sauna instead of cardio

[scrapakilla]

I do cardio after all of my workouts and recently it has really been running me down. I work out 5 days a week and like to get a good sweat in after my workouts so i usually do some form of cardio for about 30 minutes keeping my heart rate in a good spot and after i get a nice stretch in for about 5 to 10 minutes. I feel like the cardio is somewhat overtraining my legs a little bit and also i am just down right tired of it. My fitness goal right now is to be shredded so obviously skipping cardio sessions is out of the question but what about the sauna. Recently after my workouts i have experimented with going into the sauna for about 12 to 15 minutes and doing my normal stretch routine but with focused breathing and not only do i feel like i have done a cardio session when i am done i feel great and shredded afterwards as well. I wanted to run it by you guys though and see if you thought there were some negatives by doing this that i may not know about. Thank you for your help and sorry for the long read. My plan by the way is to switch off everyother workouts between sauna sessions and cardio sessions.

[jdspinna]

Maybe you need to change what you are doing or your intensity for cardio if it's draining you that badly. What is your routine now?

As far as the sauna goes, it has a few benefits. The biggest benefit when cutting is probably that saunas raise your heart rate and caused an increase in energy expenditure. I think you can burn somewhere up to 600 cals per half hour in a sauna.

[sonar1234]

Sauna is very good to sweat out the pounds but i dont beleive it can replace cardio.

You can easliy lose 10 pounds in one sauna session but its gonna be water.

[Doc.Sust]

Sauna is very good to sweat out the pounds but i dont beleive it can replace cardio.

You can easliy lose 10 pounds in one sauna session but its gonna be water.

exactly, the sauna doesnt burn calories, you need cardio

[jdspinna]

exactly, the sauna doesnt burn calories, you need cardio

The sauna absolutely helps burn calories but, it's not the most efficient way to do so.

[QuieTSToRM33]

i would combine both for optimal results .... do cardio in the morning and then hit the sauna after your evening workout

[Ufa]

exactly, the sauna doesnt burn calories, you need cardio

If I don't do an hour of cardio on treadmill every morning I find it harder
to do the next day. I think it's good for blood pressure, cholesterol,
I don't have any problem with 90% heart rate. At my age thats only
145. I am trying to convince some of my friends to do a little more
cardio. They just won't listen.

[Doc.Sust]

The sauna absolutely helps burn calories but, it's not the most efficient way to do so.

LOL!, not like cardio!, you are literaly sitting in heat, how does that burn calories efficently? please if you have some articles to back this up, i would love to see them!

[perfectbeast2001]

The sauna absolutely helps burn calories but, it's not the most efficient way to do so.

yes please explain? Then we can all stop doing cardio.

[Doc.Sust]

also, youcan burn calories doing just about anything, reading a book, playing video games, hell even sleeping, it doesnt mean that becasue you burn calories that these activities are a good way of losing fat .the sauna in NO way replaces cardio. period!

[Kärnfysikern]

Sauna can help obese lose fat. Dont ask me how I didnt bother to read the whole study properly.

I also remember reading in a swedish bb mag that sitting in a sauna increase metabolism to the same extent as taking a walk. cant find a reference to that.

http://www.ebmonline.org/cgi/content/full/228/10/1245

Interestingly, the body weight and body fat in obese patients significantly decreased after 2 weeks of sauna therapy (Fig. 2). The acceleration of appetite and abnormal feeding behavior such as eating a snack between meals and overeating did not appear. These results suggest that repeated sauna therapy decreased body weight and body fat in obese patients without increasing plasma ghrelin concentrations and decreasing serum leptin concentrations. We consider that repeated sauna therapy is useful in the treatment of obesity. We recently treated an interesting obese case in which sauna therapy was very effective. The body weight and body fat rapidly decreased after 10 weeks of sauna therapy with 1600 cal/d. The patient could not take any exercise because of both-knee joint pain in osteoarthritis. Body weight decreased from 117.5 kg to 100.0 kg and body fat decreased from 46% to 35% over 10 weeks. The therapy also had improving effects of mood such as anxiety, anger, and irritability. There was no acceleration of appetite or abnormal feeding behavior during the treatment.

There is also this but I dont know how much it means

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...=pubmed_docsum

ten healthy male volunteers were exposed to the dry heat of a Finnish sauna (+80 degrees C) for 1 h twice a day for a period of 7 days. After each exposure rectal temperature rose by 0.8-1.1 degrees C and body weight dropped by 0.7-0.9 kg. The systolic blood pressure recorded 3-5 min after the sauna did not change during the experiments but the diastolic blood pressure decreased by 7-37 mmHg (P less than 0.05). The pulse rate rose from 75-80 to 106-116 beats min-1 (P less than 0.05) after the sauna. The increased responses of pulse and temperature adapted to heat exposures so that they were significantly lower after the 3rd day (rectal temperature) or after 6th day (pulse). Metabolic rate increased by 25-33% (P less than 0.01) after the first day. Serum total proteins, Hb and Htc were significantly increased on the 1st and 3rd days but not later, although the dehydration in response to sauna was unchanged as judged from the weight losses. Serum K, Na and Fe were significantly decreased on the 3rd and 7th day indicating that special attention should be given to the electrolyte balance in long-lasting intense heat exposure. No ECG changes were found in recordings taken on the 7th day.

PMID: 3766176 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE

[Kärnfysikern]

And its defenetly no replacement for cardio. But a nice thing to do anyway. I love sauna. Nothern swedes are almost as crazy about sauna as those bastards in finland.

[jdspinna]

If you actually took the time to look at my post I said the sauna burns calories. I said it's not the most effective way to burn calories. Never did I say it can replace cardio.

Sauna
1. Increase body temperature
2. Increased heart rate

= increased calorie expenditure

[Doc.Sust]

Sauna can help obese lose fat. Dont ask me how I didnt bother to read the whole study properly.

I also remember reading in a swedish bb mag that sitting in a sauna increase metabolism to the same extent as taking a walk. cant find a reference to that.

http://www.ebmonline.org/cgi/content/full/228/10/1245


There is also this but I dont know how much it means

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...=pubmed_docsum

key word here is obese people. what about non-obese people? would it work nearly the same? if a sauna realy was a very efficent wayof really bunring calories, wouldnt gyms replace treadmilss with multiple saunas?

[rockbottom]

Sauna also helps detoxify your body. Nevertheless, if your yoked, you're going to be huffing and puffing going up the stairs if you quit cardio.

[Kärnfysikern]

key word here is obese people. what about non-obese people? would it work nearly the same? if a sauna realy was a very efficent wayof really bunring calories, wouldnt gyms replace treadmilss with multiple saunas?

Well I am not saying it is a effective fat loss method. But it sure cant hurt I love sweating in a sauna but I would never replace my cardio with it.

If it happens to burn a few kcal Im just more happy. If it doesnt Il be glad of all the other health benifits

[Doc.Sust]

If you actually took the time to look at my post I said the sauna burns calories. I said it's not the most effective way to burn calories. Never did I say it can replace cardio.

Sauna
1. Increase body temperature
2. Increased heart rate

= increased calorie expenditure

fair enough

[Doc.Sust]

Well I am not saying it is a effective fat loss method. But it sure cant hurt I love sweating in a sauna but I would never replace my cardio with it.

If it happens to burn a few kcal Im just more happy. If it doesnt Il be glad of all the other health benifits

i used to love the sauna when i was a young kid, i would get done working out when i was 15yo, and sit in the sauna for an hour! now i just dont have the time, i do miss it though

[perfectbeast2001]

*moving x-trainer to the sauna*