How Many Calories Do You Burn in a Sauna?

This post answers the question: how many calories do you burn in a sauna?

Looking for a natural way to boost your metabolism and burn calories? Look no further than sauna therapy.

Heat therapy is known for its ability to aid in weight loss, reduce stress, improve sleep, relieve muscle soreness and so much more- but just how effective is it in burning calories?

In this blog post, we’ll dive into the science behind sauna use and reveal how many calories you can expect to lose during your next heat therapy session.

Why Do You Burn Calories in the Sauna?

Before we explore how many calories you burn in a sauna, it’s crucial to understand what happens in your body during a sauna session.

A sauna is a small room designed to expose your body to high heat and humidity. This environment increases your heart rate and metabolism, much like physical exercise does, but without the muscular use.

As your body works to cool itself down, it begins to sweat, using energy in the process. While the sauna experience might feel like passive activity, your body is actively working on the inside, leading to a calorie burn.

How Do You Burn Calories in the Sauna?

The process of calorie burning is based on the body’s response to heat.

When exposed to the high temperatures of a sauna, your body undergoes a series of physiological changes, primarily aimed at cooling itself down to maintain a stable internal temperature.

This is where the calorie burn comes into play:

1. Your heart rate increases: similar to what happens during moderate exercise, leading to an acceleration in blood flow. To facilitate this, your body has to expend energy, which means burning calories. This is a thermogenic process, where the heat acts as a catalyst for your metabolism.
2. You start to sweat: Sweating also contributes to calorie expenditure however, to a lesser extent. Unlike many think, the act of sweating doesn’t burn a significant amount of calories, but the energy used to produce sweat and cool the body down again does.

This combination of increased heart rate and the body’s cooling mechanisms results in a calorie burn.

Myths About Burning Calories in the Sauna

When it comes to sauna use, there are several myths about how many calories you burn in a sauna.

1. “Sauna’s can replace regular exercise.”

False. While saunas do add to burning calories, the number of calories burned is small compared to what can be achieved through physical exercise.

Unfortunately, the weight loss seen immediately after a sauna session is mainly due to water loss through sweating, not fat loss.

2. “The higher the temperature and the longer the sauna session, the more calories you will burn”

While it’s true that a warmer sauna can increase your heart rate more, it may not be the best options.

Pushing yourself too far can be counterproductive and even dangerous by overworking your heart and losing too many electrolytes through your sweat.

3. “Saunas can target fat loss in specific areas of the body”

Unfortunately, this is also not true. Fat loss occurs uniformly across the body based on genetics and overall caloric deficit, not from localized heat.

So, How Many Calories Do You Burn in a Sauna?

Estimates suggest that an average person burns somewhere between 300 to 600 calories during a typical sauna session lasting around 30 minutes.

However, the exact number of calories you burn in a sauna can vary widely based on individual factors such as:

• age
• weight
• gender
• your individual metabolic rate
• the sauna’s temperature
• the duration of your session

Increasing the temperature of the sauna can lead to a slightly higher calorie burn, as your body expends more energy to cool itself down.

However, the key to sauna use is to promote a healthy and stable raise in heart rate, not extreme temperatures that can become dangerous.

How Can I Burn More Calories in the Sauna?

Combining sauna sessions with mild exercises, such as light stretching or yoga, inside the sauna can amplify calorie burning by engaging your muscles as well as your the cardiovascular effort.

Hydration plays a essential role in how efficiently your body operates in the heat. Drinking water before and after your sauna session can help maintain a high metabolism rate, ensuring your body burns calories at an optimal pace.

Remember, safety should always come first.

Prolonging your stay in the sauna or drastically increasing the temperature to boost calorie burn can have adverse health effects.

Here are some products we recommend to increase sweating and calorie burning in the gym and sauna: