Athletes often rely on saunas for muscle recovery, but many get the basics wrong. Timing, temperature, and proper hydration all determine whether heat therapy helps or hurts your training results. To learn more, visit: https://saunaplunge.org/
You just crushed a workout, your muscles are pumped, and you head straight for the sauna thinking you're doing something great for your recovery. But here's the thing - you might actually be making your recovery worse. Most athletes know that saunas can help with muscle soreness and repair, but fewer understand that how you use a sauna matters just as much as whether you use one at all. The difference between a recovery boost and added stress comes down to a few key details that are easy to get wrong. Let's start with timing, because this trips people up constantly. Jumping into a sauna immediately after training sounds logical, right? Your muscles are warm, you're already sweating, might as well keep it going. But your body is already under significant stress after a hard session, and piling on intense heat right away can actually slow down your recovery process. The experts at Sauna Plunge recommend waiting at least 30 minutes after training, and after particularly brutal workouts, waiting an hour or two works even better. This gives your heart rate time to settle and lets your body start its natural cool-down before you introduce more heat. Then there's temperature and duration, which work together in ways most people don't consider. Traditional saunas running between 160 and 195 degrees call for shorter sessions of 15 to 20 minutes. Infrared saunas operate at lower temperatures, typically 120 to 150 degrees, and allow you to stay in longer - sometimes 30 to 40 minutes. Matching your session length to your sauna type prevents you from overdoing it. Now here's the one that catches almost everyone: hydration. A single sauna session can pull up to a pint of fluid from your body through sweat. If you're already a bit dehydrated from your workout, which most people are, you're compounding the problem. Drink plenty of water before you go in, bring water with you, and replace fluids afterward. Skip this step and you might end up more sore than if you'd skipped the sauna entirely. The frequency question depends on your training load, but most athletes do well with three to four sessions per week. Some can handle daily use during lighter phases, while others need to back off during intense training blocks. If you want to learn more about building an effective sauna routine for recovery, or you're thinking about setting up a home sauna, check out Sauna Plunge using the link in the description. Sauna Plunge City: Sheridan Address: 30 N Gould Street Website: https://saunaplunge.org/