Sauna

Greg Everett · 01-11-2007, 08:05 PM

What kind of results have people found in terms of recovery from saunas? Anything worth the time?

John Vernon · 01-11-2007, 08:21 PM

I had a friend who hippie flipped in a sauna once...he never fully recovered, I'd say it's a bad idea.

Steve Shafley · 01-11-2007, 10:08 PM

I put an article up somewhere around here.

1-2x weekly, a time commitment of 30-45 minutes total...they worked well for me.

Greg Everett · 01-12-2007, 09:09 AM

steve - how about timing? were you throwing them in arbitrarily, or were they post workout or some other significant time?

john - i was planning on leaving the mushrooms and ecstasy out of it for once.

Steve Shafley · 01-12-2007, 11:41 AM

If the training session was really heavy/high volume, I'd do a sauna the next day. Example: With Rut's ME BB stuff, I'd do a sauna the day after, in most cases.

Or, if available, about 6 hours post workout.

There was a time when my heavy sessions were at lunch (~11:30), and my accessory work was after work, around 5:30 PM. And I'd do a sauna after my evening session. You really need to watch your hydration. I'm pretty sure that if I went into the sauna dehydrated, and didn't hydrate during or immediately after, that some benefits were lost.

If the training session didn't elicit such a high level of DOMS or was relatively low volume, then I'd take a sauna right afterwards, definitely if it was a met con or BW conditioning session, unless those were really, really brutal.

I would also use the sauna as a place to stretch and lengthen tissue, using some of the long, low intensity stretches. That worked well, I thought.

Mike ODonnell · 01-12-2007, 11:48 AM

It's the frivolous towel snapping that I can't stand......

James Bailey · 04-20-2009, 04:44 AM

I take a sauna, time allowing, directly after a heavy session most of the time. I like them...I will take a cold, cold, cold shower afterward though, a sort of constrast therapy really. But yeah, drink plenty and take it easy to start with as it can make you faint. If you are really uncomfortable in there, get out and take a cold shower then go back for more. Great for getting rid of a hangover too!

Adolfo Riveron · 04-20-2009, 08:38 AM

I find it makes the hangover worse as your body is screaming for water but its being rushed out of you. Just my personal experience.

I find it helpful to bring water in there and hydrate as im sweating fluids out. Feels like youre detoxifying yourself in a way. It also helps me feel better when im sick or i have my sinuses acting up.

Allen Yeh · 04-20-2009, 03:42 PM

When I do use the sauna I try to use it as meditation time.

Ben Langford · 04-21-2009, 03:14 PM

I used to regularly use the sauna as a part of my recovery; I put it in at the end of my training week and used a protocol of 10 mins in a warm spa with strong jets, 10 mins in the sauna occassionally with some light stretching and 1 min in a very cold shower. I'd rotate through that 3 or 4 times and finish up. Afterwards I'd try to consume a few large glasses of water.

I found that it eased any tension in back and legs that had built up over the week and was particularly good for reducing/eliminating aches from blows I recieved whilst training.

I also found the whole process very mentally relaxing.

Definitely no substitute for more proven recovery methods but a very nice and useful addition.