Many cultures throughout history have practiced some form of heat immersion. Roman and Turkish baths, Native American sweat lodges and Japanese ofuro to name a few.

For today’s topic, I’m going to take a much deeper look into Finnish sauna. Many studies have been published about Finnish style saunas and their health benefits.

The Finnish people in 2020 and 2021 have been identified as the happiest people on the planet. Their obsession with sauna is well known throughout the world. Correlation possibly? You decide!

Finns have been using heated baths for centuries. The word sauna comes from earthen- or snow-heated pit. Modern Finnish sauna consist of an electrically heated box of rocks in a wood lined room with a bucket of water and a ladle to occasionally pour water over the heated rocks for a boost of humidity.

I’d like to point out the distinction between the more modern infrared sauna and the traditional Finnish sauna. Infrared saunas run at a much lower temperature and typically run 115-140 degrees Fahrenheit.

Finnish saunas consistently are set at 158-200 degrees. Finnish saunas are typically low relative humidity, between 10% and 20%. Higher relative humidity steam rooms prevent sweat from evaporating off the skin making them seem much hotter than a dry sauna.

A sauna session most often consists of a 15- to 20-minute session with pauses for cooling. Some people swear by a cold shower or plunge into a cold pool during the pauses. I’m not there yet!

Many studies show that the health benefits of sauna are dose dependent. Health benefits can be gained if the bather uses this method at least three times a week. More benefits can be gained if one increases the days per week to five or six.

The studies are clear. For example, a study conducted by Laukkanen et al concluded that Finnish style saunas increase the health of people who follow the weekly regimen. Cardiovascular health gains are the first notable benefit of sauna.

When exposed to temperatures between 174 and 194 degrees Fahrenheit, the body becomes stressed and triggers a thermoregulatory response. As your skin warms, you begin to sweat, your core temperature begins to rise, and your heart rate increases.

These kinds of stressors can trigger the body to go into hormesis. Hormesis is defined as low exposure to various sources of stimuli such as exercise, toxic substances in low doses, and environmental stressors such as heat or cold.

It gives a more scientific name to the old expression “that which does not kill you makes you stronger.” Hormesis basically causes our cells to enter defensive mode, the increase in little stressors makes you more resilient overall.

Some of the other health benefits that have been proven include easing arthritis pain and improved joint mobility along with reduction of muscle soreness.

Sauna also aids in reduction of stress levels and improvements in overall feelings of well-being. Improved sleep, fighting illness, stress reduction, lower blood pressure, and quicker recovery are all indicated by regular sauna usage. Maybe those Finns are onto something here!

A 2016 Finnish study lasting 20 years concluded that it is quite possible men were at a much lower risk of Alzheimer and dementia. The 2315 participants of this study used the sauna between two to three times a week and five to six times a week.

The group who used the sauna more often had a much greater risk reduction of those dreaded diseases. Specifically, sudden cardiac death, fatal cardiac disease, all-cause mortality and cognitive decline were markedly reduced as the frequency of sauna use increased. 

The normal time was around 20 minutes and minimum temperature was 175 degrees. The men who used sauna 2-3 times a week saw 20% to 30% benefit while 5-6 times a week increased positive results by as much as 60%!

Heat shock proteins or HSPs are the body’s response to high heat stressors. On a molecular level these act as little chaperones within the cells moving toxins, heavy metals and free radicals out of the cells for disposal.

They basically reorganize, stabilize, and rejuvenate the cells internal order. Finnish sauna forces your body to release HSPs in abundance and studies have shown the more often you partake the better the results.

There are risks for people who expose their bodies to these high heats. Talk to your doctor. Start slow, it is recommended that you start with 4-5 minutes at first. Also, drink plenty of water, avoid sauna if ill, don’t consume alcohol. I repeat: talk to your health care team.

As always, I wish you well and happy sauna bathing!

Pat Burrows is a personal trainer and group exercise instructor at the Walla Walla YMCA. He is an American Council on Exercise certified personal trainer, a Total Body Resistance Exercise (TRX) certification

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