Sauna Before or After Workout? (Practical Guide)

Last updated: March 1, 2024

Using a sauna before or after a workout can have a significant impact on your performance as well as on your recovery. Different opinions exist about when to use a sauna in relation to exercising.

Some say it’s better to jump in a sauna before exercising, while others prefer to use a sauna after doing their workouts in the gym.

Do you love running, swimming, or lifting, and your gym is equipped with a sauna or steam room?

In this article, we’ll discuss whether it’s better to use a relaxing, warm sauna before or after your workout.

Some people prefer to schedule a sauna session before exercising. A light sauna before a workout helps warm the body and loosen up the muscles, which is important before starting your exercise.

A short sauna session before your workout can also be used to stretch the muscles, particularly those muscles that will be used most during your planned workout.

Find a Balance

It’s important that you find that perfect balance and don’t stay too long in the sauna before you start your workout.

A sauna session has a relaxing effect on both the body and mind. But when you exercise, you will, of course, need to be alert and focused.

Using a sauna also elevates your heart rate and makes you sweat. That is great, but you don’t want to overdo it when you still need to exercise. Otherwise, you might not perform as well as you should.

In short, a sauna before a workout is fine as long as you keep it short. It should really only be done to help warm up the body.

Also, always drink water during and after your sauna session. Dehydration is one of the most important things to avoid when exercising.

Most people prefer to use a sauna after they complete their workout. This makes sense because a tired mind (and body) naturally wants to relax, and a sauna can help with this.

But does using a sauna after exercising have any benefits? Here are some of the claimed benefits of using a sauna after a workout:

1. Muscle Relaxation

A sauna session not only relaxes the mind but also helps the muscles relax after an intense workout.

This, in turn, will benefit the overall recovery process of your muscles.

2. Remove Toxins

Sitting in the heat for a while leads to more sweating. This helps to further break down that lactic acid in your body.

It also helps to remove other waste that the body has built up in joints and muscles during exercise.

3. A Prolonged Workout

The heat in a sauna also keeps the heart rate going. In a way, this prolongs your workout as it simulates a light cardio session.

The main reason why many people would advise against using a sauna after working out is that the heart rate should gradually go back to normal after finishing a workout.

A sauna session typically does the opposite.

While this may be true, it needs to be put in context. If you’ve had a super intense workout and your heart rate is very high, I wouldn’t recommend using a sauna for another hour. In that case, a very short sauna session would help to relax the body and mind.

Recovering from a workout and lowering the heart rate back to normal levels can be seen as a gradual process. A short sauna session can help in that process.

So, instead of going from super intense to normal, it may be a good idea to squeeze in a short sauna session after your (intense) workout to allow your body (and heart rate) to recover gradually.

How long that post-workout sauna session should be will depend on the individual and how intense the workout was.

For some, a quick 5-minute session will suffice, while others can easily spend a half hour in the heat. Always use common sense and listen to your body.

It’s also good to have a cold shower after the sauna so that your body can cool down and stop that excessive sweating when you don’t want to sweat anymore.

Sauna use before or after a workout depends highly on an individual’s preferences and on the intensity and type of training session.

In general, though, using a sauna before a workout is fine as long as you keep it short and sweet. It helps with that initial warming up, but as soon as you start sweating, it’s time to leave the sauna and get ready for your workout.

Using a sauna after a workout helps to relax the body and muscles and to gradually lower the heart rate to normal levels. It also helps to break down lactic acid and remove other waste that the body has created during the workout session.

The best advice is to do what you feel works best for you as long as you always listen to what your body tells you.