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Benefits of v steam9/16/2023 ![]() ![]() But the solution is pretty simple there: Hydrate and, if the heat starts to go to your head, just get out, Nelson says. For most people who are generally healthy, the biggest risks are dehydration and dizziness. Are there any risks to sitting in a steam room?Įven if the alleged steam room benefits haven’t been proven, there’s not a ton of downsides. “The temperature might be too low,” he says. Hypothetically, they could-but likely only if they increase internal body temperature to the same degree as saunas. And, so far, there’s no definitive word on if steam rooms spur similar effects. However, as Laukkanen notes, any possible post-exercise benefit has only been studied in saunas, not steam rooms. In one 2015 Springerplus study, for example, researchers found that both traditional and infrared saunas improved exercise recovery in 10 physically active men who used saunas regularly. Some studies have looked at whether post-exercise heat therapy could impact exercise recovery, but, again, these studies have limitations like a small sample size and specific population. People are comparatively more relaxed in hot environments than in cold ones and, across cultures and centuries, beaches, saunas, steam rooms, and hot springs have been used as places to get some R&R. “Hot environments are known to increase the body’s parasympathetic tone,” Nelson says. He notes, however, that it’s possible that the lowered blood pressure findings could also be linked with heat’s axiality (science-speak for anxiety-reducing) outcomes-that is, just relaxing in a heated environment may be enough to affect your blood pressure levels. Laukkanen hypothesizes that improved arterial flexibility and dilation reduces the amount of force that moving blood exerts on the blood vessel walls. What’s more, their carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity, an indicator of how well blood vessels expand and contract as needed, increased. (In Finland, sauna bathing is a common activity.) For example, Laukkanen and his team’s recent findings, published in the Journal of Human Hypertension, found that one 30-minute sauna session significantly lowered blood pressure in 102 people with at least one cardiovascular risk factor. That said, a respectable number of studies exist on saunas, many of them from Finnish researchers and centered around cardiovascular effects. Saunas using infrared technology are another big trend. Wood-burning saunas are the most traditional version, but electrical and gas versions also exist. Saunas give off a dry heat, with humidity levels around 5 to 20 percent. As warm as steam rooms sound, saunas are ridiculously hotter-often up to 160 to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. ![]() Steam rooms and saunas differ in two main ways: degree of heat and humidity, Jari Laukkanen, M.D., Ph.D., University of Eastern Finland researcher, tells SELF. How’s a steam room any different from a sauna? Fortunately, because they are so darn humid, steam rooms are constructed of water-proof materials and designed so that water can run down a drain, rather than pooling everywhere. You’ll find water dripping down the walls, coating the seats (usually benches), and on the floor (don’t slip!). ![]() Usually, an electrical generator along with special plumbing is to thank for the hot, sticky climate. But, really, a steam room is any room that’s warmed to roughly 110 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit and has humidity levels at or near 100 percent, Jason Machowsky, R.D., C.S.S.D., C.S.C.S., an exercise physiologist at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, tells SELF. What is a steam room, anyway?Ī room with steam in it-duh. We talked to top exercise physiologists and heat stress researchers to answer all your questions about what benefits of the steam room you should know. Daring you to get even sweatier.īut is a post-workout steam really worth the extra time spent at the gym? And what is the sweaty, steamy ritual even supposed to do? After a tough workout, you walk into your gym’s locker room, start to towel off, and there it is-the steam room, just staring at you. ![]()
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