The magic happens when you follow the traditional sequence: 15-20 minutes of sauna bliss followed by a 1-12 minute cold plunge.
Generally, you should keep your sauna visits between 15 and 20 minutes, followed by an ice bath for at least one minute up to 12 minutes. As a general rule of thumb, 1 minute per degree the ice bath is optimal.
It's better to wait about 20 mins after sauna before cold plunging. The whole point of these things is to make your body better at regulating body temp. If you jump into a cold plunge your kinda defeating the point of the process. I believe they're called temperature shock proteins.
Regular sauna sessions trigger the body to release endorphins, thus relaxing your body and mind, which has a positive effect on your energy levels. In combination with a cold plunge, your body releases even more positive hormones, especially norepinephrine, which boosts focus, attention, and energy.
However, as a general guideline, it is recommended to take at least 10-15 minutes of cooling time between saunas. During this time, it is important to drink water or other fluids to stay hydrated, and to allow your body temperature to return to normal.
Generally it is recommended to first sauna then cold plunge as sauna sessions increase the blood flow and heart rate and make our muscles relax. On the other hand cold plunges slow down the heart rate and makes our blood vessels contract.
Allocate at least 10 mins for a Cool Down
Sit in a chair or lay on a towel down in your room to ease into normal activity post sauna.
After your sauna session, head directly to the cold plunge for 1-3 minutes of cold immersion. The sudden cold exposure will: Cause your blood vessels to constrict, directing blood to your core to protect vital organs. Reduce muscle inflammation and soreness.
While it's safe to do a cold plunge every day, it's possible to overdo it in a few ways. If you jump into cold water too fast, it can shock your body and cause problems with your breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, or mental state.
The heat from the sauna causes blood vessels to dilate, which improves blood flow and reduces inflammation. The cold from the ice bath causes blood vessels to constrict, which improves circulation and reduces muscle soreness.
In other words, your regular sauna session followed by a short plunge in cold water should be enough to reap the health benefits. As such, we suggest you go for a 20-30 minute sauna session followed by a 2-5 minute cold plunge or ice bath.
The sauna causes blood vessels to dilate, and the cold plunge causes them to constrict rapidly. This sudden redistribution of blood flow in your body can potentially make you feel dizzy.
One of the most common questions we get asked is, "Can I sauna every day?" The short answer is yes, it can be safe for most people to sauna daily. However, it's important to keep a few things in mind, like how long you stay in and any health conditions you might have.
Don't take a warm bath or shower soon after your cold session.
While cold plunging has numerous benefits, staying submerged for too long can introduce potential risks. Prolonged exposure to colder temperatures may lead to hypothermia, where the body loses heat faster than it can produce, resulting in symptoms like shivering, confusion, and fatigue.
The short answer is that it's generally not recommended to bring your phone into a sauna. The high temperatures and humidity levels can cause damage to your phone's internal components, and the risk of overheating or even explosion is not worth the convenience of having your phone with you.
If you're feeling more tired than usual, your body could be struggling to recover from the cold-induced stress. While cold plunges are intended to invigorate and refresh, too much exposure can have the opposite effect, leaving you feeling drained and exhausted instead of rejuvenated.
The heat in the sauna also helps to boost the metabolism and thus fat burning. In this way, brown fat cells can be activated by sauna sessions: Cold stimulus: After a sauna session, when the body cools down quickly, the skin sensors report the sudden cold to the brain.
FAT LOSS PROTOCOL
Submerge to your shoulders. Don't fight the shiver; you can even sometimes facilitate the onset by shivering voluntarily. Achieve shiver and keep shivering for 60-120 seconds. Once you have been shivering for 60-120 seconds, exit the tub and stand near it, but don't cross your arms or dry off.
In conclusion, while the debate between whether to take a cold plunge or sauna first continues, the general consensus leans towards starting with the sauna and then moving on to the cold plunge.
Protocol for Growth Hormone Release:
Heat sauna to 80-100°C (176-212°F) Use sauna infrequently (once per week or less) Use multiple sessions of 30 minutes each with cool down periods in between.
A good target time for a cold plunge is three minutes in the water. Eventually you will be able to add more time, but the most important thing is to listen to your body. For complete cold plunge beginners, you can develop your tolerance by taking a quick dip (30 seconds) or regular cold showers.
After the end of the sauna session, you should not clean yourself with shower gel or soap, just apply some lotion.
Putting my legs up during for least half the time, helps tremendously with lymphatic drainage especially when we rarely have our legs above our head. There's so many benefits with being in the sauna weekly to daily.
When you get home from your sauna session it is great to take a warm shower to wash off the toxins that are now on the outside of your skin. Many find that a cool shower rinse after a warm shower invigorates them and their skin. So enjoy a good shower followed by a cool rinse. This will also close up the pores.