The popularity of saunas has skyrocketed in recent years, but for years they have been a staple in the training and recovery of high-performance athletes. 

While saunas are incredible for relaxing and detoxifying the body, they also have a huge amount of amazing benefits that can help to increase athletic performance. There have been many detailed studies performed on athletes in order to fully understand just how amazing sauna therapy can be for athletes. 

What Are The Different Kinds Of Saunas?

All saunas offer a huge amount of benefits to the performance of an athlete, which is why they are so popular at the pinnacle of sports. Top athletes from all different sports will regularly use saunas as an integral part of their training due to their immense ability to increase performance.

There are a number of different types of saunas. While they all share a huge amount of benefits, they also tend to have a few of their own that make them preferred by different athletes. These different types of saunas are. 

Infrared Saunas - These saunas have skyrocketed in popularity over the last decade and have become the go-to for most athletes. Infrared saunas are said by many advocates to penetrate deeper than just warm air saunas. Meaning that they feel far more internal benefits from infrared saunas.

Steam Saunas - Steam saunas, also known as the Finnish saunas, are some of the oldest kinds of saunas that you will find. These are where you throw water into hot rocks to create the hot steam that fills the sauna. These steam saunas create a hugely humid environment that helps individuals to sweat more and detoxify the skin. 

Dry Saunas - A dry sauna is usually a smaller enclosure that simply heats the air around you. The heat is not created by an infrared system or steam, it is usually an electronic sauna which heats up the air in order to help you relax and sweat. The dryer temperatures are said to penetrate your body far better than a more damp and humid environment.

How Do These Saunas Boost Performance?

Improve Cardiovascular Health

In the huge majority of sports, cardiovascular endurance and overall health is vital. Therefore ensuring that you have very strong cardiovascular health can hugely boost performance. While many people know about the other benefits of sauna therapy, improved cardiovascular performance is one that usually takes people by surprise. 

While sitting in a sauna, you may not realise, you are also achieving a very effective passive cardiovascular workout. This is because the temperatures within the sauna will help to raise your heart rate into the cardiovascular zone, without having to move at all. This can also help to increase lung capacity and therefore have a hugely beneficial effect on performance. 

In addition to this, consistent sauna use will also help to strengthen both your heart and lung health. This is amazing as it can help to prevent any complications or diseases and help you to maintain overall good health which is vital as a high-performance athlete.

Help Flush Out Lactic Acid

Lactic acid buildup is extremely common in athletes who are constantly training at the highest levels. It is extremely important that they are able to consistently flush out the lactic acid in order to keep training at such intensities. 

Saunas therapy is actually an extremely effective way of speeding up the flushing out of lactic acid after intense workouts. This is because the extreme temperatures in the sauna help the blood vessels dilate which in turn increases the blood flow around the body. This process helps to completely flush out any metabolic waste such as lactic acid from the muscles. 

Flushing out lactic acid buildup will help athletes to keep their legs fresh and avoid fatigue during training or competition. This, therefore, allows an athlete to compete for longer and at a higher intensity which will result in improved performance.

Boost Mood & Mental Health

An athlete that feels good, will normally perform well. Sports at the highest level can be very physically and mentally draining. That is why it is super important for athletes to keep on top of their moods and overall mental health. 

Saunas have an incredible ability to boost mental health in anyone, but especially athletes. Frequent sauna usage can help to reduce and balance cortisol levels which play a huge role in both stress and moods. 
In addition to this, Saunas Increase Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor which is a protein in the brain which lowers your mood of mental issues and bad moods. This happens as it repairs and protects existing brain cells while also boosting the growth of new brain cells.

Helps Burn Fat

Most high-performance athletes have to stay lean all year round in order to keep up their training and competition. The leaner you are as an athlete, the stronger and fitter you should be. For this reason, it is very important to these athletes that they shift fat as easily as possible. 

Sitting in the sauna in extreme temperatures helps to raise your heart rate to a similar level as it would be during exercise. This means that you can sit in the sauna while obtaining all of the amazing health and fitness benefits that come with it while also burning some extra calories. 

This is not all, sitting in the sauna can also help to boost your metabolism. This will mean that your body burns more calories even while you rest. This is brilliant for helping athletes stay lean all year round and ensuring that they can perform to their highest ability all year round. 

Can Help Reduce Muscle And Joint Pain

Muscle and joint pain can be very common in athletes. As they are performing day in and day out at the highest levels in their sports, aches and pains become a daily occurrence. However, these can prevent them from being able to train as hard as they want on a day-to-day basis. Saunas can be very effective at reducing these pains. 

While in the sauna, blood vessels are constantly dilating which helps to increase the blood flow around your body. This can help to reduce the tension built up within your joints and therefore relieve any pain that you may be feeling. 

This will then allow you to train harder without the pains and stiff joints that have been previously holding you back. You can then train as hard as you want in order to boost your athletic performance.

Summary

Athletes can benefit hugely from adding sauna therapy into their training and recovery. Many athletes already do frequently use saunas as they understand just how integral they can be to peak performance. It is fair to say that saunas can be extremely effective at boosting athletic performance. 

However, you must not solely rely on a sauna to boost performance. Sports at the highest level is about dedicating yourself to your craft, saunas are simply an effective tool to help you on your way. If you are already dedicated to your craft then a sauna is a brilliant addition to your training regime that will provide you with everything you need to become the best athlete you can be.