I tried looking but couldn’t find anything with my case. If so, feel free to merge/close.
Been enjoying the conversations around heat training mostly with sauna protocols to help with gains and acclimate with altitude. My question: For someone who already lives at 10K’ and does all training at that altitude and higher; should I continue/look into the sauna protocols or would it not matter?
I took at this prior to posting and will (if I am able to) hit the sauna after a 3-4 hour ride.
I usually hit the sauna for 20-30ish minutes a couple times a week to help prepare (mostly mentally) for racing in the heat and also because I enjoy that time.
Is this something I can continue to do or do we feel it could be adding unwanted stress? I am pretty strategic on the days I hit the sauna to not interfere with my hard interval days.
If you enjoy it and aren’t feeling overly fatigued, I’d say continue on with what you’re doing.
I feel like I’ve heard that combining altitude and heat training isn’t necessarily redundant, so again, if you’re not suffering through the sauna, I’d keep it up.
Thanks, @eddie. That was what I was trying to get at: is it redundant or not. The sauna sessions (to me) are enjoyable, but I am ensuring I’m not suffering while in there and have been following what Jonathon as been doing. Appreciate it!
I’m currently doing heat training at home in my home sauna. I did it before, a couple of years ago using an actual gym sauna and I definitely benefitted and had noticeably lower HR for a given power output. If I were you I would absolutely, do it.
My questions to you are you following a protocol? Are you seeing any performance benefits?
Given that you live and train at altitude I would consider that your baseline, the same as being at sea level. I think it would be very easy to see if any benefits on the bike were gained after a couple of weeks of implementing the sauna as long as you’re getting enough exposure for the desired effects.
I don’t think living at 10,000 ft means the sauna stops being useful. The altitude and the heat are stressing your body in different ways so if you are using the sauna to prepare for hot races, I’d probably keep doing it.
It also sounds like you’re already being smart about it by saving the sauna for easier or longer ride days instead of after hard interval sessions. That’s pretty much how I’d approach it too.
Personally, I’d just pay attention to recovery. If you’re still hitting your power targets, sleeping well, and not feeling overly drained, then it doesn’t sound like it’s adding too much stress. If those things start slipping, maybe back off the sauna sessions a bit.
Curious to hear if anyone here lives at high altitude and has noticed a difference either way.
To me - this is because you enjoy it, not for the physiological benefits.
To get the benefit from Sauna, it’s uncomfortable as hell by the end as you’re targeting raising your body core temp into the 101-102 F range. For me in my cheapo amazon sauna with an aux heater, if I’m not pre-heated with a fans off / sweatshirt sweatpants workout, I’m looking at ~35 minutes to hit that range for me on the low end. Maybe longer.
You also want to target ~10-12 sauna sessions over a 2 week period to “bake in” the initial acclimation.
With that said, if you do it, I think it does help.
