Let’s face it, most of us don’t like to be uncomfortably hot. We use air conditioning and even special clothes to keep ourselves cool.
What if allowing yourself to sweat for just a bit could help you build muscle faster and lose fat?
You still don’t want to be uncomfortable?
Studies show that people who get hot tend to live longer and be healthier Specifically, those who use sauna the most live the longest.
Sauna can also be used to put on muscle and lose fat.
I know, if you are a bodybuilder or fitness show competitor you look for every advantage you can possibly get. Sauna is one of those secret tools.
If you want to just purely use macros to gain some muscle and burn fat, you can use a process like the one referenced here.
We like to bring in secret tricks that work with your body to supplement these standard protocols and give you a unique advantage.
WHY DOES HEAT BURN FAT?
Heat acclimation
- Burns calories
- Increases growth hormone
- Improves insulin sensitivity
- Reduces fat through norepinephrine release leading to increased metabolism
HOW DOES SAUNA BUILD MUSCLE?
Heat induces muscle hypertrophy. To optimize muscle gain, use a sauna immediately following a workout. Do not get into a cold shower or cold tub.
Cold will mitigate the benefits of your workout. Upon finishing your workout, spend 20-30 minutes in the sauna.
If you have more time, do two 20-minute sessions with a 30-minute break in between, which has been shown to double growth hormone over baseline. Doing this multiple times a week has been shown to increase growth hormone even more.
A 30-minute sauna session was shown in one study to increase muscle regrowth 30% more than those not using a sauna.
SAUNA USE AFTER A WORKOUT HAS BEEN SHOWN TO
- Increase GH which leads to muscle synthesis
- Increase heat shock proteins
- Decrease overall stress
- Improve athletic performance
- Reduce protein degradation
This is a super simple hack to massively speed up fat loss and build lean muscle.
Finish your workout and hop in the sauna for 20 minutes. I usually bring a book and get some reading in during y sessions. I’m also detoxing heavy metals and phthalates at the same time, so bonus!
It can take a few sessions to get used to the heat and feel comfortable sitting and sweating for 25 minutes, but after years of doing this, I rarely get uncomfortable in the sauna. A side benefit is that you are more comfortable in the heat of the summer while everyone around you is sweating and complaining.
I’ve had great success combining a short but intense workout session with sauna. I’m able to keep more muscle while spending less time at the gym floor and enjoy my experience at the gym more because 30 minutes is spent relaxing and reading in the sauna.
Make sauna sessions a common addition to your workout days!