If you've been looking for a way to boost your workout intensity or shed some extra pounds, you may have come across sauna suits. Retailers selling these heat-trapping workout clothes claim the suits can boost exercise effectiveness and generate more sweat than regular workout gear. Proponents suggest the extra sweat produces similar health benefits to sitting in a traditional sauna. The idea of wearing a sauna suit and getting more out of your workout may sound appealing, but it's important to understand the facts.
What is a Sauna Suit?
A sauna suit, also known as a sweat suit, is a workout garment designed to hold in body heat and increase sweating. Many are made of waterproof material like neoprene, silver polymer, PVC, or nylon. Some suits cover the entire body, while others are separates for the upper or lower body. The purpose of a sauna suit is to trap the heat that your body produces when exercising. Sauna suit makers claim that working out in the suit increases the intensity of a workout without increasing your actual level of effort. The result, theoretically, would be higher fitness levels and possibly increased weight loss after regular use.
Sweat suits have come a long way too.
- Silver Polymer: Silver polymer is a recent, innovative material that offers many benefits. Silver polymer sauna suits are thin and comfortable, odorless, and allergy-free.
- PVC and Nylon: These make cheap sauna suits that do not last a long time because the materials tend to tear easily.
- Neoprene: This material was traditionally used for sauna suits due to its flexibility. However, other materials are quickly replacing it. Neoprene produces a very bad odor that won’t go away, which many people find too unpleasant.
Sauna suits are also made in different styles and sizes, ranging from S through 6XL to fit different body types. Styles vary by the amount of body covered. The suit can be a full body garment, sometimes hooded, that you slip into before beginning your workouts. The full body sauna suit can leave the arms and legs bare. It can also be one piece or separate pieces for the upper and lower parts, hooded or non-hooded, light or heavy-duty. A lightweight suit uses lighter materials and may not last a long time but most are inexpensive. Besides the different styles, sauna suits are normally either unisex or gender-specific. There are sauna suits for men, sauna suits for women, and those that suit both sexes.
Do Sauna Suits Really Work?
There is limited research on whether sauna suits produce meaningful benefits. One study confirmed that wearing a sauna suit during exercise does increase physiological strain and leads to higher sweat loss. The study did not reach conclusions about whether that increased strain translates to improved athletic performance.
Read also: Cottage Cheese Keto Guide
Another study compared fitness results between groups of participants, some of whom wore sauna suits to exercise and some of whom did not. Both groups engaged in similar exercise routines. At the end of the study, the group that wore the sauna suits showed an 11.7% improvement in VO2 max, or the amount of oxygen their body used when exercising as hard as possible, compared to a 7.3% improvement in the exercise-only group. The sauna suit group also had an average 2.6% reduction in body weight and 13.8% decrease in body fat. The exercise-only group averaged a 0.9% reduction in body weight and an 8.3% decrease in body fat.
Recent research in the fitness community has shed light on this. In an 8-week study on overweight adults, those who exercised with a sauna suit saw dramatically better results than those doing the same workouts without one. The sauna suit group lost 2.6% of their body weight on average, compared to just a 0.9% weight reduction in the non-suit group. Even more impressively, the sauna suit wearers slashed their body fat by 13.8%, versus an 8.3% decrease for the others. They also improved other health markers - for example, their cardiovascular fitness (VO₂ max) increased by 11.7% (vs 7.3% without the suit) and their resting metabolic rate jumped up, whereas the non-suit group’s metabolism actually slowed slightly.
The scientists concluded that the additional heat stress provided by the suit acted like a turbocharger on the exercise. The heat forced their bodies to adapt by expanding blood plasma volume and making the heart more efficient, similar to how training in a hot climate can boost endurance. Essentially, the suit made the workouts harder in a good way - raising core temperature, heart rate, and perspiration - which stimulated greater improvements in fitness and fat oxidation.
Benefits of Using a Sauna Suit
The idea of wearing a sauna suit while exercising has its advantages.
- Increased Perspiration: A sauna suit increases perspiration. That in turn, is supposed to help you burn fat, reduce weight, improve blood flow, and remove toxins.
- Shedding Water Weight: First, it helps you shed a few pounds instantly. This is called water weight and one of the reasons why boxers use sauna suits just before a fight.
- Detoxification: Second, sweating helps your body remove toxins through the skin, leaving you healthy and rejuvenated.
- Increased Performance: The sauna suit helps you exercise harder and for longer.
- Strengthens Immune System: The sauna suit will strengthen your immune systems by removing toxins from your body through sweat, nourishing blood cells by increasing circulation, and more.
- Cardiovascular Health: Wearing a sauna suit can contribute positively to cardiovascular health. The suit's heat retention quality elevates heart rate, similar to moderate physical activities. This means your heart works harder, which can strengthen the cardiovascular system over time.
- Boost Metabolism: Wearing a sauna suit can potentially boost your metabolism. The additional heat causes your body to work harder to cool down, burning more calories in the process. This increased metabolic rate means you're not just sweating more, but also burning more calories than you would in regular workout clothes.
- Enhanced Oxygen Uptake: Another intriguing benefit is the potential for enhanced oxygen uptake. This is particularly beneficial for endurance athletes who rely heavily on their aerobic capacity.
- Improved Circulation: The sauna suit's ability to retain heat has more benefits than just inducing sweat. This heat retention aids in increasing blood circulation throughout the body. Enhanced circulation means more oxygen and nutrients are delivered to muscles, which can aid in recovery and reduce muscle soreness after intense workouts.
Potential Risks and Considerations
Any activity that raises your body temperature or leads to excessive sweating can cause heat-related illness. Using a sauna suit without properly replacing lost fluids carries a risk of heat exhaustion.
Read also: Explore the world of full leg massage machines and their impact.
Symptoms of heat-related illness include:
- Dizziness
- Faintness
- Fatigue
- Headache
- Heavy sweating
- Low blood pressure upon standing
- Muscle cramps
- Nausea
- Weak, rapid pulse
If you experience these symptoms, remove the sauna suit and stop exercising. Move to a cool place to rest, and let your body cool down. Drink plenty of water or a sports drink to replace lost electrolytes. Without prompt attention, heat exhaustion can escalate to heatstroke, which is a life-threatening condition.
Using a sauna suit as a weight loss tool can potentially carry risks. The scientific studies on sauna suits involved using them in combination with physical activity. The use of the suits was limited to defined time periods, and participants were supervised by researchers. Using a sauna suit without guidance from a fitness professional or medical doctor comes with risks of heat-related illness. Talk to your doctor before you add a sauna suit to your fitness regimen.
To rapidly lose weight, people often use a combination of equipment, environment, and techniques, such as:
- sauna suits
- vigorous exercise
- hot environments, such as saunas or steam rooms
- fluid or food intake reduction
These negative effects could lead to potentially fatal conditions such as:
Read also: CBD Massage Oil: A Comprehensive Guide
- hyperthermia
- dehydration
- myoglobinuria
- rhabdomyolysis
How to Use a Sauna Suit Safely
Using a sauna suit as a first time user may not seem to be a big deal. However, it is. You should not just use your sweat suit. Use it correctly and in line with the best practices- both during workouts and after. The correct methods to wear your sauna suit mean faster results, comfortable exercising, and a lot more.
- Ensure Proper Fit: Ensure that you have the right size. Sauna suits are available in various styles. While these will be worn differently, most rules apply to many of them. The idea is to ensure that the suit is adequately sealed but comfortable. A sauna suit should fit snugly but not be excessively tight. It needs to allow for a full range of motion during exercise.
- Wear Appropriate Undergarments: Wear moisture-wick, body-hugging undergarment under the sauna suit. The purpose of a sauna suit is to keep in heat and increase sweating.
- Hydrate Adequately: Hydrate adequately before starting your sauna suit workouts. Drink about 6 ounces of water just before beginning your training. All that extra sweating means you’re losing fluids and electrolytes at a high rate. Drink water before, during, and after your workouts. For longer sessions, consider a sports drink to replenish electrolytes. Proper hydration helps with detoxification and prevents dizziness or cramps.
- Start Slowly: After wearing your sauna suit, do not start training in it right away. Begin your workouts taking care not to exert yourself too much especially if it's your first time using a sauna suit. Start with less strenuous exercises and short sessions (about 20-30 minutes long). You can increase that later.
- Listen to Your Body: It is good practice to listen to your body when working out in sweat suits. Stop if you feel dizzy and hydrate to replace lost fluids. Both men and women can safely use sauna suits, but pay attention to how you feel, especially in the heat. It’s normal to feel very warm and sweat a ton - that’s the point - but you should not feel dizzy, lightheaded, or nauseous. If you do, take a break, remove the hood or unzip for a moment, and hydrate. Build your heat tolerance gradually.
- Cool Down Properly: After an intense sweat session, don’t just peel off the suit and stop. Cool down with a few minutes of easy movement (slow walk, gentle stretching) while unzipping or removing the suit to let your body adjust. You’ll feel the cool air hit your skin - it’s one of the best feelings! Towel off, rehydrate, and relish that post-workout high.
- Clean the Suit: After exercising in your sauna suit, you can choose to relax in it and enjoy the warm feeling, especially if exercising in cold conditions. When removing a sauna suit, you may want to do it in a shower to avoid sweat messes. Yes, it is advisable to wash your sauna suit after every use to remove sweat and bacteria, maintaining hygiene and preventing odors. The sauna suit should be washed according to the manufacturer's instructions. Keep in mind that some manufacturers advise against the use of fabric softener. Others prohibit machine washing or hanging the sauna suit in direct sunlight to dry. Empty the suit's pockets if it has them. Hang the suit overnight to dry. Depending on the manufacturer Instructions, you may hang it outside.
- Dress Lightly Underneath: The DEFY sauna suit is designed to trap heat, so you don’t need heavy clothes underneath. Wear light, moisture-wicking garments (like a t-shirt and shorts or leggings) under the suit. They’ll get soaked, but lighter clothes will be more comfortable and won’t overheat you unnecessarily.
Addressing Common Misconceptions
One common claim about products that increase sweat production is that they're good for detoxification. Some wellness trends promote "detoxing" as a way to remove harmful substances from our bodies. This is a misleading notion. The human body automatically removes harmful substances via the kidneys and liver. Sweating is a function that cools the body and isn't part of the excretory system.
Sweat is about 99% water with small amounts of salt, urea, and minerals. Studies have found that perspiration does carry out tiny amounts of toxins - for example, trace heavy metals like arsenic, lead, mercury and chemicals such as BPA can be detected in sweat. However, it’s important to keep expectations realistic. Your body’s main detoxifiers are the liver and kidneys, which filter waste into urine and feces, not sweat. Scientific reviews confirm that while sweating can excrete small amounts of toxins, it’s not the primary detox pathway for most substances.
Also, weight loss during periods of heavy perspiration is primarily due to fluid loss that should be replenished as you sweat. Medical experts warn that rapid weight loss from extreme sweating is temporary and not the same as true fat loss. Shedding 5 pounds in a sauna suit session might feel rewarding, but keep in mind it’s water and electrolytes you’re losing, not 5 pounds of fat.
Sauna Suits vs. Traditional Saunas
Sauna suits are not meant to be worn in saunas, and doing so could lead to overheating. The suits do take their name from saunas, which are chambers that use steam or dry heat to raise your core body temperature as you sit in the space. Some sauna proponents suggest that the heat creates the same physical effects as exercise and provides similar health benefits.
There is limited research supporting the idea of saunas as a replacement for exercise. One study showed that participants who regularly used a sauna lost body fat during the course of the study. Researchers believe that using a sauna to raise core body temperature offers some of the same effects as vigorous exercise. But the study team could not conclusively state that the sauna was the only cause behind participants' weight loss. Research also shows that regular sessions in saunas can lower blood pressure. Other studies have demonstrated that sauna use correlates with reduced symptoms of congestive heart failure. Some researchers found that people who use saunas experience improvement in chronic pain. Study participants reported less pain associated with conditions like osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and fibromyalgia.
At this time, there is no research on whether sauna suits offer similar health benefits to using traditional saunas. Experts caution that it's wise to use both sauna suits and saunas only for short periods of time. Be sure to drink plenty of fluids while using any device that causes you to sweat significantly.