After a long run, we all have our typical routines and go-tos. Some runners head straight for the shower to wash off the sweat or the fridge to gulp some water, while others find somewhere to sit down, or should I say flop down. When it comes to post-workout recovery hacks, many of us also have our own tips and tricks. We’ve heard of plenty over the years, and many are more hype than hip when it comes down to it.
Recently, researchers wanted to understand how post-workout sauna sessions impact recovery, running endurance, and more. Let’s explore.
The study
In a study published in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, six male distance runners completed three weeks of post-training sauna sessions, three weeks of control training, and a three-week “washout period”. Following each training session, runners sat in an 89.9°C sauna for 31 minutes. Before and after every sauna session, the runners got on the treadmill and ran for 15 minutes or until exhaustion. They were told to run at their previous best race speed for a 5k.
The researchers measured blood markers like red blood cell volume and plasma.
The results
The researchers revealed that the sauna sessions increased the time to exhaustion by a surprising 32%, which basically means that sweating after that run improved endurance by 1.9%. Plasma increased by 7.1% and red blood cell volume by 3.5%. Your body needs those red blood cells to help you get enough nutrients, minerals, and vitamins.
The researchers pointed to the increased blood volume as the reason for the enhanced endurance.
Additional research
In another study, researchers found that trained middle-distance runners who completed 28-minute sauna sessions three times a week for three weeks improved their heat tolerance, lactate threshold, and VO2 max.
The takeaway
The takeaway is that getting in the sauna after your workout could supercharge your endurance over time, so it might be worth sitting through the heat and sweat. Not to mention the other proven benefits of saunas and heat therapy, such as promoting weight loss and detoxification, and improving blood circulation and metabolism.
