At the cusp of some of the hottest months of the year with June, July, and August knocking, you may be wondering whether it’s worth it to continue your regular sauna routine. As long as you hydrate, summer sweating’s a huge positive but we hope to continue to see North Americans using their saunas and here’s why.
Saunas have a wide array of health benefits because of what it does in raising the core body temperature. In the summer sun, you sweat because our bodies are built like air conditioners. It’s how we cool down. In a sauna, it’s a closed-in heated environment meaning that sweating doesn’t cool you down. There’s no way to cool down in a sauna – as opposed to outdoors.
Now sweating in any context is usually a good thing. It helps our hearts, speeds up blood flow, and increases circulation. Sweating from summer heat however is predominantly a cool-down mechanism and doesn’t get you all the health benefits of a sauna. Being in a sauna is akin to exercise with how it challenges your body. In fact, you burn roughly as many calories in a 30-minute session in a sauna as you would going for a jog.
The thing about summer heat is it can get uncomfortable pretty fast, especially if you’re not wearing favorable clothing for it. In a sauna, you’re going in knowing you’re going to sweat and you’re ready for it. If you’re suffering from mobility issues or chronic pain, which can be very uncomfortable to sit in sweat in, an infrared sauna can provide some pain relief through its targeted infrared rays. In as little as fifteen minutes in a sauna, you’ll eliminate toxins, relax your muscles, and yes, cure some pain.
Because a sauna’s a controlled environment, its effects are more pronounced. So for example, under the summer sun you’ll sweat and while that will help push out pesky blackheads, allowing sweat to sit on the skin’s surface can actually clog pores and lead to blemishes. In a sauna, you will come out after a session and wipe all that way. A sauna is a natural way to clear skin, unlike the difficulties you could run into in the summer sun.
Where saunas and the sun are perhaps most similar is in how it makes someone happy. The accomplishment you feel from working up a sweat is from a release of endorphins. This happens under the sun and in a sauna setting. What’s also happening is you’re relieving stress and promoting relaxation. Why we so often end up overtired at the end of a sweaty day is because we’ll drain ourselves without re-hydrating and replenishing those electrolytes. That’s a problem which could lead to headaches and other health issues.
Alternatively, a sauna is a much safer environment where you enjoy momentary, targeted heat. Needless to say, sweating is not the same in every context and there are much more health benefits to reap from an infrared sauna. We hope, even as it seems like you’re getting so much sweating done under the sun, you’re still keeping up with your sauna sessions. It’s worth it!
This summer, shop steam rooms, infrared saunas, traditional Finnish saunas, and more from one of North America’s biggest suppliers, Steam Sauna. Embrace the heat and sweat out the benefits today.