How Using a Sauna After Working out Promotes Weight Loss
You’ve gone through a heavy workout for the day and now it’s time to head back home. Well, perhaps you shouldn’t go straight home. Your gym has a sauna in the locker room and you’ve always wanted to try it.
This is a pretty smart decision. Saunas have a lot of health benefits. One of them is to help you continue losing weight after your workout is over. It does this by helping you sleep, detoxing your body, and burning calories.
These are only a few ways it can help you lose weight. Keep reading to see the entire list.
1. Water Weight
You can’t rely on only using a sauna to lose weight. That’s because all the weight you lose by sitting in one is water weight. The heat makes you sweat and drop extra water that’s being stored in your body.
You can lose about 5 pounds in one sauna session but when you start drinking fluids again, you’ll gain it back. Even so, it’s a good method to use if you need to slip into a pair of your old skinny jeans for the evening.
If you want to keep the weight down you’ll have to couple your sauna visits with exercise though.
2. Detoxification
You hold a lot of toxins in your body from the food that you eat and your environment. The best way to get these toxins out is to sweat them out. The problem is that you don’t sweat enough during the day to do this.
That’s where the sauna visit after your workout comes in. You’ll be able to flush these toxins and clean your lymphatic system. This will help you get rid of fat and give you more energy so you can exercise more frequently.
3. You’ll Have a Better Night’s Sleep
If you don’t get enough sleep at night then you’ll reach for unhealthy options to give you a temporary boost of energy. While coffee and energy drinks can help you get through your morning, they contain high amounts of sugar which will make you gain more weight.
When you don’t sleep you also get stressed. Stress and anxiety can cloud your judgment and cause you to reach for food choices that you wouldn’t normally reach for. You’ll crave much fatter foods.
Using a sauna after a tough workout relaxes your mind and puts you in a state of rest. You’ll be able to fall asleep much faster and actually stay asleep through the night.
4. You’ll Burn Even More Calories
The hot temperatures of the sauna will cause you to keep burning calories long after your workout is done. It does this by supercharging your metabolism. This boost will keep going for several hours after you exit the sauna.
The heat also gets your heart pumping faster. Your body will have to burn off extra calories in order to give you energy.
5. Gives You Muscle and Joint Pain Relief
Part of losing weight is exercising regularly. Even the most minor aches and pains can destroy your motivation to go to the gym though. Unfortunately, you’re going to feel pain after you exercise.
You can cut down on some of it by heading to the sauna after a heavy workout. The heat will cause your body to think you’re having a fever. This will make it go into red alert and create more white blood cells.
The white blood cells will reduce any inflammation in your muscles, ease tension and heal them faster. If you get into an infrared sauna it can go even further by penetrating into your muscles to get rid of tension and it’s safer than regular saunas.
Tips for Burning Weight Safety
There is no point in using the sauna after a workout if you hurt yourself on accident. You can avoid injury by taking a few safety precautions before you hop in the sauna.
Make Sure You’re Hydrated
Again, a lot of the water that you lose in the sauna is water weight. You can burn a little bit more of this weight by drinking cold water before you get in. Your body will have to burn up extra energy to regulate your temperature.
All the sweating that you do in the sauna will cause you to lose electrolytes. If you don’t stay hydrated then you may suffer from a heatstroke.
Don’t Use the Sauna Before Your Workout
If you’re going to go into a sauna you need to do it after you’re done exercising for the day. You’ll get more out of it this way because the sauna increases the effects that your workout had.
If you go before you won’t be able to reap the same rewards. You’ll also dehydrate faster which will result in heatstroke.
Start Off Slow
Starting out, you shouldn’t stay too long in the sauna. You may get lightheaded and pass out. Do a session of 5 minutes or so the first time and work your way up from there.
Never stay in the sauna for more than 20 minutes at a time. If you do start feeling lightheaded at all, exit the sauna ASAP.
Surprising Weight-Loss Benefits of Going to a Sauna After a Workout
Treat yourself to a sauna as a reward for your hard day in the gym. There are a large number of weight-loss benefits that you’ll receive from it. It can help you burn more calories, get a little muscle relief, have a better night’s sleep, detox, and shave off a bit of water weight.
There are a few safety precautions that you should take before getting into the sauna but if you do that, you’ll be able to reap all these benefits.
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