Health & Fitness Blog

Portable infrared saunas are showing up in locker rooms and gyms around the country. They are being used as an integral part of pre-workout warm ups, post workout conditioning and injury recovery procedures.

An infrared sauna is perfect as a “heat therapy room” for athletes looking for a pre-workout activity to warm up muscles and increase flexibility. A quick session in a portable infrared sauna before a competition will give an edge to the physical abilities of an athlete while also helping to prevent injury.

Tissues that are heated to 112 degrees Fahrenheit and then stretched, retain roughly 0.5-0.9% of their length indefinitely. Thus 20 stretching sessions can result in a 10-18% increase in the length of tissues that are stretched in conjunction with infrared heat. (Justus Lehmann M.D., Williams and Wilkins, Therapeutic Heat and Cold.)

A portable infrared sauna’s deep and penetrating infrared heat relaxes tired, sore or damaged athlete muscles, which creates numerous benefits. The infrared heat will bring about better circulation by dilating the blood vessels which will in-turn assist tired and torn muscles in repairing and strengthening themselves. Additionally, the resulting decreased swelling, reduce lactic acids and loosening of muscles will lessen the pain of worn and tight muscles.

When it comes to more serious injuries such as sprains, athletes should follow the normal protocol of icing and compressing the area immediately after injury. Following these actions the deep penetrating infrared rays will ease the pain and speed the process of recovery.

An athletes joints are notorious for recovering from illness slowly. Heat from infrared saunas is alble to work deep down into the joint area and loosen the muscles to allow greater blood flow. Poor circulation is then eliminated which helps to speed the joints recovery.

Many athletes suffer set-backs to their workout schedules because of time constraints or injury. Regularly using an infrared ray sauna is a highly effective method of staying in shape. Infrared heat from the sauna elevates the heart rate, which offers a low impact (for the injured) and quick (for the busy) cardiovascular workout. The AMA put it this way, “many of us who run do so to place a demand on our cardiovascular system…. Regular use of indoor saunas may impact a similar stress on the cardiovascular system, and its regular use may be as effective, as a means of cardiovascular conditioning and burning of calories, as regular exercise.”

For athletes and those on fitness regimens, an infrared sauna can be a supplemental method of burning calories (up to 500 calories per sauna session!), a way of getting rid of fat cells and a means of boosting the metabolism. An infrared sauna should not be used as a replacement for a traditional cardio workout, but make a great follow up to a workout as well as a way to stay fit while injuries prevent athletic mobility.

The popularity of infrared saunas among athletes makes sense when we look at the enhances performances, post-workout relaxation, and improved injury recovery that comes from regular sessions. There is not likely to be a decline of these portable saunas in the nation’s locker rooms.

In order to find out even more information about the ways many athletes are benefiting from portable infrared saunas, visit HEALTHandMED.com