Stretching and Sauna

(wersja polska - TUTAJ)

For start - a few words about the benefits of regular sauna usage.

The Finnish, who cannot imagine life without sauna, claim it purifies the body and mind from everything that is bad; also it has a positive impact on health and beauty, and it counteracts aging of the body.

In different parts of the world, “hot baths” have long been used: either in heated chambers, or tents, or in water (artificially warmed up or hot springs). At the very beginning, it was an instinctive behaviour and an intuition-prompted believe that this is something good. Only later, the beneficial influence of these “hot baths” on skin, muscles, bones etc. was analysed. Based on experiment, observation and research, it has been established that:

• a few minute session in a room heated up to even 100°C, warms up our skin to 42°C and increases our body temperature by one degree. This is interpreted, by our internal organs, as a mild “fever”. A desirable effect, as it stimulates and intensifies the production of immune bodies in blood which effectively destroy viruses and bacteria.
• Sitting in sauna affects positively the cardiovascular system by:

a) the increase of stroke volume of the heart and cardiac output,

b) the dilatation of blood vessels, decrease of arterial blood pressure and increases of venous blood pressure.

• High temperature leads to increased blood flow to skeletal muscles, which translates directly into a higher efficiency and faster flushing out of acid metabolites. Also, the cartilage tissue which protects the articulations from pain and injury is better supplied with blood.
• Endocrine system is stimulated to secretion of endorphins, just like during physical exercise. Endorphins make us feel better, lower stress level and rise pain perception threshold.
• The period of tiredness gets shorter and the body performance gets higher.
• During the session, the tension of bronchial smooth muscles decreases, reducing breathing friction, increasing vital capacity of the lungs and respiratory minute volume, which leads to better oxygenation throughout the body, including, of course, the brain.

Two aspects are especially important for stretching:

• better muscle oxygenation that makes muscles softer and more prone to stretching, both during* and after a session;

* It is best to stretch not with the first, but with the second sauna sitting, so that the body gets a chance to warm up really well and that the muscles get really prone to stretching.

• better oxygenation of the entire body, resulting from increased vital capacity of the lungs and increased respiratory minute volume, as well as the dilatation of blood vessels. Subsequently, muscles are better nourished, bad metabolites are eliminated. In consequence, muscles are more relaxed, less tense and, again, more prone to stretching.

What are the benefits of stretching?

The list is long and you can read all about them HERE, but in a nutshell:

• better blood circulation and supply
• reduced muscle tension
• relaxation
• cardiorespiratory system stimulation
• faster metabolism
• endorphins secretion
• secretion of synovial fluid which reduces friction in articulations.

Conclusions

It is easy to see that many of the benefits duplicate, but it only intensifies the effect. Combining sauna with stretching (stretching during or directly after sauna session) not only occasionally, but as a regular practice, will significantly increase muscle flexibility and articulation mobility, resulting in the reduction of functional limitations and of pain in tense areas, if the latter has occurred.

In addition, sauna may be the answer to “notliking” stretching. As an increased blood flow to muscles reduces tension, stretching becomes simply less painful. 

What to be careful about?

As sauna and stretching stimulate the production of endorphins which lowers the pain perception threshold, you have to be careful not to overdo stretching during or after sauna session while you are dealing with an injury. One should, as always, adapt a reasonable attitude towards stretching, not a reckless one.

Also, one should never forget that using a lot of passive stretching (without muscle contractions) combined with sauna and without additional strengthening exercises, can easily bring unhealthy hypermobility.

Summing up

Just go and profit from this great combination. But, as always, with moderation.