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Off-Topic Sauna

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Steve Freides

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I’d like to hear more about the sauna, both from people who live where it is part of their culture and particularly expatriates who have managed to keep the sauna alive in their lives in the US.

I’m just beginning my investigation so no point of information will be too basic for me to hear, e.g., are saunas in the US usually made as separate buildings or are they put into one’s home?

-S-
 
First of all, I don't really like infrared saunas from the one I've been in. A sauna requires a stove/heater, whatever you call it in English. The heater can be either electric or you can burn wood in it. Both work great, although there are purists who prefer the wood burning one.

If you burn wood, you need a chimney. In any case you need a water proof place and some access to water. It doesn't have to be running water on site, you can carry the water in a bucket.

In general, stand alone saunas, as a building of their own, can be built differently, and they typically have much better ventilation, which can be a big deal. A window in an indoor sauna is preferable, but it still pales to a good outdoor sauna.

I find the sauna very relaxing and good for recovery. I like to combine cold showers with the very hot sauna.

Finland is the home of the sauna. Practically every house built has one. Apartments may not have one, but there typically is always a common sauna in the building. Some Finns go to the sauna every day, some on Saturdays, some thrice a week, some of course more rarely. But it is very popular.

Finnish universities have studied the sauna and have found many benefits from it. A thing to note is that these studies aren't financially driven. The sauna is good for recovery, heart health, it has benefits similar to cardio.

There is also the smoke sauna and the Turkish sauna which are different.
 
I love Sauna it is damn good for so many reasons. During winter I go almost once a week in a public Sauna. every hour there is an aromatic infusion where water with different essences is poured over the hot stones. Then the Sauna master swings a towel or a big fan to give the guests some hot wind, after the second or even third round it can get really hot because of the heightened humidity of the infusion over the stones.
I wouldn't say, that Germany has a sauna culture. But there are quite many private baths that have many different chambers in different styles or temperatures and they can be quite expensive.

The best sauna I know have acquaintances of mine. They descend from Kirgistan the former soviet union. There in the east Sauna is part of their culture. They have built a nice little chamber in their cellar. In there is a little oven fired by wood with a glas door and you can watch the flames. Above the oven there is kind of iron basket filled with big stones. They have bunches with dried birch twigs. These get soaked for some tim in warm water and when everyone sits in the sauna sweating, then the natural birch water essence gets poured over the hot stones via the bunches of birch. That is the best infusion there is, totally natural and the warmth of the fire in the oven is different than the usual electro ovens. After the infusion you can lay on the bench in the sauna and you can if you wish be beaten by the birch bunches from head to the feet. Not everyone likes that but I do. That makes the muscles even more relaxed. Afterwards cold shower some fresh air outside, chatting and drinking.

Sauna is just great.
 
The birch branches and hitting ourselves with them are common in Finland as well. But it's seasonal, though some like to freeze the branches.

We/I don't really use the infusions, I never do, but of course there are some who enjoy them. We throw water over the heated stones in the heater. It gives a pleasant rhythm to the sauna with the variations in temperature and moisture.
 
I try to have a sauna regularly. Not as exotic sounding as above but a crap Scottish one at the council swimming pool. Sauna and gentle swim is a mice warming tonic to the cold, damp darkness of midwinter.
If I had some spare cash I'd buy one and have it in the garden
 
Steve,
I grew up with a sauna in our basement (Ohio), as my father was Finnish. We have a natural gas unit which heats the rocks, so that steam can be produced with labeled on warmer. It is next to a shower for a quick cool-off.

In my basement I have an infrared. Certainly not for the purist, but it was easy for me to put together and use. I start it when I begin to train, and when I’m done I can hop in.
 
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I am a neophyte in the use of sauna, but infatuated with the need to do it. There is so much information on sauna.

Ronda Patrick - sauna use to build resilience to stress

Chris Kresser - revolution health radio

Anecdotally my interest is driven by working with a wildland firefight on my former hotshot crew that was a physical beast. He is native American and he ran sweet lodges regularly, several times a week. If he hadn't been struck by a tree (career ending) on a fire in 2015 he would probably still be out working boys half his age at 56. I dont know if sauna was the variable, but that is a huge factor in my mind.
 
I've never recovered from attending a wedding in the former East Germany in the early '90s.
We decided to sweat out the alcohol in a sauna the morning after, after about 5 minutes gentle stewing a party of fearsome old German women came in and forcibly removed the towels from our English modesty (apparently sauna has to be in the buff).

To this day I still suffer flashbacks in hot weather...

Incidentally German weddings are hands down the most fun weddings I have ever been to.
 
Sauna before training, after training, or a day I don’t lift?

At first I was surprised at the thought of sauna before training. But it may only be because of how I associate sauna with showering and getting clean after training. Still, the sauna is very relaxing, and I'm not sure I'd like it before training. I've never done it, and I don't know.

But after training, definitely. It's great for recovery, and makes wonders for sore muscles. It's also nice on the days I don't lift. It is nice every day.
 
When I can build my own wood fired sauna I will. I live in the middle of no where, so Until then I'm stuck with home DIY infrared sauna. From reading and several podcasts I've decided to go with near infrared lamps as opposed to far infrared lamps that most infrared based saunas. It is a real simple setup, 3 heatlamp shields(think chicken heat lamp), and 3 near infrared bulbs.

It's actually pretty decent for under $150. Does it compete with wood fired, no, but it works. Here is what I modeled after.

How to Build Your Own Near Infrared Sauna (Under $100)
 
I’d like to hear more about the sauna,...

I don't know anything about Sauna's. However, there is some interesting research on the benefit that hyperthermia.

Heat Shock Proteins

Heat Shock Protein are elicited during stress such as extreme heat, cold, exercise, starvation (Intermittent Fasting), etc. They promote healing and trigger an anabolic muscle building.

Shocking Muscle Growth | Iron Man Magazine

HSPs transport proteins across cellular membranes, sensing that they have something to do with increased protein synthesis. ...that increased muscle protein synthesis is the very core of gains in muscle size and strength, ...

Heat treatment boosts anabolic effect of strength training

Heat treatment, or heat stress, has a mild anabolic effect.

...heat treatment activates the key anabolic regulator molecule Akt, which starts a cascade of reactions in the muscle cell.

Heat Training: Does it Boost Running Performance?


...A study performed by the University of Oregon which tested the ability of cyclists to perform a time trial after spending time training in hot conditions. Twelve high performance cyclists spent 10 days training in a 100-degree room for 100 minutes per day and experienced an amazing 7% boost in performance...

The Performance Benefits of Training with a Sauna Suit
https://www.acefitness.org/educatio...rmance-benefits-of-training-with-a-sauna-suit

The Bottom Line
The primary finding of this study is that short-term training in a sauna suit improves heat acclimation and endurance performance.

The athletes who took part in this study saw a 3% increase in their speed after only two weeks of training in the sauna suit. That may not seem like a huge improvement, but it can easily represent the difference between victory and defeat.

Cooking Cancer

One of cancer's vurnerable weaknesses is heat. Healthy cells are able to withstand heat, cancer cells cannot.

Cancer Centers of America using heat...

Local hyperthermia is used to heat a small area like a tumor. Very high temperatures are used to kill the cancer cells and destroy nearby blood vessels. In effect, this cooks the area that is exposed to the heat. Source: Hyperthermia to Treat Cancer

The Poor Man Sauna

Since I am cheap and don't have room for one in my house, my cheap fix was a "Neoprene Sauna Suit." I purchased it almost a year ago. After doing my home work, I went with...

Neoprene Sauna Suits | Cutting Weight | Kutting Weight

What impressed me with the Kutting Weight is..

1) Great quality

2) Helpful staff. I made numerous call to them with question.

3) Education articles and some videos on their website.

The Neoprene Sauna Suit works great. However, it would be nice to have a Sauna, as well.

Kenny Croxdale
 
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Read about an interesting study by a couple of Finnish universities. The conclusion of the study was: "Higher frequency and duration of sauna bathing are each strongly, inversely, and independently associated with fatal CVD events in middle-aged to elderly males and females. The frequency of sauna bathing improves the prediction of the long-term risk for CVD mortality." Also, "The duration of sauna use (minutes per week) was inversely associated with CVD mortality in a continuous manner." The follow-up time in the study was 15 years, with 1688 participants.

Here's a link: Sauna bathing is associated with reduced cardiovascular mortality and improves risk prediction in men and women: a prospective cohort study
 
Personally I've really enjoyed a 'home made' sauna out in the woods and heated with large hot rocks taken out of a fire. Then we took water for steam along with essential oils and fresh herbs...there's nothing like that feeling it's a natural high! Nothing bonds you with a person quite the same way as sweating all over each other.

For Infrared Saunas specifically Dr. Sherry Rogers has a ton of great information on what they do and how important they are for detoxing and overall health. And Tim Ferriss has some new info out there on his blog on how they relate to improved athletic performance.
 
In my experience most non-Finish people, including Swede's, sauna in the "wrong way". Too low heat and too long, like they're in a hot tub or something. The temperature should be at least 85 degrees Celsius/ 185 degrees Fahrenheit, preferably 90, and when you pore water on the hot stones it should "burn" your skin, in a good way...
If you can keep you eyes open, or talk, when you pore water on the stones it's not hot enough! :cool:

But setting the sauna-temperature that high in a public pool, gym or a hotel and the guests run away screaming... Unless it's in Finland or the northern part of Sweden.
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Combining the hot sauna with an ice bath, preferably in a lake, is wonderful and really gives you a natural high. :rolleyes:
 
In my experience most non-Finish people, including Swede's, sauna in the "wrong way". Too low heat and too long, like they're in a hot tub or something. The temperature should be at least 85 degrees Celsius/ 185 degrees Fahrenheit, preferably 90, and when you pore water on the hot stones it should "burn" your skin, in a good way...
If you can keep you eyes open, or talk, when you pore water on the stones it's not hot enough! :cool:

But setting the sauna-temperature that high in a public pool, gym or a hotel and the guests run away screaming... Unless it's in Finland or the northern part of Sweden.
a40eea79c56737d96722df4596144574.jpg

Combining the hot sauna with an ice bath, preferably in a lake, is wonderful and really gives you a natural high. :rolleyes:

The sauna isn't hot enough if you don't come out red as a crab and with your ears on fire.
 
I usually sit for about 5 min, using a hard bathing brush over my body, constantly pouring water on the stones, rinse off, then go outside a bit, then sit for a few minutes more and then take out the soap and a pair of peeling gloves and clean myself, rinse of and I'm done.
If I feel like sitting longer I bring some cold water to drink and an orange, I used to drink beer but it's easy getting a headache from dehydration afterwards with alcohol and sauna.
 
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