The Benefits of Combining Weight Training and Infrared Sauna Sessions

There’s nothing like hitting the weights and having an epic workout, but are you doing all you can to optimise your routine? One brilliant technological advancement that is proving to benefit the fitness industry is infrared saunas. When you combine weight training and infrared sauna sessions, imagine how you could boost your results! How exactly can this combination benefit you? Let’s find out!

What is an infrared sauna?

An infrared sauna is a type of sauna that uses electromagnetic radiation to heat up your body directly instead of heating the air around you. The infrared sauna features infrared panels that heat up to a temperature between 49°C and 60°C, which is significantly less than a traditional sauna, which gets to between 66°C and 82°C). 

How does combining weight training and infrared sauna sessions benefit you?

Here are some of the best ways that combining your weight training with infrared sauna sessions can benefit you:

1.   Relief from sore muscles and promotes a faster recovery

The goal of weight training is to build muscle and burn fat in order to see results. Essentially, this happens by making your muscles work against a force, and the most effective way to increase muscle mass is by allowing your muscles to contract to their maximum potential, known as its maximum voluntary contraction (MVC). After a good weight training session and pushing your muscles to the limit, they can feel a little sore. One way to minimise muscle soreness is to go for infrared sauna sessions. 

Spending some time in the infrared sauna will raise your body temperature, which increases peripheral blood flow due to vasodilation. This allows the body to minimise inflammation by accelerating the clearance of edema, which may reduce the amount of perceived pain and help improve muscle reparation. 

2.   Optimised weight loss

When done right, weight training will increase your muscle mass; the more muscle mass you accumulate, the faster your resting metabolic rate is generally. Building more muscle means you’ll be able to retain your muscle mass while burning fat. Infrared saunas also help increase your metabolism because they can produce heat that can penetrate the skin (about 4cm to 5cm) and cause you to sweat.  Combine weight training with infrared sauna sessions, and you’ll be utilising two fat-burning techniques to help you optimise weight loss.

3.   Improved circulation and detoxification

Whatever type of exercise you choose to engage in, it will ultimately cause your heart to beat faster and cause your blood to pump faster, too. This increased blood flow optimises the delivery of oxygen and nutrients around the body, but even more than that, it also causes you to sweat, which helps get rid of toxins in the body. Likewise, infrared saunas raise your core temperature, which will get your blood pumping and get you sweating too. Needless to say, using an infrared sauna will also do a lot to improve your blood circulation and optimise detoxification in the body. 

While sweating does help you get rid of toxins faster, this doesn’t mean that it will get rid of more toxins. On the contrary, these activities will cause you to lose water faster, which can lead to dehydration. So it is important to ensure you’re drinking enough water when weight training or using an infrared sauna. 

4.   Reduces stress levels

Stress can be counterproductive when trying to reach your physical goals, especially when it comes to weight loss. Stress can elevate cortisol levels in your body, and with an excess of this hormone being released, your metabolism will typically slow down, and it will also cause you to crave more fatty and sugary foods, which can promote unhealthy weight gain. 

Thankfully, spending a few minutes in an infrared sauna on a regular basis does wonders to promote relaxation. This causes your body to release endorphins, reducing your stress levels. Exercise, like weight training, can provide stress relief by encouraging the body to release “happy” neurotransmitters called endorphins. Now, when you hit the infrared sauna after a good weight-lifting session, you might feel much more relaxed, and your stress levels may significantly decrease. 

Where to go for infrared sauna sessions in Brisbane?

When you’re ready to reap all the rewards of combining weight training with infrared sauna sessions, you need to go somewhere that will ensure you’re using the sauna in the best way possible. TH7 Body Labs is one of the best places in Brisbane for infrared sauna sessions. You can learn more about infrared saunas right here!

Final Thoughts

For an easy way to get the best out of your weight training sessions, consider going for some infrared sauna sessions. It’s just like getting all the benefits of a regular sauna, but you’re not exposed to the uncomfortable, sweaty condit