Why every athlete can benefit from an infrared sauna session
Regular Sauna vs Infrared Saunas
A traditional sauna provides dry heat by warming up the environment to an average of 87 degrees celsius. Infrared saunas use infrared light that releases electromagnetic radiation to generate heat. These non harmful radiations can absorb deeper into the body, roughly 1.5 inches into the skin, for a far deeper muscle penetration over dry saunas.
The air inside an infrared sauna typically reaches lower temperatures at 60-65 degrees celsius which makes them more tolerable for longer sessions.
Benefits Of The Infrared Sauna
Recovery. Increasing your core temperature for short bursts is not only great for your overall health, it can also dramatically improve performance too. Infrared heat can greatly aid the sore, damaged or tired muscles of an athlete. The heat targets the muscles increasing blood circulation and assisting with repair, it helps the reduction of lactic acids, allowing tight and worn-out muscles to relax.
Body Optimisation. Repeated sauna use acclimates the body to heat and optimises the body's response to future exposures, likely due to a biological phenomenon known as hormesis, a compensatory defence response following exposure to a stressor. Hormesis triggers a vast array of protective mechanisms that not only repair cell damage but also provide protection from subsequent exposures to more devastating stressors, boosting the repair and immune systems within the body. And because this process works to prevent protein degradation, through the introduction of heat shock proteins, the promotion of the release of growth hormone, and by improving insulin sensitivity muscle hypertrophy occurs, helping you to build and maintain muscle mass.
Increased Performance & Endurance. The sauna will provide a boost to the cardiovascular system by increasing nutrient delivery to the muscles which reduce the depletion of glycogen stores during exercise, and help reduce the heart rate and core temperature during workload. A 2007 study for endurance performance athletes showed that “Relative to control, sauna bathing increased run time to exhaustion by 32%, which is equivalent to an enhancement of approximately 1.9% in an endurance time trial.” - J Sci Med Sport. When an athlete jumps into a sauna, they are increasing their tolerance for anaerobic activity. So anyone who is working on endurance, from a muscular or a mental perspective, should add the sauna to their routine to challenge and expand your tolerance levels.
Cerebal Conditioning. There are also many mental benefits to a regular sauna schedule:
Increased storage and release of norepinephrine, which improves attention and focus.
Increased prolactin, which causes your brain to function faster by enhancing myelination and helps to repair damaged neurons.
Increased BDNF, which causes the growth of new brain cells, improves the ability for you to retain new information, and aids certain types of depression and anxiety.
The promotion of a robust increase in dynorphin, which results in your body becoming more sensitive to the ensuing endorphins.
Also check out the clip by strength coach Phil Daru (strength coach to MMA fighters such as Dustin Porirer and Paige Van Zant) break down the benefits for peak performance using the Infra Red Sauna!
At Wolves Den we have our very own infrared sauna on site! Book your session today at the front desk and enjoy the awesome benefits so you can train longer and stronger!
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