The Dangers of Skipping Sauna in Summer

A lot of people hit pause on sauna use during the summer—but that might be the worst time to stop. Between sunscreen, chlorinated pools, and the extra time outside, summer brings a different kind of toxin exposure most people don’t think about. In this video, I answer questions from the Certified Saunas Facebook group about why summer might actually be the most important time to stay consistent, and how to adjust your routine when it’s hot out.

We also talk through the differences between outdoor sweating and real detox in a sauna, strategies for sticking to your schedule, and how I personally adjust my sauna routine during summer months.

Read the transcript >

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Transcript

Bottom line, if you’re talking about sauna in summer, if you’re slathering on sunscreen, you’re swimming in chlorine all summer, the sauna might just be the most important thing you don’t want to quit right now. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Well, hello there.

Hello. Good morning, Matt. So we are getting a lot of questions, and the Facebook group, and also DMs. Do you have time to answer them real quick?

I can do that. People have been asking if they should continue to sauna during summer, and they’re having trouble, you know, finding motivation to do it, basically. And the general question I’m getting from this is why should they continue to sauna during summer, and what is the motivation behind that?

Because, you know, a lot of people have been saying they’re working out in their yard, they’re sweating outside, they’re going outside, they’re golfing, they’re going to the beach, they’re sweating everywhere. Probably a lot of reasons they should continue to sauna, but I want to hear, you know, your thoughts on that.

So a lot of it is the same stuff. You know, the kids are in the chlorinated pools, you’re putting sunscreen on, you’re doing this, you’re doing that. But the temperature, like for us in Orlando, is so hot, the last thing that you want to do is jump in your hot box after you’ve already been sweating, just walking to the car.

Yeah. So on one hand, I totally understand. On the other hand, summer might be one of the most dangerous times to stop using your sauna, but nobody talks about it in that way. Infrared sauna specifically is really, really good at helping the body get rid of certain types of compounds through the skin.

Everyone says that it’s heavy metals that you can sweat out, but really pesticides, different compounds, especially if you’re wearing sunscreens and things like that. Follow-up session with sauna three to four times a week, just like for anything else, can be extremely beneficial. We’re probably exposed to a lot more toxins just because of what we’re doing with our days.

So during winter, we’re not as…

You know, I mean, people are outside, but they’re not in the grass. They’re not golfing all the time. They’re not going to the beach and spraying sunscreen on. Probably summer would be one of the most important times to sauna because you’re exposing yourself to a whole lot more during the during that time.

Yeah, very much. I mean, it’s not like most people are intentionally abusing, you know, their pools. But if the if the kids go to the hotel pool, you know, if you’re a triathlete that trains in a swimming lap pool or something like that, most of these things are extremely over chlorinated.

And the usage is like quintuple what it would be in the wintertime for everyone in the summer. So just, you know, you could I hate to use the word toxin exposure. But when you talk about, you know, pollution, things, microplastics, different types of things you come into contact with, we’re just naturally more involved in those activities in summer.

And we don’t even think about it. And sauna can just be a really good maintenance tool to keep up with, you know, the intention that you set for it other times of the year. Like you were saying before, we lose some of our momentum because I mean, take me, for example, it’s freaking hot out.

The last thing I want to do is sweat outside and then come inside and sweat. Right. We usually let’s go inside for some AC, not jump in a hot box. So I get the hesitation.

I get the loss of momentum. I think it’s something that everyone faces. I think these are really good questions because it’s it’s highly, highly relatable for everyone. There’s no human on the planet that doesn’t struggle with consistency.

It doesn’t matter if it’s, you know, sauna, diet, weightlifting, you know, everything. Right. We’re all kind of in the same boat, just in varying degrees. There is a difference between because you said, you know, you’re sweating outside and then you come inside.

The last thing you want to do is sweat. There is a difference between the sweat that you get outside and the sweat that you get in the sauna. And I think that’s important that we touch on that, because, you know, some people will be like, well, I worked out my garden all day and.

and I’ve sweat all day, I have definitely got a sweat in, but there’s something different about the sauna that makes it to where it’s like, you’re not just sweating, you’re detoxifying. So can you kind of touch on that a little bit? Yeah, it’s just like, I mean, you’ve seen them.

It’s like the YouTube comments that we see all the time for a lot of the videos, like people that have never used infrared sauna specifically before, you know, there’s always comments from them saying, well, I sweat so much in my car, why would I need to spend money just to sweat at home, right?

But it’s kind of like, you know, it’s the naive bliss of not having experienced the difference. So yeah, you just being hot in your car or sweating in that fashion, isn’t going to create the same vasodilation that a far infrared sauna would. So while both may seem like you’re sweating, what’s happening on the inside of your body is completely different.

Well, I shouldn’t say completely different, but the mechanism of heat delivery that’s causing that to happen, only one of them can help you dissolve compounds in your adipose tissue more effectively. You know, just sweating in the heat outside is not gonna do that. That’s the main, yeah, that’s the main benefit.

I mean, a lot of people say, oh, well, it’s just, you know, detoxification. Well, yes, but do you understand why, like what set of conditions is creating that for you? Because if you don’t have any understanding around it, then you have the viewpoint of just sweating in your car will give you the same thing for no money, but it’s not the same.

If someone were to take some actual steps to stay in the routine of using the sauna, because that is a huge part of it, what would you kind of do? What are some tips to keep sauning during summer? And you know, what’s the importance of keeping that routine going?

Yeah, I think a great analogy just to look at it and provide some common sense viewpoint is it’s no different than working out, right? So just like if you don’t work out for three or four months, what’s gonna happen?

And your, your cardio is going to decline your sleep and recovery. The way your body performs is probably not going to be optimal. Sauna is no different when you keep a routine, it builds heat, resilience, cardio adaptation, uh, helps your recovery. It helps your sleep doing all these things.

You can be in high zone one, low zone two, um, without moving. So you can stay in a parasympathetic state also, you know, when you sauna. So, uh, the biggest thing for, you know, understanding that as a sauna is a part of a long-term strategy. You know, I get that the summer pause leads to a loss of momentum.

Like we talked about, like I also saw in your email, if you eat well and you feel great for six to eight months, and then all of a sudden you go into the next quarter of the year and you’re eating trash and you feel like trash, you know, it’s a momentum thing.

So anything that you can do to stick to your schedule, or at least not let it decline to where week over week, you’re, you’re kind of falling off the wagon. I’m sure there’s been a summer where, uh, you’re up in Maine, you’re building something, you know, you fall off the routine of using sauna, um, consistently.

What are some things that have kind of made it to where the summer heat is bearable when you, you know, pairing the sauna with it? Like what, what are some tips that you can do to continue using sauna during the summer, even though it’s a hundred degrees outside, like you said, the last thing you want to do is go inside and then sweat again.

Yeah. I mean, the real truth to that is it’s too, it’s there’s, it’s twofold. For me, like when we were digging a basement and pouring concrete and the storms were coming and we had to run a trash pump to keep the hole from flooding. I just accepted that I’m, I’ve fallen off the wagon and I need to do what I need to do right now.

And as soon as we get through this week or two, I’ll get back on the horse. Um, second thing is I’m in agreeance with your quick tips that you in your email. So using sauna when it’s not around the hottest parts of the day or the times when you’re going to be most, uh, resistant to wanting to get in there.

Early morning sessions, post-sunset sessions. I like to sauna a couple hours before bed. Helps me sleep better. Some people say they get a burst of energy from it and they feel like they wanna go work out and they can’t go to sleep.

That’s not me and that’s not a ton of other people who wear the Oura Ring thing and can see their deep sleep improve with regular sauna use before bed. Now, there’s a couple caveats to that. I don’t agree with the people on social media that say, you know, do your bedtime routine and then jump in the sauna right before bed because it’s gonna take some time for your body to cool down.

And one of the worst things for falling asleep is to be feeling hot and sweaty. Would you agree? Oh, yeah, no, we’re on the same page. I need to be cooled down.

The temperature in the house is cold. Everything’s cold, it’s dark. No, I would not wanna do that. Yeah, and then, you know, if you pair that with cold shower or I don’t know if I’d wanna do a cold plunge but you could do it, you know, in the morning, that could, you know, rapidly assist you in those, like, time frames so that you’re not still holding that high core temperature and laying there in bed staring at the ceiling wondering why you still feel hot and can’t go to bed.

Just for the viewers to have, like, a game plan kind of, let’s do, like, a quick run through on what a morning sauna routine would look like that’s ideal for summer and then an afternoon sauna routine would look like that’s ideal for summer. Like, that I would do personally or that I think- Yeah, yeah, something that you’ve seen that works for you.

I mean, if the morning time isn’t the time that you sauna, then we don’t have to do that. But a routine that’s worked for you because, I mean, you, it’s not like you don’t have a little bit of experience in this, so. I have done it once or twice.

But for me, the only, like, big limitations, early morning or late evening, is around food. So I don’t like to have a super full belly and then go sauna or sweat too much. So ideal routine for me in the morning is to wake up probably-

train, fasted, if I have a time for a quick little workout, and then just go straight into the sauna. The only thing that I have in the morning, I don’t have a pre-workout, I don’t have a shake or anything like that, but I will take some electrolytes right when I wake up.

Get in a quick 20, 25 minute workout, jump straight into the sauna, do shower, then go do kitchen routine, whether if I’m on coffee at the time, it’s drinking coffee, make breakfast, if I’m doing intermittent fasting, no breakfast till lunch. That type of routine works really well for me, where I see people get a little screwed up is when they wake up, sit around, have coffee, then make breakfast, then think that they’re gonna do a workout or do sauna.

I don’t know if it’s really a great natural rhythm. Yeah, you’ve had time to wake up and you don’t feel lethargic and stuff, like sometimes we’re working out at six in the morning and I feel like I’m half asleep, you’ve been there. Yeah. So.

No, that makes sense. Yeah, but the biggest thing is not having a full belly, especially in summertime. You’re lethargic, you’ve already eaten, it’s later in the day, it’s hot out, and now you wanna start your sauna sessions or your workout or something, doesn’t usually go well. Whether it’s right or wrong, I just think it mirrors most people’s experience.

A sequence that works pretty well for the majority of folks. There’s outliers who do it differently, but for me, that works pretty well. And then, like you asked about the evening, it’s kind of the same thing a little bit in reverse. I would generally train and eat before doing nighttime sauna, just because of the timing of the day.

I like to work out, if I’m gonna work out at night, I don’t like to work out too close to bedtime. So if I go to bed at 10, I’ll work out at 5.30, make dinner at 6.30 or 7, go for a 20-minute walk or relax for a little while, and I just haven’t showered yet, right?

Then I’ll jump in the sauna, then I’ll do my shower, then I have time to wind down, then I go to bed. Doing it in reverse is hard for me because I would have.

to do sauna real early in the early evening, and then eat later, and then if I wanna go for a walk after that, especially if it’s summer, then I gotta shower again. If I’m choosing one of the two, I’m doing it in the morning and now that I have my sauna, I will do it in the morning.

You gotta try it at night, dude. Okay, I’ll try it at night. Yeah, like if you have a bedtime at 10, sauna at eight, just sauna for 20 minutes at eight, and just use it as a time to kind of like de-stress from your day. Don’t be taking in iPads or devices where you’re watching something that perks you up.

Use it as a time to like reflect or think about something good, or like use it as your time to where you can kind of like de-stress and watch what happens to the way that you sleep because you falling asleep or you going to bed starts way before you actually getting into bed.

The heat therapy is just one aspect of utilizing sauna for your benefit. A lot of it too is in the way that you use it. If you’re overstimulated and you’re watching Netflix and stuff in the sauna, and you’re just kind of like checked out, that’s fine if that’s your deal.

But for some people, that’s too much for them and it doesn’t really help them initiate their wind down routine. So my opinion for what I’ve gotten good results with in my own life is that I need some type of winding down routine in the evening so that I do sleep better.

And incorporating sauna and heat therapy into that, just timing it correctly really helps me. We get off onto relevant tangents because it’s all intertwined and it’s all interrelated. But bottom line, if you’re talking about sauna in summer, if you’re slathering on sunscreen, you’re swimming in chlorine all summer, the sauna might just be the most important thing you don’t want to quit right now.