KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Infrared saunas use a (safe) kind of radiation to create heat instead of steam or hot air.
- Infrared sauna won’t help you lose weight, “detox” your body, or prevent disease.
- Infrared sauna may help reduce joint pain and stiffness, improve mood, reduce oxidative stress, and support cardiovascular health.
The health and fitness space is full of gimmicks and gimcracks that promise to help you lose weight, look sexier, and get healthier.
You know, things like…
- Detox teas and “cleanses”
- Starvation (and overly restrictive) diets
- Overhyped nutrition “hacks” (like intermittent fasting and ketogenic dieting)
- Testosterone boosters
- Estrogen blockers
…just to name a few.
The sad truth is if you simply ignored most everything published in most fitness magazines and on most fitness websites and just stuck to the basics of energy balance, macronutrient optimization, compound weightlifting, and progressive overload instead, you’d be far better for it.
You’d be able to gain muscle and lose fat with ease, and you’d be able to do it eating foods and doing workouts that you actually enjoy.
If you want to speed up the process, though, or optimize other aspects of your health and performance, you can go a bit further.
You can take the right supplements, for example, incorporate mobility work into your exercise regimen, and take simple steps to improve your sleep quality.
And that’s where infrared sauna enters the picture. It isn’t necessary by any means, but depending on whom you listen to, it can be a boon to your overall health and wellbeing.
That’s why this technology has been getting a lot of attention recently, and if you poke around online, you can find doctors, trainers, and “gurus” singing its praises.
According to its proponents, infrared sauna can…
- Detoxify your body
- Enhance circulation
- Promote weight loss
- Lower blood pressure
- Increase immunity
- Relieve aches and pains
- Reduce muscle soreness and speed recovery
- Improve skin health and appearance
- Fight cancer