Ten Proven Scientific Benefits of Sauna
Why you should be using the Sauna
We all know coming to the academy and training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai, Boxing Wrestling and Mixed Martial Arts is healthy. But what about sauna benefits? We know that the fighters who need to make weight use the Sauna to shed weight before their matches. We know fighters hope into the Sauna after training as part of their recovery. But do you know why it’s beneficial? Do you know what benefits you could get by getting your sweat on in the Sauna?
Before we dive into the benefits of Sauna, let’s look at one of the things that happens when we’re in the Sauna, we sweat! We sweat in training and we sweat in the Sauna. Sweat is good for us, it lets us know we’ve worked hard at something. But there must be more to it?
Benefits of Sweating
We all know that Sweating is how the body cools down. The body uses sweat to regulate temperature when we train hard. But what else?
Sweat glands assist in the healing of wounds – you read that correctly. The eccrine sweat glands exist in the millions on our skin and contain adult stem cells that are crucial to the healing of wounds.
Sweat acts as an antibiotic – If you fall and get a graze you might need some antibacterial ointment. But generally, if you have a small injury, or scratch, our sweat acts as an antibiotic with agents like dermcidin, which kill off any potential infections.
Sweat rids our bodies of Toxins – If you have ever felt bloated, hungover, or just plain run down from day to day life of poor diet, over indulgence or too much partying. Getting your sweat on will help release a lot of those toxins. Think about the longevity you would create in your life if you were consistently flushing these toxins out. You would be surprised how many toxins can be discovered in the release of sweat that don’t even show up in blood or urine.
Now let’s look at Sauna where we can do some sweating.
What is a Sauna?
Heat therapies have been used for healing and wellness for centuries. The sauna is simply a small or large room designed specifically to help you sweat. What’s more, science stands behind saunas, and modern medicine has proven clinical health benefits of saunas that will leave you wanting to get your own sweat on soon.
What Happens in the Body?
Whatever type of sauna therapy you choose, and regardless of the humidity level, the effects on the body are similar and create a variety of well-documented health benefits, such as releasing the ‘feel good’ endorphins, in addition to widening the blood vessels to improve circulation and blood flow.
Depending on the duration of sauna use, you will see circulation improvements that are similar to the effects of moderate exercise. Your heart rate may increase to 100 to 150 beats per minute while the growth hormone release increases by as much as 200 to 300%. Sauna use can also help improve athletic performance and stamina due to that increase in circulation.
Still not convinced. Then let’s dive into a few more proven health benefits of sauna use, and how to accurately measure the effects.
10 Proven Clinical Health Benefits of Sauna Use
1. Supercharge your cell power. Heat has been proven to positively impact your mitochondria, the ‘batteries’ powering your cells, helping your body naturally produce more energy and stay fit.
2. Anti-Aging benefits. Cell regeneration means you slow the aging process. And if you’re not quite convinced, check out the 20 year study of Finnish men that links two to three sauna sessions per week with a 23% decreased risk of death from cardiovascular disease.
3. Detoxify heavy metals and chemicals. Everyday exposure to potentially toxic heavy metals through a variety of sources means even the most health-conscious people still have toxins in the body. Regular sauna bathing helps excrete toxins such as arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury.
4. Make your heart happy and healthy. A 2018 study found that sauna sessions four to seven times per week reduces the risk of death from cardiovascular disease by as much as 58%.
5. Reduce blood pressure. Sauna heat helps widen blood vessels and improve circulation, which reduces blood pressure.
6. Optimize athletic performance. Blood flow improvements from hyperthermic conditioning (heat conditioning) sends more blood to the heart, leading to an increase in plasma and red blood cell volume. That process delivers more oxygen throughout the body, fuelling athletic performance.
7. Improve muscle function and recovery. As more blood flow and oxygen is delivered throughout the body, muscles increase in size and muscle breakdown is diminished. One study showed that two, one-hour sauna sessions for seven days straight increases production of the human growth hormone (HGH) by two to five times.
8. Fuel weight loss. Regular sauna use is shown to regulate the appetite, increase metabolism, and improve oxygen utilization, helping to fuel weight loss along with a reduction in body fat.
9. Boost brain function. The brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF increases with regular sauna use, activating the growth of new brain cells, better maintaining existing cells, and improving neuroplasticity, the brain’s process for forming new neural connections.
10. Ignite your immune system. Heat exposure from sauna use increases the heat shock protein, stimulating antigen-presenting cells, along with releasing cytokine, thus stimulating the body’s natural immune system.
BONUS BENEFIT: improve emotional health and mood. When your body and brain are healthy, detoxified, and destressed, and you’ve boosted endorphins, your overall mood and emotional health improves.
Who Should Sauna, and Who Shouldn’t Sauna?
Due to the extreme heat, certain people should avoid sauna use of any type, including pregnant women and those with specific health conditions such as low blood pressure and heart conditions. As with anything, it’s always wise to consult your medical practitioner before beginning sauna treatments.
How long should you stay in the Sauna?
Sauna is an awesome experience but don’t over do it. When you first start 15-20min sessions are more than enough to gain the benefits. As you become more accustomed to the heat you can look at doing 30-40min session. Make sure you always bring a bottle of water with you to sip on. Even though you’re sweating that doesn’t mean you need to get dehydrated to get the benefits.
What do I need in the Sauna?
When you jump in the Sauna as we recommended before, bring a bottle of water with you to sip on. Have a towel to sit on. Nobody wants to share sweat so for your health and the other users of the Sauna always have a towel to sit on. Always check what the conditions of use are as each sauna will have different requirements such as requiring tshirts and so forth.
So what now?
So if you’re training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai, Boxing, Wrestling or Mixed Martial Arts make sure you use the benefits of Sauna to help with your recovery and improve your performances. Not only is Sauna good for you but it’s also fun and can be a social activity when done with training partners and friends.
Sauna at Kings
At Kings Academy we have a Sauna available for all our members. The Sauna use is included with all adult memberships at no extra cost. The Sauna can be used any time the gym is open (along with the weights room and outdoor training area). All our members, whether they do BJJ (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu), Muay Thai, Boxing, Wrestling or MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) are recommended to use the Sauna as part of their recovery routine. Make the most of your time at Kings and get in the Sauna when you can!
Here are some related Blogs you may find interesting if you enjoyed this article.
Benefits of using the Sauna
The Kings Academy Sauna is available to all our members at no charge.
References:
Improved Cardiovasular mortality
In depth look at benefits of Sauna
Kings Academy is the premier Martial Arts studio servicing Liverpool and South Western Sydney with classes in BJJ, Muay Thai, Boxing, Wrestling and MMA.
