We all know that sweating during exercise helps us burn calories; that’s been proven. But it's also true that we sweat a lot when using a sauna. So does this sweating also help you burn calories?
In this article, we will investigate whether using a sauna can be part of your weight loss journey.
Quick Answer
When using a sauna, you only burn a small amount of calories when compared to exercise. However, you can lose a significant amount of retained water weight and up to 400 calories, depending on your sauna length and the type of sauna used.
Using a sauna for weight loss
Yes, it's true: saunas can be a useful part of your weight loss journey when used regularly, but not in the way you may think. Being in a sauna raises your body temperature and heart rate. This causes you to sweat, as well as increasing your metabolic rate. This sweat helps you lose a significant amount of water weight rather than burning any fat.
Water weight can be tough to lose and cause bloating, so using a sauna to combat this is very effective. Burning fat during exercise will be more noticeable than losing water, but it will benefit the body with consistent use.
One study in 2019 was done on a selection of sedentary and overweight young men, where they would use a sauna for four 10-minute sessions with a break in between. The average number of calories burned across all the participants was 73 for the first session and up to 134 for the last session. The amount of calories burned may be higher after exercise and in individuals who are active and at a healthy weight. Those with a higher body mass will find that the results take longer to appear, but they will still benefit with consistent use.
Overall, you can burn 150-400 calories in a sauna bathing session, which is the equivalent of going for a short brisk walk. If you don’t want the exertion or you don’t live in a walkable area, then a sauna session is a great alternative. Infrared saunas can help burn more calories as the heat and light waves are able to penetrate deeper. However, Finnish saunas are also very effective for fluid loss and relaxation.
Please keep in mind that, besides these facts, sauna use is most effective when combined with regular exercise and a balanced diet.
There is a case where the opposite of heat exposure might actually help you more. In fact, if we look at this particular study, cold exposure like cold plunges might actually be more beneficial for weight loss. Simply put, our bodies have a fat called brown adipose tissue that we use for energy expenditure and metabolism. Exposing our bodies to cold temperatures can stimulate brown adipose tissue activity and help boost your metabolism.
However, this is not to say that you should exclude using a sauna as part of your exercise routine. It has many other health benefits such as:
- Cardiovascular health
- Muscle recovery
- Improved mental health
- Better sleep
- High blood pressure
- Reduce inflammation
All these elements can support your overall health, which, in turn, can help you burn calories more effectively during exercise. This is especially relevant for muscle recovery because it means you will be less in pain the next day and still able to exercise at a high intensity. Using a sauna after a workout will help extend the effects of your exercise without having to work out for longer. It will also allow your muscles to relax after a tough workout without going straight into a cool-down period, which can be a shock to your system.
Sweating during exercise vs sweating in a sauna
When you use a sauna, your body goes into a state of thermogenesis. In layman's terms, this means that your body starts to sweat to cool it down as a reaction to your core temperature rising in response to the warm environment of sitting in a sauna. The time you spend in the sauna affects how much water weight you lose and how many calories you burn.
Using a sauna as a part of your workout and weight loss routine needs to be consistent for you to truly benefit from the practice. Regular sauna sessions are recommended to develop heat tolerance and ultimately let you reap all the benefits of heat exposure that far surpass just burning calories.
When you sweat during exercise, just like in the sauna, your body actively tries to cool you down by releasing sweat. In this way, sweating during exercise and sweating in a sauna serve the same purpose. However, the reason you lose more calories during exercise is that your cardiovascular system is working harder and your muscles are contracting, which breaks down fatty tissues to use them as fuel.
This is why sauna bathing is promoted as an addition to your workouts rather than substituting exercise time with sauna time. These habits work hand in hand with one another to promote a healthier body.
Precautions to take when using the sauna
Now, after reading all this info, you might be tempted to throw yourself headfirst into an intense sauna routine, but we suggest being a little more cautious when first starting. Experienced sauna users can easily tolerate a 30-minute session sitting on the highest bench, but this will be very overwhelming for a beginner.
It is best to start out with short sessions, around 10 minutes, daily and slowly increase the time over a series of weeks until you are fully experienced enough to tackle longer sessions. You can even choose to do multiple 10-minute sessions over the span of 30 minutes with a 5-minute break between each sauna session to build tolerance. If your sauna has levels, beginners should start off by sitting on the lower bench before graduating to the higher, hotter benches.
It is key to always enter the sauna well hydrated. This may seem counterintuitive because you are aiming to lose water weight, but being dehydrated in a sauna can be very dangerous and lead to dizziness and even fainting. To avoid this, you must drink plenty of water before and after each session.
Using a sauna may not be suitable for everyone, especially those with low blood pressure or taking specific medications, so be sure to confirm with a healthcare provider before starting regular sessions in the sauna
The Final Verdict
Overall, the short answer for this article is that sweat does not always equal burning calories, but it can benefit your weight loss by losing water weight. You burn only a minimal amount of calories compared to exercise in a sauna, but it can still be an effective part of your weight-loss journey.
Having a sauna at home is the easiest way to incorporate sauning into your daily routine, so check out Palmako’s selection of stunning saunas that you could add to your home.
FAQs
How many calories do you burn in 30 minutes in a sauna?
Even with a full 30 minutes in the sauna, you only burn 100-150 calories in that session. It all depends on how long you sauna and what kind of sauna you use.
Can you use a sauna every day?
Yes, it is safe to use a sauna every day if you work up slowly when you are first starting out. Start out by using the sauna every few days for short sessions, and gradually you can work up to incorporating daily sauna use into your routine.
Which is better, sauna or treadmill?
Treadmills and saunas might both make you sweat, but the treadmill will always win when it comes to cardiovascular exercise and losing weight. 30 minutes in a sauna, as we stated above, will only burn 100-150 calories, while 30 minutes on the treadmill will burn 300-400.
Sources:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com
