It’s no secret that a regular infrared sauna sessions do wonders for your mind and body. Between increased immunity, muscle recovery, relaxation, and detoxification, you’d be hard pressed to find someone who wouldn’t benefit from an infrared sauna experience.
One of the biggest questions around infrared saunas, infrared light therapy, and infrared in general is whether or not infrared can burn calories and contribute to weight loss.
So, do you burn calories in infrared sauna?
In short, yes. As your body increases sweat production and pumps the blood around your body, it is busy burning calories. Similarly to how you burn calories from sweating while exercising, physical activity, and during traditional sauna sessions, an infrared sauna triggers the same circulation response, contributing to an increased metabolic rate, burnt calories, and detoxification.
While there are always going to be naysayers, the relationship between weight loss and infrared light therapy is clear. Research conducted by Binghamton University found that on average, study participants who spent 45 minutes in an infrared sauna three times a week experienced a loss in four percent body fat over a 16 week period.
How do you burn calories in infrared sauna?
Let’s look further into how an infrared sauna can support healthy weight loss.
Increased metabolic rate
Sitting in an infrared sauna will increase your body’s core temperature, increasing both heart and metabolic rate. The longer you spend inside an infrared sauna, the harder it is for your body to cool itself down, expending more sweat and increasing blood flow. This increase in metabolic rate will work to burn calories, similar to the amount you might burn while going for a light jog.
Detoxification
Every day, we are exposed to chemicals, toxins, and heavy metals which can be found within foods, drinks, skin care products, and the general polluted atmosphere. These toxins can contribute to a number of concerns, from bloating to poor immunity, to blemished skin, unexplained fatigue, weight gain, and poor bowel movement. One way to combat these toxins is to detoxify the body through sweating. See where this is going?
Infrared saunas are fantastic for providing your body with that detoxification experience. An infrared sauna can help you to sweat out and eliminate chemical and other toxins from the body, while also contributing to improved circulation, increased metabolism, and a rejuvenated mindset.
Improved cardiovascular health
Frequent infrared sauna sessions have been found in many studies to maintain healthy blood pressure, improve endothelial function, reduce cholesterol, inflammation, heart arrhythmias and markers of chronic heart failure.
If you are on the journey to losing more weight, cardiovascular health is of the upmost importance. Regular infrared sauna sessions train your body to become more efficient at pumping oxygen-rich blood through your body, increasing metabolic rate, heart rate, and cardiac output.
How to safely experience infrared light therapy
While it’s true – regular infrared sauna sessions can help you to burn calories, there are a number of safety measures that need to be taken to ensure you’re not putting yourself in danger. Infrared light therapy works by increasing the body’s core temperature, which means that those who are pregnant, have a history of heart disease, have asthma, or any other serious medical condition should avoid undertaking the sessions. If you’ve never used an infrared sauna, you may also need to consider how long you spend in the sauna, the set temperature, and taking frequent breaks where necessary.
Even if you’re a seasoned sauna user, it’s important to be wary of potential dehydration while using an infrared sauna. It’s important to keep your liquids up before, during, and after a session as during a sweaty session, you’ll lose a lot of the fluid in the body. Dehydration may be present if you are experiencing extreme thirst, a very dry mouth, or dizziness and headaches.
How many calories will I burn in an infrared sauna?
How many calories are burnt in an infrared sauna? It’s hard to say. Some manufacturers claim that up to 600 calories per hour, while some studies suggest that an infrared sauna session can keep your heart rate elevated for 30 minutes following completion.
While infrared sauna can support healthy weight loss, the benefits of an infrared sauna session go far beyond losing a few kgs. An infrared sauna should not be used for burning fat alone – the light therapy is incredible for muscle recovery, relaxation, detoxification, and immune system support. Furthermore, an infrared sauna should be used as an addition to your weight loss journey, not the foundation. Infrared sauna sessions are most beneficial when implemented within a balanced lifestyle of healthy eating, regular exercise, and a positive mindset.
Experience wellness with Rimba Sweat
It is clear that an infrared sauna can provide a wealth of benefits to anyone who is trying to lose weight. However, as mentioned above, an infrared sauna is so much more than a tool to increase metabolic rate and detoxify – an infrared sauna session has been shown to speed up recovery, boost immunity, improve sleep, reduce stress and allow the user to relax the mind.
Now that we’ve outlined the main ways that an infrared therapy can improve your health, it’s time to experience the luxury that is an infrared sauna session with Rimba Sweat. With studios across Manly and Neutral Bay, Rimba Sweat offer Sydney’s favourite wellness oasis. Book a session online now, or call us on (02) 8959 0672 today to speak to a team member.