Good workouts should get you sweating, right? But for those who struggle with lifting heavy weights or sticking to a cardio routine for hours every week, there’s a new way to kick up the heat while exercising – literally.
Infrared exercise is a new fitness trend that accelerates the effects of exercise!
1. What is Infrared Exercise?
Put simply, it’s the process of working out in while utilizing infrared hear absorption, typically inside of a sauna. The extra heat increases workout intensity, resulting in more calories burned, more toxins leaving the body by sweating, and more water weight lost to reduce the appearance of bloat.
Despite being a niche form of exercise, it is totally possible for anyone from beginners to fitness experts to engage in infrared exercise. You can even set up a home gym, the way you would with any other exercise routine, and receive virtual coaching from the comfort of your home.
2. What are the Benefits of Infrared Exercise?
Infrared exercise has many benefits, including:
- Detoxification
- An increase in calories burned per workout
- Mental health benefits, including improved moods and reduced symptoms for some ailments
- Added workout intensity
- Rapid muscle recovery
- Reduced inflammation
- Increased circulation and heart rate
- Reduced bloating
Does this list sound too good to be real? Then let us explain!
The basis of infrared exercise is that it warms the muscles in your body faster than traditional workout environments. Through subjecting yourself to higher temperatures, you automatically increase the intensity of your workout and elevate your heart rate to the same levels as a HIIT workout, without necessarily having to do a high impact workout. Though you still could if you wanted to! This gets your heart rate up more quickly, as the body jumps into action to adapt to the environment.
Warm body tissue also leads to improved blood flow, which allows your lungs and muscles to receive more oxygen. This changes the rate at which your muscles fatigue: the extra heat forces you to work harder in the moment, but speeds up recovery post workout.
Inflammation is also affected by body heat and blood flow. While too much heat can sometimes exacerbate inflammation, the exercises used to push blood through the body also push away the inflammation itself. Additionally, two of the most common causes of inflammation include chronic stress and toxic substances inside of the body. One of the ways our bodies dispose of these harmful toxins is by sweating, and the effects of sweating are increased by the sauna environment.
Sweat also causes us to shed excess water weight, which reduces the appearance of bloating and helps our muscles appear more defined.
The mental health benefits of any workout are well documented at this point, but worth repeating: working out helps produce endorphins, which are known to elevate your mood and combat negative thoughts! However, exercise can also lead to benefits that indirectly impact your mental health, such as weight loss or reduced spine and joint pain.
3. Beginner Tips
Since the nature of this workout can lead to rapid dehydration, perhaps the most important beginner tip is to drink plenty of fluids during and after each infrared workout.
Stop immediately if you begin to feel dizzy, and never intentionally exercise with an intensity that causes pain or dizziness. A small carbohydrate snack is one of the best ways to fuel up before a workout.
Most importantly, if a workout routine doesn’t make you happy, you’re less likely to stick with it. Fortunately, an infrared workout doesn’t require any specific equipment aside from a sauna. It is therefore possible to switch routines or mix and match different exercises until you find a routine you enjoy – a freedom that not many other workout programs can provide!
