Portable infrared saunas are showing up in locker rooms and gyms around the country. They are being used as an integral part of pre-workout warm ups, post workout conditioning and injury recovery procedures.
An infrared sauna is perfect as a “heat therapy room” for athletes looking for a pre-workout activity to warm up muscles and increase flexibility. A quick session in a portable infrared sauna before a competition will give an edge to the physical abilities of an athlete while also helping to prevent injury.
When tissues are warmed to 112 degrees Fahrenheit and then stretched, they retain roughly 0.5-0.9% of their length indefinitely. This means that with twenty sessions of stretching in conjunction with infrared heat, an athlete can produce a 10-18% increase in tissue length. (Justus F Lehmann M.D., Williams and Wilkins, Therapeutic Heat and Cold, 4th edition.)
After a hard workout or competition, the relaxing effect that deep penetrating infrared heat has on tired, sore or damaged athlete muscles is manifold. The blood vessel dilation and increased circulation brought on by the heat will help tired muscles repair and strengthen themselves more efficiently. Also, the loosening of the muscles, reduction in lactic acids and decreased swelling that are induced by the heat will ease the pain of tight or worn muscles.
When it comes to more serious injuries such as sprains, athletes should follow the normal protocol of icing and compressing the area immediately after injury. Following these actions the deep penetrating infrared rays will ease the pain and speed the process of recovery.
An athletes joints are notorious for recovering from illness slowly. Heat from infrared saunas is alble to work deep down into the joint area and loosen the muscles to allow greater blood flow. Poor circulation is then eliminated which helps to speed the joints recovery.
Many athletes suffer set-backs to their workout schedules because of time constraints or injury. Regularly using an infrared ray sauna is a highly effective method of staying in shape. Infrared heat from the sauna elevates the heart rate, which offers a low impact (for the injured) and quick (for the busy) cardiovascular workout. The AMA put it this way, “many of us who run do so to place a demand on our cardiovascular system…. Regular use of indoor saunas may impact a similar stress on the cardiovascular system, and its regular use may be as effective, as a means of cardiovascular conditioning and burning of calories, as regular exercise.”
A great way to supplement an athletes fitness regime is to incorporate the calorie burning power of an infrared ray sauna. The Journal of American Medical Association reported that the average FIR sauna session burns around 500 calories. Regular sauna sessions boost the metabolism, eliminate fat cells, and burn lots of calories. Even though infrared sauna sessions are powerful and efficient calorie burners, do not consider them the absolute equivalent to a traditional cardiovascular work-out. Sauna sessions are great for warming up before, and relaxing after a workout, as well as keeping fit while injured and unable to be very mobile.
It would seem that infrared saunas will only get more popular among athletes. The long term viability of these saunas is a direct result of their ability to well prepare athletes’ bodies, condition them after a workout, and then speed their recoveries.
In order to find out more information about how athletes are benefiting from portable infrared saunas, go to HEALTHandMED.com