Does Using A Sauna Help With Weight Loss
Well that’s the big question, isn’t it? Does using a sauna help with weight loss? In this article, we are going to look at how a sauna, particularly an infrared sauna can help you to lose weight.
I’d like to go into the actual process of how an infrared sauna can help you to lose weight. Because deep down there’s a process that does take place.
Now there will be people out there that will try and tell you that you cannot lose weight in a sauna. By the time you read this article, you will then be able to understand what happens to your body while you’re in an infrared sauna, then you will start to see the possibilities.
I’m not here to say, jump into an infrared sauna, hang around for 40 minutes and out you come looking nice and trim. With everything, there’s a process. And in this case, the process can involve other processes. I’ll explain later.
Infrared Sauna And Weight Loss
Anything to do with losing weight always comes with some sort of scrutiny. And using an infrared sauna for weight loss will be no exception.
What I’d like to achieve with this article is to give you some structure behind losing weight with an infrared sauna as well as some weight loss tips, benefits and other information that you can use to help you as you travel along your weight loss journey.
Home Infrared Saunas
Having your own infrared sauna, portable infrared sauna or even a sauna blanket on hand to use when you like is a massive advantage to you giving yourself every opportunity to successfully win the weight loss journey. The reason I say this is because convenience is everything, and if you’re wanting to get the best results, and if it’s possible for you to have your own infrared sauna it can make all the difference.
Not only that, they will save you loads of coin in the long run, paying for your sauna sessions really add up over time, But that’s a whole other topic. Let’s get back on topic.
Does using a sauna help with weight loss. And of course, the simple answer is yes. But this yes comes with cautions. Why? Because it’s not as simple as just sitting in a sauna and you’ll come out the other side half the size.
There have been studies that show using infrared saunas on a regular basis has been proven to help with losing weight. Another study had shown that using a sauna for weight loss was compared to a moderate workout. Very interesting you say.
Let’s get into how infrared saunas help with weight loss. The benefits behind using a sauna and other points to mention.
Before we get into the details behind our topic. Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of using an infrared sauna, then you’ll start to get a good idea as to why infrared saunas help with losing weight.
Using an infrared sauna helps in a number of ways. Using an infrared sauna for the sole purpose of weight loss can actually be a great thing, as a number of other health related processes take place. And some of these processes you won’t even realize are happening. Losing weight is just one benefit. It’s the end goal, but you’ll actually get to experience other amazing health related benefits in the process.
What Happens When You Start Using An Infrared Sauna For Weight Loss.
- Using an infrared sauna helps to boost your metabolism, meaning you’ll burn calories.
- Using an infrared sauna will help to improve your stamina.
- Helps to rejuvenate your body, relieve stress as well as helps to detoxify your body by removing unwanted toxins from your system, all helping in the process of you losing weight. As you can see a number of flow on health benefits will happen along the way. Let’s take a close look.
- Using an infrared sauna for weight loss will also help detoxify your body.
When you sweat your body is basically detoxing itself from unwanted shit that’s stored in your body. And since the heat from the sauna will make you sweat. You will extract those toxins with your sweat. Sweat can help to flush out any nasty heavy metals from your system which usually is there from the foods you eat and the polluted air we breathe.
Once your lymphatic system has been cleared the weight loss process will start as you will be burning that fat in an effective way. Having all those unwanted toxins built up in your body has an effect on your being able to burn fat.
A Sauna Will Help You Boost Your Metabolic Rate.
It does this by the higher than normal temperature your body is subjected to. Your heart rate will increase by around 30%. In turn, this will boost your metabolic rate by up to 20%. Once this kicks into gear, this is when you start to burn those unwanted calories. Even after you’re finished in the sauna your metabolism will still be running at a higher rate than normal. As your body won’t shut off immediately.
A sauna helps to lose what we refer to as water weight.
Up to 5 pounds of your total weight can be what we call water weight. It can take up to a week to lose up to 5 pounds with a normal healthy diet with some exercise. Now with an infrared sauna, you can easily lose that excess water weight in a matter of days.
This will happen because of the excess sweating you’ll experience while using an infrared sauna. If you think about how a jockey gets to his or her weight in time for weight in. Or what about a boxer that needs to get to their ideal weight in time for a weight in. Where do they go? Straight to a sauna to lose that extra weight.
Now you might be thinking. Water weight, that doesn’t really mean you’ve lost weight does it, does it even count. Well you need to start somewhere don’t you.
Not directly, but indirectly related to losing weight, but it will help. An infrared sauna, the portable, blanket sauna can help you to reduce the overall stress you may have in your life. And less stress makes us feel better about ourselves which in my opinion is related to losing weight. Who wants to make the effort when you’re feeling crap.
Having a sauna can be a wonderful and relaxing experience. It definitely helps to reduce your stress levels. It allows you to take the time to shut yourself off from the world, and reducing your stress actually helps to lower your cortisol levels.
When you stress more than normal, cortisol is released into your body. This then leads to you having an unwanted amount of harmful free oxygen radicals released into your system. We could go deeper into this fascinating topic, but that’s out of the scope of this article.
When you relax and de-stress by having an infrared sauna, your cortisol levels will drop. And the flow on effect of that is those unwanted nasty free oxygen levels reduce as well.
Basically, all this means is you will help yourself by reducing inflammation-induced weight issues. Basically, stress will cause you to gain weight.
Did you know, using an infrared sauna can help? Having a sauna can help with your breathing capacity. It helps you to increase your respiratory levels as well as reducing respiratory issues down the track.
The use of an infrared sauna will also help to increase your stamina. By increasing your stamina. Everyday things like walking upstairs, lifting things and any real body movements will help you to burn excess fat. It’s a common issue that can easily be fixed by using an infrared sauna on a regular basis.
These are just some of the flow-on effects that have a direct impact on you being able to lose weight. Not only will you improve in these areas they will also clear the path, so to speak, in your weight loss journey.
Hopefully, you can start to see the effect an infrared sauna can have on your ability to live a healthy life while losing weight in the process. It all matters.
When you start your infrared sauna session your body’s core temperature will heat up and you will start to sweat. This is the first point of the whole process.
You start to sweat because your body’s core temperature is on the rise. What your body will do, which is a natural process, is trying to cool itself down. I’m not happy with being so hot.
In the cooling process, the body works harder than normal to cool down and while that is happening you’re still sweating away.
In simple terms. Your body is working harder, meaning it’s burning more calories, and because you’re still in the infrared sauna the process continues until you’re out of the sauna and you cool down.
And while this is happening you get the advantage from the above health benefits along the way. If you look at this whole subject from the last section in my opinion it’s hard to know how you wouldn’t lose weight. How much, well that’s the next question.
Now we have covered that section. Let’s take a look at what sort of calories or results you might be able to achieve while using the infrared sauna
How Many Calories Will I Burn In An Infrared Sauna?
Here’s the thing, this is a very challenging question to answer, as there are so many variables involved. I’m sure you have read where you can burn up to 500-600 calories in a sauna session.
But to be fair that seems unachievable. If you were to achieve those numbers through exercise, now that’s a workout. And as I said there are too many variables to give you a definitive answer And to be honest, that would be unfair on you and your expectations. If you do want a little more info on this I have written an article on this topic. How much weight can you lose in a sauna session?
Using an infrared sauna for the purpose of losing weight can be very effective with your weight loss journey. But here’s the kicker. If you can use it with other weight loss methods, an infrared sauna for weight loss can be even better. One of the best combinations you can use is by adding a light exercise routine into your day before you jump into the sauna. This can do wonders for your weight loss journey. But I also understand this might not be an option for all.
There’s a very good reason I say this. If you can get a light exercise into your day before you jump into your infrared sauna you’ll speed up the process of burning calories. How? Your body has already heated up, so when you jump into your sauna the heating process has already happened. Brilliant isn’t it?
By adding in a light exercise before you jump into the sauna, you can see how this would speed up the process. It doesn’t have to be anything long. 5-10 minutes will be fine.
So If we can find (meaning us humans) an advantage to help with our weight loss journey or maybe it’s just keeping in shape, it’s natural for us to give it a crack. Well for some that is.
Maybe you have the option to use some sort of indoor exercise equipment for your exercise, before you use the sauna, like an exercise bike or a treadmill. That would be ideal.
Two very effective forms of exercise, they will get your body up to temp in no time. If not, getting outdoors is a great option. Of course, depending on your living arrangements your own exercise equipment is not always an option. Outdoor exercise.
Another factor would be of course your diet. There’s no point in sitting in an infrared sauna for the purpose of losing weight only to finish your sauna session and go and eat something crap. The fact you’re here I know you’re serious about weight loss and know what needs to be done to achieve the results you want.
The biggest thing to take out of all this, like anything, is consistency. In order for us to get results, it’s important to be consistent. This can be challenging if you don’t own an infrared sauna. And expensive if you go to a gym that has a sauna on a regular basis. These days there are plenty of infrared saunas to suit everyone’s budget and lifestyle. Something we can quickly touch on later.
How To Use An Infrared Sauna For Weight Loss
I’d now like to give you a few ideas on how to get the best weight loss results with an infrared sauna. Especially if this whole process is new.
Let’s go through a process you can implement into your weekly routine that will make sense. Adjust as you like, this is just a guide for you.
It’s recommended for you to get the most out of the infrared sauna experience is for you to at least have 3 sessions a week. And do this for let’s say 4 weeks. After this 4 week period, I’m pretty sure you will notice a difference in a few things. One is how you actually feel. You’ll feel refreshed and energized. You’ll be amazed at how better you feel. You’ll get into such a routine, there’s a good chance you’ll feel crap if you don’t use your infrared sauna on a regular basis.
And without even realising it, you’ll be eating better and maybe even adding some sort of exercise into your day, most likely because you now actually feel like it, and the fact you’ll have more energy. And better still you’ll feel so much better about yourself.
Another topic for another day. The link between infrared sauna and depression. Because at the end of the day in my opinion the core reason we put on weight is how we feel about ourselves, and it’s not positive. Something an infrared sauna can help with. It all links together.
So just to recap. If you can add a little exercise into your weekly sauna sessions, There’s no question you’ll see better results. Even though by itself an infrared sauna can produce excellent results. Using a sauna to help with weight loss is just part of the bigger picture. It’s all part of the weight loss process. And It comes with so many health and life benefits.
To Summarize our topic. Does Using A Sauna Help With Weight Loss
Absolutely, directly and indirectly. Using infrared saunas of some sort is a great way to burn fat.
And that leads us to. Muscle tone, something an infrared sauna doesn’t do. That’s up to you if you’re interested in going down that path.
To help with toning or muscle building you must add strength exercises into your routine. And to do this with any effectiveness, you need stamina. No problems, infrared saunas do a great job of building your stamina. So adding a little exercise will be a piece of cake, as they say. Something to look into down the track.
Point number 2. You must and I mean must keep yourself hydrated at all times. Not keeping yourself hydrated can hinder your ability to lose weight.
And before we finish up here. I want to look at a few more benefits of using an infrared sauna for weight loss.
More Offset Health Benefits Of Using A Sauna For Weight Loss And Better Health.
- A sauna will help you to increase your blood circulation.
- A sauna can help to speed up the recovery of a muscle injury.
- A sauna will improve the quality of your skin. By extracting all the nasty toxins from your skin and body, will help your skin to look younger, vibrant and glowing.
- A sauna will also help you to get a better sleep and feel less stressed.
This is where I’d like to quickly touch on getting your own home infrared sauna. As you now know there are many health benefits to using a sauna on a regular basis. Be sure to take a look at our recommendations and reviews for the best infrared saunas you can buy to use at home. We also offer our thoughts on our best portable infrared sauna and our best infrared sauna blankets.
All the infrared saunas offer their own benefits and you’d be surprised at how affordable even a 2-3 person infrared sauna can be. Remembering comparing the cost to ongoing sauna sessions which can range around $50 per session, over time will outweigh the cost of actually owning one yourself. The links are below.
Infrared Sauna FAQ.
Before we go I’d like to just answer a few questions that might be floating through your mind. Keep in might these will just be an estimation as it’s hard to give exact answers.
How much weight do you lose in a sauna?
This does depend on time factors and how often you use an infrared sauna. But to give you an idea you could lose anything up to 2-5 pounds over a period of weeks. This also depends on your age, your starting weight, number of times you use the sauna. Your lifestyle, remembering this will give you a guide as to what can be done but also remember to keep your expectations open.
How many times should I use my sauna?
With regards to how many times a week. 2 sessions is a good start. Ideal 3-4 times a week. For how long. Again this is just estimates.
How long should my sauna sessions be?
Again depending on if you are new to using a sauna or not, on average. 20-40 minutes should do the trick nicely. If your new start off for around 5-10 minutes, then work your way up. We all have different heat tolerance levels that we can build on overtime.
Can I have a sauna every day?
Not recommended. But there’s nothing to say you can’t, although you don’t want to overdo it. Every 2-3 days will be ok.
How much weight could I lose in 1 day?
The simple answer is none and a lot. Not what you want to hear, the reason I say this is because the time frame is simply too short. These things take time. And there are variables as well. That’s not to say you won’t. I just don’t want to give you false expectations.
Ok well, there you have it. I hope I’ve covered our question for today. Does using a sauna help with weight loss? And I hope you have enjoyed reading this article. All the best with your weight loss journey, please remember to check out our product reviews if you’re looking to buy your own infrared sauna. Also, remember to check back in for future articles on this topic.
All the best my friend.