How often in the steam room?

August 16, 2010 11:11 AM

How often should you use the steam room? I just recently discovered the steam room at my gym and I love it. I'm just wondering how many times a week is healthy to use it? I've been going to the gym 5 or 6 days a week and hitting the steam room every time. Is this okay?
posted by AngryLlama to health & fitness (3 answers total)

Maybe something you should be talking about with your doctor. High blood pressure? Respiratory problems? You might want to limit your duration or frequency then... but otherwise I think you're fine.
posted by sbutler at 11:14 AM on August 16, 2010

What kind of exercise do you get? Heat, especially extreme heat, just exacerbates inflammation in the joints and muscles. You want anti-inflammatory help after a hard workout, to slow down / prevent inflammatory elements going to your muscles and joints. Muscle soreness is caused by inflammation, which also impedes repair. So by going into the sauna, spa, or steam room following a workout in which you're trying to build muscle, you're actually punishing that development, rather than helping it, no matter how good it feels.

Best practice following a workout is a cool/cold shower to slow down inflammation. This is why baseball pitchers ice their arms after games, why catchers ice their knees, why football players sit in ice tubs, all following severe bouts of physical stress.
posted by soss at 1:13 PM on August 16, 2010

Unless you are on psychiatric medication or something else that elevates your body temperature (crack, methamphetamine, other stimulants including high doses of caffeine) or have another medical condition like high blood pressure or something that dysregulates your body's ability to control its temperature, I don't think there's any reason not to do it as often as you like. If you start feeling faint or weird in a bad way, get out.

And I'm not sure that advice on inflammation is accurate-- inflammation is a complex immune response, only some of which is related to temperature. I would check out peer-reviewed data on this; there are lots of sports myths about what helps and what hinders performance and recovery (some promoted by actual doctors) that turn out to be not supported by the data.
posted by Maias at 3:51 PM on August 16, 2010