If you’re an exercise enthusiast (or really, even if you’re not) and you’re the kind of person to work out for an hour, by pass the gym’s steam room, jump into a lukewarm shower for 5-7 minutes and go on about your day, you’re missing one of the best parts of an exercise regimen. Although a lot of people probably look at a steam room experience as being more of luxury than a necessity, the real truth is that there are a lot of benefits that come with spending some time in one.
Below are five reasons why you should hang out in the steam room (at least for 20 minutes) after you exercise:
It relaxes the body. We live in a stressful world and there are more and more studies that are connecting a lot of physical illness and diseases to internalized stress. So yes, while it may seem like sitting in a steam room to relax you is not something that you actually need to do, anything that will lower your blood pressure and heart rate is something worth considering.
It soothes muscles and joints. After exercising, there can be a significant amount of muscle tension in the body that can lead to aches and soreness. Sitting in a steam room will cause your body temperature to rise, which makes your blood vessels dilate. This, in turn, increases your blood circulation, which helps to soothe the body and also heal any bruises or cuts that you may have received while working out.
It burns calories. The thing about this one is that you shouldn’t rely on steam rooms to lose weight. Eating right and exercising are the most effective ways to do that. Plus, too much time obsessively spent in a steam room can lead to dehydration. But with that said, when you sit in a steam room, you do sweat, which causes you to lose water weight, which can take you down a pound or two.
It removes toxins. Another “sweat benefit” is that whenever we do sweat, toxins are removed from our pores. There are many studies that support the fact that sweating is contributed to the body having reduces levels of chemicals too, including copper, lead and mercury. Another plus to having toxins removed from the body is that detoxification is an effective skin cleansing tool. That is because when sweating transpires, bacteria drains out from the top layer of the skin, along with the sweat ducts. That’s why a lot people will steam their face before shaving or before moisturizing their skin.
It helps you to rest better. While some people may think that an a/c repair to adjust the temperature in their house will help them to get a more comfortable night’s sleep, the reality is that a steam room can bring about far greater results. Spending time in a steam room increases our endorphins, which raises our body temperature, which, in turn, causes us to be induced into a state of sleep; and not just a “cat nap”, but a deep kind of rest. So, if you’re someone who exercises after work and you’d like to get a good night’s sleep, a 30-minute stop in a steam room may be just what you need to accomplish that goal.
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