Sauna vs. Cold Plunging
While wellness has been trending exponentially in 2024, the best recovery tactic after an intense workout has also been a topic of debate.
While wellness has been trending exponentially in 2024, the best recovery tactic after an intense workout has also been a topic of debate. There are many beneficial ways to recover, but two have shown to be most prominent this year, Sauna vs. Cold Plunging.
Using a sauna or taking a cold plunge are both forms of hormetic stress. It is “good” stress, like exercise, that has health benefits as your body adapts. These are popular because they maximize muscle recovery and increase blood flow as well as benefit cardiovascular, immune, and mental health.
What is a sauna? A sauna is a room with wood benches and paneling where you sit and undergo heat exposure. Original saunas used wood fires to heat the air. Nowadays, traditional saunas use a conventional electric heater, and infrared saunas use infrared light.
There are many benefits to utilizing a sauna. Some of the most prominent benefits include improving muscle recovery, boosting cardiovascular health, increasing energy levels, as well as just improving overall well-being, such as relieving chronic stress.
What is Cold Plunging? A cold plunge, also known as an ice bath or cold water immersion, refers to immersing yourself in 10 to 15 degrees Celsius (or 50 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit) water for five to 15 minutes. People have practiced cold water immersion since as early as 400 B.C. Hippocrates stated that water therapy at cold temperatures helped relieve fatigue.
Benefits of cold plunging include all of the same as using a sauna, but in addition, improvements in immune strength as well as mental health.
Differences in the two:
Heat vs. Cold Therapy: Both expose you to extreme temperatures, putting your body under hormetic stress. The cold plunge is cold therapy, while the sauna is heat therapy.
Length of Time: A cold plunge can be as short as five minutes and not longer than 15 minutes. Depending on the type of sauna, you stay in from five to up to 30 minutes.
Vasodilation Vs. Vasoconstriction: Sauna bathing increases vasodilation, the relaxing of blood vessels. A cold plunge initially increases vasoconstriction, the constriction of blood vessels. Both can increase blood flow after a few minutes.
Relaxation Vs. Building Mental Toughness: Although sitting in a hot sauna may be uncomfortable for some people, it may be relaxing, and you can stay in and breathe for a while. The cold plunge is not relaxing, but tolerating the cold builds mental toughness. It does cause a release of endorphins, so you may still feel “good” once it’s over.
Sauna and Cold Plunge together? The benefits of each alone are good in themselves, the two together are referred to as contrast therapy. Using the cold plunge and sauna one after the other has shown many benefits in aiding the body in recovery. One study found that using contract therapy allowed its participants to fully recover in just 24-48 hours after usage. It was found that contrast therapy significantly helped combat muscle fatigue and inflammation much more than one by itself.
While both show immense benefits and are both positive improvements in recovery, the bottom line is, the sauna is a more relaxing place to unwind after a workout and the cold plunge is intense and less comfortable, but sends a release of endorphins to boost your mood and build mental toughness over time. Repeated exposure to both extreme temperatures will help your body adapt to that good stress.
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