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how sauna therapy acts as a passive exercise for your heart
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“your whole vascular system, the whole piping, is involved as your body's way of trying to cool off in the sauna. so that you know your heart's getting a workout there, your actual arteries and capillaries and the veins of your cardiovascular system are expanding and contracting to adapt to that heat stress.”
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dr. peter hrkal has a wood-burning sauna in his home and a hot rock sauna in his backyard for when he feels like getting outside for a heat session alternating with breaks in cooler air. the orangeville, ontario chiropractor has used sauna therapy for about 20 years, first in university for recovery when he played volleyball and did a lot of sports training.
he’s turning 40 this year and says his health routine has more of a preventative focus for longevity, where he does yoga, weights and a hot sauna a few times a week. “sauna is absolutely my most consistent exercise piece.”
even his five-year-old daughter likes the family sauna to relax and get better sleep.
“i’m passionate about it for myself, for my family, for our health and i share it with friends and others who come over,” he says of the growing trend in saunas for home use as well as at gyms and health clinics. “they are probably more accessible than ever these days, so it’s pretty good.”
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science shows sauna therapy boosts cardiovascular fitness
hrkal also teaches anatomy and physiology at georgian college and works with athletes for chiropractic and holistic care. he’s impressed by the evolving science that supports sauna therapy, particularly for cardiovascular health.
a recent review of the literature in medical science reveals that finnish sauna bathing, a traditional practice involving dry heat exposure, is associated with significant cardiovascular benefits, most notably in lowering the risk of hypertension and reducing cardiovascular disease mortality. longitudinal cohort studies demonstrate that frequent sauna use (four to seven sessions a week) lowers incident hypertension risk by 47 per cent and reduces sudden cardiac death risk by 63 per cent.
finnish sauna bathing is similar to hot rock therapy, where you can pour water on the heat source to create steam. in finland, steam is a deeply rooted part of the cultural experience of sauna bathing, used for relaxation and social gatherings. the country boasts the highest number of saunas per capita, with at least one sauna for every household. (despite the dull, gloomy days, finland is ranked as the happiest country in the world.)
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“as i continue to teach and learn about the body, i’m more and more amazed at what the sauna can do for people in all stages and phases of life,” hrkal says.
while it may look like just sitting or lying down with a towel as you sweat from the heat, there’s a lot happening in the body. he explains that sauna use mimics physical activity, so you experience all the same responses that you would during cardiovascular exercise: your heart rate goes up, it modulates your blood pressure, so your blood vessels are dilating, improving circulation.
“that alone is an exercise for the heart,” he says of elevating your heart rate to move blood and oxygen throughout your body. “your whole vascular system, the whole piping, is involved as your body’s way of trying to cool off in the sauna, so that you know your heart’s getting a workout there, your actual arteries and capillaries and the veins of your cardiovascular system are expanding and contracting to adapt to that heat stress.”
get fit and happy without joint stress
sauna is known as a passive form of exercise that doesn’t put any stress on the joints like running or weightlifting would, so that’s another benefit, especially for someone who is elderly or recovering from surgery—with a doctor’s approval like any new therapy.
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while hrkal aims for 20 minutes three times a week, sauna heat is something you need to build tolerance for, as you would with any form of exercise. “you don’t run a marathon right away. you start with a walk, run or a jog, a 5k. so with a sauna, you start slow and you build tolerance.” start with five or 10 minutes at a time, increasing heat and duration as you go.
bryce wylde, a leading alternative health expert and author in toronto, describes sauna bathing as good stress on the body. humans are designed to respond to stress, but we aren’t meant to have that fight-or-flight instinct going full-tilt at all hours.
“people have to understand that not all stress is bad. and in fact, the best way we develop resilience is that goldilocks, we call it hormesis, that perfect zone. there’s comfort that follows minor discomfort.” when you’re in a sauna, the discomfort is your body responding to the heat, he says, explaining how heat, like fever, stimulates your immune system.
“a fever is purposeful. your body naturally elevates its temperature to attract the immune cells to an area where there’s an infection. so, what’s part of that process? heat. when you purposely heat up through a sauna, you’re actually boosting an immune response.”
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maintaining a healthy immune system is crucial for protecting heart health in a number of ways, including defending the body against infections and diseases that lead to chronic inflammation. when you have a prolonged immune response, it can damage healthy tissues, like the heart muscle, and lead to plaque buildup in the arteries.
wylde also talks about sauna therapy as passive exercise. “exercise is an amazing stressor. i like this analogy, it really resonates with my patients: resilience and stress is like an elastic band that you’ve got to use (to keep functional).”
the stress happens when you stretch the elastic band, while the snap-back is the rest-and-digest response. if you’re stretched for too long, that’s not good. in fact, you can stretch to the point of breaking, so you snap.
ideally, we want to have minor stressors and then snap back, he says, adding that exercise is one of the best ways to do that. “sauna is like passive cardio, even for people who aren’t physically fit. it creates this stimulus without movement.”
keep hydrated as your body works to cool you down
as you would with exercise or time spent outdoors in hot weather, drink plenty of water before and after a sauna to keep hydrated. and again, get clearance from your healthcare provider before trying sauna bathing.
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basically, as hrkal also pointed out, in the sauna, your cardiovascular system is trying to cool you down to your normal core temperature.
“it’s the same way exercise does, but through heat instead of movement.”
before the pandemic, wylde used a classic steam sauna at a gym. but when the lockdown changed things, he built out his basement for exercise and added an infrared sauna, which he says is much easier to maintain and just as effective. he recommends looking for one that is made from local balsa wood and constructed without glue.
“an infrared sauna uses infrared light. you don’t see it, but literally behind these panels is light or wavelengths that warm the body. so you definitely sweat, circulation increases, all that stuff still happens. but the most important difference is you don’t see it. i don’t like to use the word cook, but it kind of cooks you differently than steam, more like poaching.”
he also notes that infrared saunas have been used for decades in health clinics for detoxification for people with chronic conditions like chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia and pain syndromes that have blocked detox pathways.
his own practice is around 20 minutes after a workout because he’s already warmed up.
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“every single time you know you feel better,” he says. “the transition from hot sweaty exercise into a sauna is something i look forward to. your heart rate’s rising, you’re feeling a little heavier, you notice that stress on purpose. then there’s phase two, when you’re in the middle, and you’re starting to really sweat. last, there’s the discomfort, but then after the session, i get out, i feel amazing. there’s just nothing like it. not even exercise can make me sweat like that. you’d have to be in the most crazy spin class to get anything remotely close to it.”
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