certainly not saying that I use the sauna to lose weight but, to me, 120-140 is considered my fat burning zone and if my body is working constantly to "cool" itself while I am in this sauna, to me, it makes sense that I might be burning a little bit. Maybe. I've had good results with diet and exercise. I workout 5-6x a week and eat my 1200 cals plus exercise cals and I'm having success. *I also sit in the steam sauna while I'm at the gym and usually my HR is about 115-125. I like to sit in it after a good, long workout. It's relaxing and I like to sweat. I feel it's good for my skin. I have no evidence to support any of this, but it's just my two cents!

3. I don't own a HRM but my heart rate DEFINITELY gets up there when I do bikram. In that respect it's probably equivalent to aerobics or running.

I don't do bikram, but I do wear my heart rate monitor while I do yoga (ashtanga/vinyasa, so similar pose styles as bikram minus the oppressive heat). The problem is that yes, your heart rate does go up when you do a pose, but it will immediately come back down as soon as you exit the pose. So during the class my maximum heart rate will get up to about 150-155, but my average heart rate over the entire class is only about 105-110. I burn about 250-300 cals in a 75 minute class - which is certainly nothing to sneeze at, but if I ran for 75 minutes I'd be burning about 700 cals because I would be *sustaining* that heart rate throughout the entire workout.

3. I don't own a HRM but my heart rate DEFINITELY gets up there when I do bikram. In that respect it's probably equivalent to aerobics or running.

I don't do bikram, but I do wear my heart rate monitor while I do yoga (ashtanga/vinyasa, so similar pose styles as bikram minus the oppressive heat). The problem is that yes, your heart rate does go up when you do a pose, but it will immediately come back down as soon as you exit the pose. So during the class my maximum heart rate will get up to about 150-155, but my average heart rate over the entire class is only about 105-110. I burn about 250-300 cals in a 75 minute class - which is certainly nothing to sneeze at, but if I ran for 75 minutes I'd be burning about 700 cals because I would be *sustaining* that heart rate throughout the entire workout.

That's my point-- when you're doing it in heat your heart rate is consistently much higher. Also, I don't know how you do it but we don't have any breaks between poses.

Calorie burn is actually a function of METs (Metabolic Equivalent of a Task) and is roughly correlated with heart rate, but heart rate can be artificially increased without a corresponding increase in METs at higher temperatures. Your BMR can increase with an increase in *internal temperature* - i.e. a fever, or prolonged heat exposure, but a hot yoga class isn't going to increase your internal temperature much because your body has compensating mechanisms like sweating. Your body will react much more slowly to an increase in temperature compared to a decrease in temperature, where you will actually increase your caloric burn immediately as your body generates additional heat to maintain your internal temperature. Think of it as opening a faucet (sweating, a passive mechanism, where most of the cooling effect comes from evaporation) versus a fireplace (that is actively burning fuel to generate heat). Same thing when you're sitting in a sauna - you'd increase your BMR if you sat in there for a lengthy period of time, but that's highly dangerous.

Also, I didn't say "breaks between poses" - but unless you're holding one pose for 75 minutes you are going to be transitioning and your heart rate will slow during the transition.

Here's the bikram sequence, 26 poses x 2: http://www.bikramyogaredmond.com/poses.aspx
Here's the ashtanga sequence, 72 poses after the opening rounds of surya namaskars plus vinyasas between many of the postures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/louisebest/5345895443/