Well I don’t wear a garbage bag in there and info plenty of training. Don’t worry
Interesting points regarding using the sauna and/or steam room to acclimate for hotter races. I’m no physiologist but it seems to me that you’re body would acclimate back to colder temps pretty quickly unless you were training in the heat for the bulk of your training…I dont know…just something about it does not jive with me.
Without any further hot workouts, acclimatization starts to lower after about a week and return to base level after about a month.
And when I say acclimatization, I’m referring to an increase in sweat output, a decrease in energy expenditure, decrease in lactate accumulation, as well as carbohydrate utilization. et cetera
Interesting stuff. I’m a cold weather race guy but that will switch up in 2015. Thanks for sharing
I always thought the idea of a sauna was to relax post workout. More of a recovery tool than workout. I know my lungs really like the hyper warmed air post ice weather workout. The heat and increased blood flow seem to relax the muscles pre massage, post workout . I have used the sauna 100s of times after a freezing cold workout, makes those old frozen bones feel pretty good.
I have heard of using a treadmill or trainer in the sauna to adapt to heat stress, never done it.
When I was traveling overseas one of the hotels had a nice spa and workout area with a steam room. One of the guys there told me that after a hard work out or a stressful day the best recovery is to take a cool shower and then spend 5-10 minutes in the steamroom and follow it up with another cool shower. You can repeat that a couple of times and then spend about 20 minutes letting your body completely cool down and recover before you leave.
I don’t think it has any benefit to fitness but it’s the best relaxation technique I’ve ever used. Definently a mental benefit.
I’m a steam room junky to say the least so I say go for it. It’s a great way to wind down, cleanse a few more toxins and chill. As for heat training I recommend you pull your trainer in there and ride for 15-20 minutes. I loved Chris Chelios’ story. He’s known as the Ironman of NHL hockey. “Thirty years ago Chris Chelios pioneered longevity training by riding an exercise bike inside a sauna for twenty minutes a day. It would prove to be a far sighted decision.” Research this dude and embrace his fitness. I train in the cold Canadian Rockies and it’s hard to find the heat even on a nice summer day. You have to look outside the box I guess? Running 15K right after 75 minutes of hot yoga will work too. Happy training.
When I’m in Mexico I’ll sometimes use the spa at the hotel. Sit in the steam room, and / or sauna, then cold plunge pool and / or shower. Only problem I have is that being from the mountains and having been in glacial fed creeks and ponds, they don’t really know what cold water is. Still, cool water is nice.