#344 Sauna Frequently Asked Questions w/ Inka Land

Siim Land (0:00)

Hey, welcome back to the channel. My name is Siim Land, here with my wife Inka. Today, we're actually doing another two-part series about sonas. So part one is on Inka's channel, where we talk pretty much about all the benefits of sona, the research about it, and pretty much how to do it. Like what are the optimal frequency, temperatures, types, and those kind of things. So yeah, check out part one on Inka's channel in the description. Here in part two, we're actually answering some questions that we asked, or people asked on Instagram about, just different kinds of small questions about sona, and it's more like a Q&A. Do you want to slow down aging? If you do, I'm looking for a few more people who want to reverse their biological clock. If you're interested, then send me an email to info at siimland.com, and I'll send you all the details. So let's start. First question, sauna with cold plunge post-workout, yes or no? So should you do the sauna with a cold plunge after a workout?

My opinion is that sauna is great after the workout because it helps with the growth hormone release, which can have even like an enhancing effect on your results from the workout, but also just the recovery side. You supply the muscles and joints with the blood flow, the blood flow and nutrients that are needed for recovery. So it improves all aspects of recovery and performance or the results that you get from the gym.

With the cold plunge, the issue is that there is some suggestion or research showing that too much cold exposure, too cold exposure like ice baths, cold baths, they can reduce muscle anabolism and it's not necessarily muscle strength or endurance, but muscle anabolism for sure. So it depends on what you're doing.

Don't do it after like bodybuilding workout or resistance training where you're trying to build muscle, but after other types of exercise, it's okay to do.

Inka Land (2:09)

Yeah, and maybe here, I don't know, you have looked more into this, what's the temperature, but still making sure that you cool the body enough after a sauna.

So as we talked previously in my channel, is that in Finnish dry sauna and these studies, they use this intermediate cooling. So just taking a cool shower or rolling in the snow in between sauna sessions is like a good practice to avoid any fainting or getting too heated up.

Siim Land (2:40)

Yeah, the studies refer to more like the ice baths.

If you do like a regular cold shower, then it's fine. It doesn't have any negative side effects. But if you do like this five minutes of sitting in an ice bath, then that would be counterproductive for muscle anabolism.

Inka Land (2:56)

And what do you think about, like, yeah, in this context, like if you do first exercise, like strenuous exercise, then sauna, which is a stressor, and then cold plunge, which is a stressor. Maybe it's just too much stress altogether, or?

Siim Land (3:10)

I don't know. I mean, like, it actually promotes recovery, like the different types of stressors, like the cold.

Like, let's say, do your cardio, then after that, sauna plus cold plunge is very good, because the cardio can increase the inflammation and soreness more, and the cold will just, you know, reduce it a lot and reduce the pain or the stiffness on the joints and stuff. So I think it depends on the workout.

Inka Land (3:34)

So it's more like muscle strength exercise, then?

Siim Land (3:37)

Yeah, like I wouldn't do it like after weights, but after cardio is actually good for faster recovery. Because you don't need like the inflammation for the cardio benefits, but you do need some inflammation for the muscle growth and anabolism.

Are sauna blankets good? I haven't actually used a sauna blanket myself. I mean, I think infrared sauna blankets probably, yeah, like they do still have these infrared lights, so it doesn't matter how hot it is, you still get the infrared benefits for the skin and sweating a little bit and skin. But I think that, like, I don't know, like I haven't used them. Looking at it, I would say that it's a bit like, you know, messy and you have to kind of, I don't know how you clean it, and I don't know all the procedures involved with that, but I think it's still like a compact sauna blanket or these sauna cubes where you're sitting in a cube with your head out. I think they're still better than nothing at all, probably.

Inka Land (4:43)

Yeah, it's just the sweating and detoxifying and getting heated in your body. One thing that I found is that in this Japanese studies and the protocol in Japanese, when you do this infrared sauna therapy, which originates from Japan, apparently, it's called WAUN, is that they go into the sauna for 30 minutes and then they lie under a blanket for 30 minutes, like in a heated room of 28 degrees Celsius. So it's not a sauna blanket per se, but it includes this like lying, you know, increasing even the heat, heating of the body with the blanket.