‘I’m a sauna expert – here’s how to heat your way to better health’

Step aside ice baths, momicah parsons jersey asu jersey custom made football jerseys 49ers jersey custom made football jerseys florida state football jersey florida state football jersey OSU Jerseys Iowa State Football Uniforms College Football Jerseys Florida state seminars jerseys Ohio State Team Jersey asu jersey detroit lions jersey custom made football jerseys ve over cold water swimming, the mercury is rising thanks to a new wellbeing trend involving the latest in high-tech heat therapies.

From pop-up community saunas to infrared blankets and heated skin-toning gadgets, hotting things up not only encourages our bodies to release toxins, but it can help tackle everything from aches and pains to water retention and arthritis too.

And the best news? Heat therapies are designed to relax you and provide that all-important endorphin boost – without the need to plunge into freezing water.

Yet according to Katie Bracher, vice-chairperson at the British Sauna Society (@saunamasteruk on Instagram), many of us aren’t aware of the long-term health benefits of regular heat therapy.

“High heat environments like saunas can lead to increased heart rate and widen the blood vessels, similar to the effects of moderate exercise. This can help improve cardiovascular health,” she says.

“Heat also helps relieve muscular tension and pain, promoting relaxation and reducing stress levels.”

It’s time to get hot in here. Here’s how to heat things up…

You no longer need a gym or spa membership to use a sauna. Thanks to the British Sauna Society, mobile community saunas are now popping up in coastal locations around the UK – everywhere from Shetland to Swanage. In fact, community saunas have become so popular, they’re doubling in number, year on year.

“We now have over 50 saunas around the UK coastline and many more in the pipeline, making saunas more accessible than ever before,” says Katie.

If you’re unsure how to get the most from a community sauna, Katie says: “Aim to put your body through heating and cooling cycles to really feel the benefits. Start with three cycles of 10-15 minutes, leaving 10-15 minutes to cool down between each.

“Eat a snack afterwards, something salty and sweet to replenish what you’ve sweated out. Drink plenty of water before and after too.”

Find your nearest public sauna at britishsaunasociety.org.uk

If you’re not keen on getting seriously sweaty, the latest high-tech saunas use infrared technology to encourage heat to penetrate deep within the body rather than making you outwardly perspire.

Dr Matthew Calcasola, chief medical officer at wellbeing and diagnostics company Get A Drip (getadrip.com), who have recently started offering infrared sauna treatments, says: “An infrared sauna is great for improving circulation, reducing inflammation, lowering blood pressure and can even help increase metabolism.

“After a workout, it can help decrease muscle soreness by as much as 47 per cent within just 24 hours, because infrared heat encourages blood vessels to open, promoting muscle relaxation and delivering nutrients to tired muscles. Yet it’s possible you might not even start sweating until the end.”

If you’re new to infrared, Dr Calcasola recommends starting with one 20-minute session a week, then building up to three or four times a week, for up to 45 minutes.

Heat therapy can also have complexion rejuvenating and skin-toning benefits. Magnitone’s new Face Rocket device, £149 (magnitone.co.uk), is a hand-held gadget that you can use at home, which uses radiofrequency technology to heat both the skin’s surface and deeper skin layers to 42 degrees.

The result? A tightening effect that’s clinically proven to improve skin firmness by 29 per cent. This spells great news if you suffer from jowls or skin laxity around the jawline and cheeks.

If you suffer from nasal congestion or skin conditions like blocked pores, wet heat therapy in a steam room might help. Katie says: “Steam rooms aren’t as hot as saunas so don’t have the same intense heat effects on the body as dry heat, instead they work more on a surface level, helping to encourage pores to open. Steam rooms that feature aromatherapy can work to decongest the lungs and nose and can promote relaxation too.”

You can reap the benefits at home too by gently steaming your face over a bowl of piping hot water. Simply place your face over the bowl, and pop a towel over your head and neck to trap the steam.

For the ultimate in convenience, sauna blankets let you reap the benefits of infrared heat therapy without leaving the house.

“Sauna blankets have quickly become one of our top-selling products over the past 12 months due to the increased popularity of at-home heat therapy,” says Katie Mant, co-founder of wellness company Bon Charge.

“Because sauna blankets directly heat the body, rather than the air around you like a traditional sauna, you can reach a sweat very quickly, so it’s a great time saver. Stepping into one helps to boost circulation and can help release excess water weight. Spending time in the blanket helps muscles to relax and the body to unwind too, which can aid better sleep.”

Try the Bon Charge Sauna Blanket, £549 (uk.boncharge.com).

Exercising in a hot environment might seem counterintuitive, but combining a workout with heat therapy can help improve muscle and joint flexibility.

Hot yoga for example, where a yoga class is taught in a heated room, is a great way to work up a sweat and improve flexibility.

“You get some of the benefits of heat exposure, but it’s not quite the same intense heat you’d experience in a sauna,” explains Katie.

If you’re keen to try a hot workout but are wondering how you’ll cope in the heat, Triyoga offers infrared hot yoga classes in studios heated between 30 to 38 degrees, so you can find a heat level that’s comfortable for you.

Visit triyoga.co.uk for more information.

Prefer winding down to working out? Heat-therapy massages, which use hot tools such as lava stones, shells or ceramic pods are a great place to start.

They are designed to apply a source of gentle, localised but direct heat to specific areas to loosen and relax knotted, tired muscles and tense shoulders. Techniques like Akawaterra massage use different-sized heated ceramic pods to deliver continuous heat and pressure to your muscles during your treatment. They can be used on the face too to release jaw tension.

Visit treatwell.co.uk to find a local hot stone massage, or snap up the DIY Pamper Me Hot Stone Massage Kit, £6 (Hobbycraft) to have a go at home.