A post-workout sauna could improve your heart health

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Is it getting hot in here, or is it just that more people are catching onto the fact that sweating it out in the sauna can do great things for your body and mind?

There’s growing evidence that getting your sweat on in a sauna could regulate inflammation, make your cells more robust and resistant to damage, and potentially decrease your risk of getting neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.

And now it turns out the combined benefits of hitting the sauna after a workout could pump up the benefits for your heart.

Let’s turn up the heat.

The sauna heart-health connection

A new study carried out in Finland – where else but the home of the sauna? – looked into the combination of exercise with sauna use in a small group of people.

They all exercised three times a week (a combination of resistance training and cardio), then some followed up their workout with a 15-minute sauna session.

Those who combined a workout and the sauna saw small improvements in their cardiovascular (or aerobic) fitness, as well as their cholesterol levels. But the biggest change was in their blood pressure...