Sauna Protocol: For Health, Performance, and Recovery
The sauna, while its been all the craze for what seems like the last 5 years or so has been around, and a staple in may practices around the world for decades, if not centuries. It’s no longer just an ‘add-on’ tucked away in the corner of a gyms locker room, or the hotel spa. Whole places, destinations, routines and businesses are created around it… we know, and for good reason.
Sauna use has been a long standing practice in places like Finland, where many of the long term efficacy studies on saunas were pulled from, analyzing its health benefits, providing data on the best way to use it, and what they could unlock for us in the bio hacking world.
The main study cited is: https://tinyurl.com/3jp9ykft where a large set of data was analyzed, and published. Other notable positive effects of the sauna are noted here in this study: https://tinyurl.com/bdzkp642 .
Now I don’t particularly like to use the word “bio-hacking” as it is over used, and in many cases overhyped, but the sauna is one of those tools that fit the bill perfectly. Bio-hacking can be described as “The practice of making intentional changes to one’s lifestyle, environment or body with the goal of improving physical and mental performance, health, and overall well-being”… So by definition, with the sauna benefitting and improving ones cardiovascular health, physical recovery, and mental health, it fits this description of the word bio-hacking perfectly.
For reasons I’ll detail in another write up about, which sauna type is best you’ll want to get in a dry sauna that can get up to the heats detailed, that is enclosed in cedar or pine, or other natural surroundings to yield the health benefits. Other saunas types, with regard to the cardiovascular health boosts, performance and recovery enhancements just don’t deliver quite the same effect. Most, if not all of the studies are done with the traditional dry sauna, but I digress, lets get into the protocol.
The most effective way to use the sauna to net its best effects are getting in, between the temperatures of 174º-212º degrees fareinheight for 15-20 minutes at a time, 4x - 7x per week. It's worth noting that while frequency, or consistency like in all things is paramount. But some sauna in the week is better than no sauna, so getting in it even 1-3x a week is still beneficial, although the increase in benefits are dose/frequency dependent.
It should be taken into account that not everyone is ready for 190ºF + right off that bat, and it takes some getting used to. Simply by slowly ramping up the heat and duration session by session you can make sure you’re heat adapted for the desired temp and duration. An example of this would be starting at 170ºF for 15 minutes for your first few sessions, and slowly creeping up the duration to 20m, and once you’re able to endure 20 minutes of the set temp (170º in this example), increase the temperature and decrease the length of time back to 15, then work your way back up to 20m at that new temperature and so and so forth. As mentioned above the sweet spot is ~174ºF to about 180ºF, up to 212ºF for the well adapted.
One should assure they are well prepared and hydrated before entering the sauna. Drinking an adequate amount of fluids and electrolytes is important so your body has enough to regulate itself. Go in with a small towel to sit on, and a sauna hat or simply a small towel to cover your head and ears, to prevent the burning sensation and from over heating your all important thinking center (brain).
In summary, use the sauna 4-7 times per week for 20 minutes, at heats between 174ºF to 190ºF for the largest positive health benefits. Using the sauna even once per week can net healthy outcomes, but frequency is key, next to consistency. The traditional dry sauna is best for these effects, as its the most widely studied, but if you’re getting in the heat consistently, you’ll be able to get something good out of it.
Thanks for reading.