Y saunas?

[HotelMinion]

So I had to quit being a cook becuase tif those nasty vegetables onionscoughonions and because my trainer was a bfh. (Bitch from hell) I swear GMs pick that nastiest attituded people to trains the noobs. Anyway I quickly got another job at a gym again. I figure it'll be ok, since I'm in school to be a fitness teacher. Might as well get my foot in the door right
Sooo...one thing that I've noticed is that the ladies use a lot of the sauna. I don't know what the exact temperature our sauna is (it only has one) but it is Hot. I can stand it for more than a few minutes before feeling I'm going to pass out. But these ladies, some old, some young, they're in there for average of 20 min!
So I was curious, and looked up the benefits of saunas. The interwebs said that it helps with stress and flushing out toxins thru sweating. Ok. Ok. I can see how they would want that. But wouldn't a shower or a bath do the same thing?? Plus, they would wipe the sweat off. I don't know about others but sweating is gross and it makes my skin break out if I don't wash it off right away.
So if you like to use saunas, why not just take a hot bath instead? Just wondering...

[Shyla]

The women believe that the sauna helps them lose weight. This is a popular fad. I don't believe that scientifically you lose much.

[Chromatix]

The sauna originated in Finland (in fact the word "sauna" is probably the only Finnish word widely recognised in the English-speaking world). So I should probably explain how to take sauna properly from the Finnish perspective.

A true sauna is indeed extremely hot - the air becomes a mixture of air and steam. You're not supposed to be able to withstand it for more than a few minutes at a time - if you can, it's not hot enough. When you've had enough, you come out and cool down (ideally by diving into the nearest lake), then go back in again. Internationally, though, most saunas are merely "warm rooms" by Finnish standards. The air around the high benches is hotter than further down, so you can choose how intense you want the experience to be.

Like a Japanese bath, a sauna is kept clean by dint of its users being clean *before* entering. There is a washroom (usually with showers) closely associated with every sauna for this reason. If you don't feel like diving into a half-frozen lake to cool down, the showers are also an acceptable alternative. Typically, there are seat-cloths to put on the benches unless everyone wears a towel. And, when you've entirely finished with the sauna, you wash the sweat off before getting dressed.

Traditionally, saunas were used for childbirth and surgery, simply because they were the one place in a rural village that could be counted on to be clean. The Finnish Army also sets up a portable sauna as almost the first part of every camp; it's a good way to keep parasites off the troops in either a swampy or tropical environment - Finland itself has a lot of the former, not so much of the latter.

And traditionally, sauna is taken in the nude, one gender at a time. However, wearing a towel is accepted especially in a public sauna.

[jedimaster91]

So if you like to use saunas, why not just take a hot bath instead? Just wondering...

I went to a sauna when I was in Vegas. There's no way I could have gotten that much steam in my bathroom at home. It was really nice, too, cuz I had a cold at the time and a few minutes in the sauna really helped.

[Seshat]

Some body toxins are removed via the sweat glands, so it is actually good for you to do a certain amount of sweating in the course of your week. Removing the sweat is also a good idea.

Saunas are more effective at causing sweat than baths or showers, because in a proper sauna the temperature is higher than one can stand for a bath or shower.

I'm not sure if there's any medical difference between exercise-induced sweat and heat-induced sweat.


As for places like Finland, I can imagine that saunas provide yet another purpose for the community: they're a place where a hypothermic person can be brought up to proper temperature. (Assuming the sauna starts from cold - bringing a hypothermic person straight into a hot sauna would be thermal shock.)

[WishfulSpirit]

Either that or just someplace to get out of the damn Finland cold. I don't do saunas much but I found them super relaxing the few times I have. Steam roomd are lovely too.

[notalwaysright]

I've only been in one a couple times, though I think it was a real sauna. Long story, but my step dad had one built and I'm pretty sure that the heating element was from Finland. And no, I couldn't stay in for very long at all, but afterward my skin cleared up. So although it's not something I would say I enjoyed, I could absolutely see the benefits of it.

[dalesys]

...you come out and cool down (ideally by diving into the nearest lake)...

Several re-heat cycles may be necessary to melt through the ice...

[Sunshine]

My aunt took me to one when I was younger. I'm not a fan of sweating but I could see the health benefits with the removal of toxins. I'd rather get a massage or go to a Jacuzzi

[Sliceanddice]

The interwebs said that it helps with stress and flushing out toxins thru sweating. Ok. Ok. I can see how they would want that. But wouldn't a shower or a bath do the same thing?? Plus, they would wipe the sweat off.

Actually after sweating for a bit in a clean moisture filled room your sweat becomes less acidic and more closer to water chemically. Technically if you sweat in a sauna for those 20 minutes and then just scrub your body with something like a loufa you would be clean, but you might not be comfortable based on your own cleaniness standards.

[Lovecats]

The women believe that the sauna helps them lose weight. This is a popular fad. I don't believe that scientifically you lose much.

If that was the case those 5 yrs that I worked at that dry cleaners should have had some effect on my losing weight. Whatever the outside temp was just add 20 degrees F for the inside temp and the humidity was horrible in there. I should have looked positively anorexic at the end. I did lose 30 lbs when I worked there but only because I cut down on what I ate and exercised regularly. However, I have found that 30 lbs again (or it found me).

[HotelMinion]

The sauna originated in Finland (in fact the word "sauna" is probably the only Finnish word widely recognised in the English-speaking world). So I should probably explain how to take sauna properly from the Finnish perspective.

A true sauna is indeed extremely hot - the air becomes a mixture of air and steam. You're not supposed to be able to withstand it for more than a few minutes at a time - if you can, it's not hot enough. When you've had enough, you come out and cool down (ideally by diving into the nearest lake), then go back in again. Internationally, though, most saunas are merely "warm rooms" by Finnish standards. The air around the high benches is hotter than further down, so you can choose how intense you want the experience to be.

Like a Japanese bath, a sauna is kept clean by dint of its users being clean *before* entering. There is a washroom (usually with showers) closely associated with every sauna for this reason. If you don't feel like diving into a half-frozen lake to cool down, the showers are also an acceptable alternative. Typically, there are seat-cloths to put on the benches unless everyone wears a towel. And, when you've entirely finished with the sauna, you wash the sweat off before getting dressed.

Traditionally, saunas were used for childbirth and surgery, simply because they were the one place in a rural village that could be counted on to be clean. The Finnish Army also sets up a portable sauna as almost the first part of every camp; it's a good way to keep parasites off the troops in either a swampy or tropical environment - Finland itself has a lot of the former, not so much of the latter.

And traditionally, sauna is taken in the nude, one gender at a time. However, wearing a towel is accepted especially in a public sauna.

Interesting thanks for the background. And here I thought saunas were created to simulate hell and heretics were thrown in there in the Middle Ages.
I rather take nice warm bath. The way the water wraps around you like a blanket. So much better. I could die happy there. Everytime I go to clean our saunas, the dry heat hits me like a smack. I gulp and the air dries my insides out. Yuck. The rules state, No a More Than 15 min or You Will Experience Death. But I've seen ladies take friggin naps in there! Are they mad or just plain insane?? :/

[Chromatix]

Honestly, I would prefer a bathtub myself - but just try finding one in Finland!

It's really not supposed to be a dry heat - that's the point of the air being full of steam. The extremely high humidity is part of what makes the heat feel so intense, and is an essential part of the "löyly" atmosphere, as Finns describe it. (NB: the word for the steam itself is "höyry".)

The true Finnish sauna is essentially a wood-lined room with a stove in the corner, a special type of stove with stones piled on top. The stones absorb and retain enough heat to flash small amounts of water thrown on top instantly into steam. The stove alone provides dry heat, while the steam provides the humidity. This act of throwing water on the stones is typically missing from the "warm room" type of international sauna.

[Kheldarson]

The true Finnish sauna is essentially a wood-lined room with a stove in the corner, a special type of stove with stones piled on top. The stones absorb and retain enough heat to flash small amounts of water thrown on top instantly into steam. The stove alone provides dry heat, while the steam provides the humidity. This act of throwing water on the stones is typically missing from the "warm room" type of international sauna.

We had a true sauna at my school. It was great for after pool practice. We never got it up to true temperatures, but we were really in there to relax the muscles from doing pool runs.

[BearLeeBadenaugh]

A sauna is one of the things on my want list. I plan on building one later this summer, after we move.

I've also been searching for years for a bathtub that I can actually fit in. I really should snap a picture sometime. If I want to do the "movie bathtub pose" where the tops of your shoulders are submerged I pretty much have to lay down and stick my legs straight up in the air. Can either fit my lower half, or my upper half.