Did you know we have an Infrared Sauna? Yep, we decided to build one out to maximize our athletes’ recovery and performance. But before we open it up to the community, we answered a few commonly asked questions.
What is “sauna bathing”?
Sometimes used as another term for sauna use, it is an ancient practice with implications for slowing aging and improving overall health. There are both mental and physical benefits of sauna bathing as it exposes the body to extreme heat, a form of hormetic stress.
What are the benefits?
- Ability to heat your body
- Detoxification
- Boost your immune system
- Calm your nervous system
- Pain relief
- Collagen boosting
- Anti-aging effects
- Skin purification
- Improved cell health
- Improved circulation
Improved performance?
Increasing your core temperature for short bursts is not only healthful, it can also dramatically improve performance. Heat acclimation through sauna use can promote physiological adaptations that result in increased endurance, easier acquisition of muscle mass, and a general increased capacity for stress tolerance. If you expose your body to the right stimuli and cultivate the right environment, it will adapt and subsequently respond better the next time you are in a similar situation.
Where and how can I book a session?
You can now book an infrared sauna session or Normatech recovery boot session through our app/training portal!
We now offer 30 Minute, 35 Minute, & 60 Minute Private Sauna Sessions!
Step 1: Booking
All bookings must be made through our App under the "Class Schedule" menu or on our website - You can find the schedule under "Classes"
Step 2: Checking In
We ask that you arrive 5-10 mins earlier and check in with the front desk. Our front desk associate will do a quick temperature check and explain the rules and responsibilities while using the sauna. The front desk associate will then escort you downstairs to the Sauna while maintaining physical distancing to ensure your safety and everyone else in the space.
Step 3: Come Prepared
We recommend that you hydrate well before entering the sauna as well as bring your own containers whenever possible. We provide both large and small towels, but welcome you to bring your own towel for your comfort.
Due to regulations around COVID-19, we do not currently offer showers, so please plan accordingly. For your convenience, we do have antibacterial body wipes available for $2 to use after your session.
Step 4: Sit back and Relax
Once you are in that room, it is your space for the allotted time you have scheduled for.
You can take off your mask, play music and unwind.
Step 5: When Exiting
It is our mission to make sure everyone that comes through our doors feels comfortable and safe. Please help keep our environment clean and stick to a few house rules:
- Wiping up any excess sweat you have left behind.
- Dispose of used towels and empty bottles in the appropriate bins.
- When exiting the sauna, do so with your mask on before walking through the facility.
- Leaving on time is also imperative so we are able to disinfect with fogger (insert details) between sessions.
We have created larger gaps between sessions to provide ample amount of time for cleaning and disinfecting between clients. These gaps will avoid any overlap in client sessions and allow for comfortable and physically distanced check in and check out procedures.
What sort of gains can be anticipated?
One study demonstrated that a 30-minute sauna session two times a week for 3 weeks POST-workout increased the time that it took for study participants to run until exhaustion by 32% compared to baseline (see reference to article below). Regular exercisers will understand how the physiological responses to sauna use are comparable to those that are experienced during moderate to vigorous intensity exercise.
What if I’m not an endurance athlete?
Regular sauna exposure has also shown to be beneficial in ameliorating the deleterious effects of aging, including brain health and function. Several large, observational studies in humans have identified strong links between sauna use and reduced risk for age-related conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, cognitive decline, and premature death. Studies of participants in the Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease Risk Factor (KIHD) Study, found that men who used the sauna 2-3x/week were 27% less likely to die from aging-related disorders such as cardiovascular disease than men who didn’t use the sauna (see reference to article below).
How does it work?
Hyperthermic conditioning improves your performance and recovery by improving cardiovascular and thermoregulatory mechanisms. It optimizes blood flow to the heart, skeletal muscles, skin, and other tissues by increasing the plasma volume (the liquid component of your blood). It does this to compensate for the decrease in your core blood volume - roughly 50-70% of blood flow during sauna use is redirected from the core to your skin in order to facilitate sweating and temperature reduction
How do I decide how long?
Typical sessions last 30 to 60 minutes and can be repeated once or twice during the day to maximize the benefits. The benefits of regular sauna use are also dose-dependent: from the aforementioned KIHD study - men who used the sauna roughly twice as often, about 4-7x/week, experienced roughly twice the benefits and were 50% less likely to die from cardiovascular-related causes.
Infrared vs. Traditional Sauna?
Infrared heat is the same type of heat as produced by the sun and our bodies. In an infrared sauna, only 20% of the energy is used to heat the air, leaving the rest of the energy to heat the body more directly. This allows for deeper tissue penetration, the ability to stay in longer (temperatures are lower than with a traditional open air sauna), and a more comfortable and enjoyable experience. The deeper penetration of the infrared heat actually allows you to sweat out 7.5x more toxins, heavy metals, and other impurities.
Why did we choose a Clearlight Infrared Sauna?
Clearlight saunas use a special heater construction that completely blocks all EMF (toxic electromagnetic radiation). Most other infrared saunas give off extremely high levels of EMF that over time can have negative and deleterious effects on the cells of our body. EMF exposure can facilitate an increase of our sympathetic nervous system activity (“fight or flight”), thus down regulating detoxification pathways. This means that it will actually inhibit your ability to detoxify optimally.
