Sauna Rule #1: Drink plenty of water.

Sauna Rule #1:  Drink plenty of water.

Sauna rules #2-#6, added up, are all less important than sauna rule #1.

This is nothing new.  Saunatimes rambled about this in 2009.  Folks who have taken sauna regularly their whole lives understand Sauna Rule #1.  How much water?  32 oz. (1 liter).

TIPS:

1. Heading to a sauna party?  Drink 32 oz. (1 liter) of water before you head out the door.
2. Partaking in sauna after exercise?  Fill your 32 oz. (1 liter) of water when you’re done exercising.  Drink it, then go in the hot room.
3. Enjoying a sauna at the cabin?  Fill your favorite 32 oz. (1 liter) bottle with water and drink it, then go to sauna.
4. About to hit the health club sauna?  You guessed it.  Fill up that water bottle, AND DRINK IT.

it’s ok to bring your 32 oz. (1 liter) water bottle into the hot room with you for your first sauna round, but be sure it is empty before you are done with your first round (don’t pour drinking water over your head).  Just as with exercise or while at the beach, during a sauna session, if you get behind with staying hydrated you will never catch up.  Call it a day, and remember this rule for next time.

I will put on my tombstone Sauna Rule #1: “drink plenty of water”.

I’ve seen too many folks fuck this up.  Sauna goers who under hydrate are often the same folks who:

• Don’t sweat well in sauna.
• Get lightheaded in sauna.
• Get too hot in the hot room way too quick.
• Get too cold outside way too quick.
• Tell other people that “sauna isn’t for me.”

BONUS:

Drinking plenty of water makes for a better, more fulfilling sauna session.  A hydrated body is oil for the body.  A hydrated body is fuel for the body.  A hydrated body encourages sweat: more sweat and sooner.  When your body is well hydrated in the sauna, you will be able to stretch out more as you feel your muscles expand more fluidly (cough cough).  Your skin pores will open up sooner and better, cleaning your skin naturally.  All those toxins in your body will get the hell out of there quicker, naturally.  Your mind will expand better and you will start to recite phone numbers from your childhood.

This is what we want.

A good sauna meister and a good sauna party host looks out for the fellow sauna bather: “where’s your water bottle?”  The critical time to drink plenty of water is before the sauna bather steps foot into the hot room for the first time.

I will say it one more time:

Get ahead of the game: drink plenty of water.