Here’s the short version. The infrared sauna benefits with solid evidence behind them are faster recovery after hard training, a healthier heart and circulation, short-term relief from sore, stiff joints, and a very reliable way to switch off. Better sleep, fewer colds and what comes out in your sweat are all possible, but the evidence is thinner. Fat loss is marketing. For most healthy adults, an infrared sauna is a pleasant, low-risk habit. It’s not a treatment for anything on its own.
We get asked about the sauna most weeks at 5EW in Fitzroy North, so here’s how we’d explain it. Claims sorted into three piles (solid, promising and oversold), infrared versus traditional, how long and how hot, and who should check with a GP first.
What an infrared sauna is and how it differs from a traditional sauna
A traditional Finnish sauna heats the air, usually to 70 to 100 degrees Celsius, and the hot air heats you. An infrared sauna works the other way round. Panels give off infrared light that warms your skin and the tissue just under it, so the air can stay much cooler. The biggest review of sauna research we’ve seen, from RMIT in Melbourne, puts typical infrared cabins at 45 to 60 degrees.
Far infrared (FIR) is the band of infrared closest to the heat you can feel on your skin. Your body absorbs it and turns it into warmth. That’s why you can sweat buckets in a far infrared sauna at a temperature that would feel mild in a traditional one.
The practical difference is comfort. Cooler air means longer sessions feel easier and you can breathe without effort. Whether that changes the health effects is a harder question. Nobody’s run a proper head-to-head.
Infrared sauna benefits with the strongest evidence
One thing to know up front: most sauna research is on traditional Finnish sauna, and a lot of it is in men.
Recovery after training
The best infrared-specific recovery study is small, but it’s the right kind of small. In one infrared study, active men sat in a far infrared sauna for 30 minutes after strength and endurance sessions. Their jump performance bounced back faster after the endurance session, and they found infrared more comfortable than a traditional sauna.
Call it promising rather than proven. It matches what we see on the floor. A sauna after a hard conditioning session tends to leave people feeling looser the next day.
Heart and circulation
Heat pushes your heart rate up and opens your blood vessels. A review from the Mayo Clinic described the response as similar to moderate exercise.
The headline number everyone quotes is Finnish. A study that followed middle-aged men for about 20 years found that the ones who used a sauna 4 to 7 times a week had a 40% lower risk of dying over that period than the once-a-weekers. Worth knowing: that was a traditional sauna, men only, and it can’t prove the sauna did it.
Pain and stiffness
A small pilot study put people with rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis through 8 infrared sessions over 4 weeks. Pain and stiffness eased during and after the sessions, and nobody got worse. No long-term follow-up, so we can’t say it changes the disease. For stiff, sore joints, the short-term relief is real and low risk.
Relaxation and stress
Relaxation is the benefit almost everyone reports and the hardest one to measure. The big Melbourne review above found most studies reported benefit, with side effects rare and mild. The evidence rests more on people saying they feel better than on hard outcomes. That’s fine. Feeling better is the point.
Infrared sauna health benefits with weaker or indirect evidence
Sleep
Sauna gets sold as a sleep aid. The research that exists is on warm baths and showers, not saunas. A review of warm bath studies found that heating up 1 to 2 hours before bed shortened the time to fall asleep by about 10 minutes. The mechanism (warm up, then cool down) should carry over to a sauna. Nobody’s tested it directly, so treat it as a reasonable guess.
Immune and respiratory health
Regular sauna users in Finland seem to pick up fewer chest infections, but that’s the same men-only, traditional-sauna data, and there’s no infrared study on immunity we’d point you to. If you feel like you get fewer colds, that matches what regular users report. The infrared-specific data just isn’t there yet.
What comes out in your sweat
You sweat a lot in an infrared sauna, and some of what your body is carrying comes out with it. Sweat carries traces of heavy metals like lead and mercury, and small studies have found BPA and phthalates in sweat too, sometimes when they’re not showing up in blood or urine. There’s separate Finnish work linking frequent sauna use with lower systemic inflammation.
Worth knowing what that does and doesn’t mean. The sweat studies are small, they come from one research group, and none of them followed anyone’s health afterwards. Your liver and kidneys still do the bulk of the work. Sweat is a secondary route, not the main one. So: a real effect, a modest one, and not a reason to sit in the heat longer than feels good.
The one claim that doesn’t hold up: weight loss
Does an infrared sauna help with weight loss? Not in any way that matters. The kilo you drop on the scales after a session is water, and it’s back by dinner. You burn a bit more than you would on the couch, but nobody has shown fat loss from sauna alone. The people who lose fat while using a sauna are also training, eating well and sleeping.
Infrared sauna vs traditional sauna
| Infrared sauna | Traditional Finnish sauna | |
|---|---|---|
| Air temperature | 45 to 60 degrees | 70 to 100 degrees |
| Humidity | Low and dry | Dry, with bursts of steam when water hits the stones |
| How the heat reaches you | Infrared light warms the body directly | Hot air warms the skin |
| Typical session | 20 to 40 minutes | 10 to 20 minutes per round |
| Comfort | Gentler, easier to breathe | Intense, more sweat per minute |
| Evidence base | Small studies on recovery, blood pressure and pain | Long-term Finnish population data, mostly in men |
Temperatures are the typical ranges from the review linked above. Session lengths are common practice, not trial results. Whichever one you’ll actually turn up to is the one that’ll do you good.
How long, how hot and how often
Start at 10 to 15 minutes and build. Most people settle at 20 to 30 minutes in an infrared sauna. That’s coaching practice, not a study result. On frequency, 2 to 4 sessions a week is realistic and enough to feel a difference. The Finnish men who did best went more often than that, but they also live in Finland.
We run our infrared sauna at 55 to 65 degrees in 30-minute bookings. For the full breakdown, including what to do around a workout, read our guide to how long you should stay in a sauna.
Who should be careful
Sauna is safe for most healthy adults. Never use one after drinking. Drink water before and after. Get out the moment you feel dizzy, sick or your heart’s racing.
Check with your GP first if you have a heart condition, uncontrolled high blood pressure, are pregnant, or have had recent surgery. Some medications change how you handle heat. If you’re unsure, ask.
How we do it at 5EW
Our sauna is a FAR infrared sauna in a private room at 79 Queens Parade, Fitzroy North. It runs at 55 to 65 degrees Celsius and is booked in 30-minute sessions. You don’t need to be a member to book it.
Our protocol is simple: hydrate before, sit or lie back, shower and rehydrate after. If you want to pair heat with cold, the cold tub sits in the same recovery zone and runs at 6 degrees. We cover order and timing in our guide to sauna and ice bath contrast therapy.
Read more about the infrared sauna at 5EW or book a session directly.
Frequently asked questions
Is an infrared sauna good for you every day?
For most healthy adults, yes, as long as you keep sessions moderate and drink enough water. The Finnish men with the best outcomes included daily users, though that was traditional sauna and men only. If you feel drained rather than refreshed, drop back to 3 or 4 sessions a week. Skip it when you’re unwell, dehydrated or have been drinking.
Does an infrared sauna burn calories?
A little. Your heart rate and blood flow rise in the heat, in a way that’s been compared to moderate exercise. That costs energy, but far less than a brisk walk of the same length, and nobody’s shown meaningful fat loss from sauna alone. Treat the sauna as recovery, not a workout.
Infrared sauna vs steam room: which is better?
Different tools. A steam room runs cooler than a traditional sauna but at very high humidity, so sweat can’t evaporate and you feel hotter than the number suggests. An infrared sauna is dry and heats your body directly at a lower air temperature. For sore muscles and a long, comfortable sit, infrared is usually the easier pick.
How long should you sit in an infrared sauna?
Most people do well at 20 to 30 minutes once they’re used to it, starting at 10 to 15 and building over a few weeks. At our 55 to 65 degrees, 30 minutes is a full session, and more time isn’t more benefit. Our guide to how long you should stay in a sauna covers beginners, frequency and timing around training.
Should I use the sauna before or after a workout?
After. That’s where the recovery evidence sits, and in the infrared study above jump performance recovered faster after a post-training session. Before a workout, heat leaves you a bit dehydrated and tired, the opposite of what you want under a barbell. If you like the warmth first, keep it to 10 minutes and drink water.
If you want to know how an infrared sauna feels for you, try one session and notice how you recover over the next day or two. Our sauna in Fitzroy North is open to members and non-members alike, and you can book a sauna session whenever it suits.
Written by the coaching team at 5th Element Wellness in Fitzroy North. Meet the coaches.
