How To Build Up Sauna Tolerance… And Enjoy It!

No matter whether you follow an intensive training programme in the gym or simply enjoy the indulgent luxury that a sauna represents, you’ll reap the potential health benefits regardless!

There’s a growing body of research indicating that regular sauna time can yield significant positive effects on mind and body alike through a process known as hormesis. 

This is where a mild brief stressor (in this instance, the heat from the sauna) triggers positive biological adaptations. The even better news is that there’s also a lot of pleasure to be derived from enjoying relaxing sauna sessions into the bargain!

Is a sauna good or bad for your health?

Here’s what just some of the science says about regular sauna bathing:

Mayo Clinic Proceedings evidence review

• Improved cholesterol modulation
• Potential for immune system boosting
• Reduction in susceptibility to common colds and infection prevention in healthy people
• Pain relief for musculoskeletal conditions
• Benefits for pulmonary conditions
• Reduction in inflammation
• Reduced blood pressure
• Better health-related quality of life

JAMA Internal Medicine report

• Helps to maintain a healthy heart
• Reduced death rates from cardiovascular disease and stroke
• Lowers blood pressure

Experimental Gerontology study

• Frequent sauna use may protect against cardiovascular disease
• It may also protect against neurodegenerative diseases
• Appears to reduce morbidity and mortality in a dose-dependent way
• Provides a means of preserving muscle mass and countering sarcopenia

How do you build up a tolerance to sauna heat?

When you first start sauna bathing, you’ll likely find that you can’t stay there for very long - particularly if you’ve hit the gym hard first.

Build up a tolerance by taking it slowly, staying in the sauna for five minutes and taking it from there. Each week, add three to five minutes to your time, or as much as you feel you’re able to.

Listen to your body, as it gives you cues as to how you’re reacting to the heat. If you feel lightheaded, or feel tingling in your fingers or toes, get up slowly and leave the sauna. You can always dip back in once these feelings have passed.

Another strategy is to start off on the lower levels where it will be cooler and then gradually work your way up to the top shelf. Alternatively, start off on the top for a few minutes, then move down a level.

Aim to keep your breathing under control, slowly in through the nose and out through the mouth. 

Sauna use is a brilliant opportunity to practice mindfulness and breathing exercises, where you focus on the sensations of your inhale and exhale, helping to calm your nervous system and regulate your heart rate.

Always keep water close to hand so you can hydrate if needed (with electrolytes included), but some practitioners believe it best to drink before and after your sauna session, rather than during it. 

Drinking heavily while in the sauna can potentially reduce the effects of physiological heat adaptation, according to some schools of thought.

Give it a few weeks and you’ll soon be able to push your sauna times up without feeling any adverse effects. It’s said that 45 minutes of sauna bathing a week is what you need to reap the optimal health benefits… so that’s a solid goal to aim for.

And by investing in your own outdoor sauna at home, access to dry heat has never been easier! Take a look at the Hot Blue product range and get in touch to find out more about luxury sauna and contrast therapy experiences.