We just purchased a far infrared sauna for several different reasons, and we’re already loving the relaxing and soothing effects this heating machine has on our muscles both after workouts and at night after a busy and stressful day at work when mucsle tension seems to take over at night. What makes an infrared sauna different from regular saunas though?

Well, a regular sauna, which was popularized by Sweden, whose population liked to take long hot baths in the moist heat, used regular saunas, which were simply wooden boxes that heated anywhere from 150 to over 200 degrees by heating the air around the body, and using a centrally located heater with rocks in it that water could be poured on to make it more of a hot steam bath. It was relaxing, but it was not easy to make it very long in the stifling high temperatures.

So, the infrared sauna was designed to use infrared heat, which emanates around and penetrates the tissue of the body, instead, heating the body itself directly, not just the air around it. The consequence is that you get a deeper tissue penetration of the therapeutic heat, and consequently you also get a relaxing experience and other therapeutic benefits such as skin clearing, muscle relaxation, and and excellent added benefit of increased circulation of blood. See reviews and ratings of far infrared saunas for more information on better brands to choose.

This increased circulation of blood is supposed to help burn calories, but there is a lot of debate out there as to whether an infrared sauna can help you lose weight by using it. Unfortunately, the water you sweat out does come right back on as soon as you drink more water, but proponents of the infrared sauna say that the calories you burn while your heart is pumping out more blood to keep the body cool is still a benefit because it cardiovascularly conditions the heart and causes a benefit to those losing weight because of the extra calorie burning ability.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 10th, 2008 at 9:05 am and is filed under Fitness Equipment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.