steady

Body · Recovery and fuel

Sauna, if you have one nearby

Fifteen to twenty minutes at around 80°C. Two or three times a week showed some of the effect, four or more the most. Water before and after. Out at the first sign of dizziness.

20 min, 2–7x a weekEvidence: decent

Two thousand Finnish men were followed for twenty years. The ones who used a sauna four to seven times a week had about half the rate of heart death of the once-a-weekers, and forty per cent fewer deaths from any cause. Two or three times a week got roughly half that. Evidence: decent

That's a link in a country where nearly everyone has a sauna, not a trial, so some of it may be that healthier, less stressed men sauna more. The heat itself does things that look like exercise: heart rate up, vessels open, blood pressure lower afterwards. Evidence: decent

If you have heart disease, recent chest pain, or uncontrolled blood pressure, ask a doctor first. Alcohol and sauna don't mix.

Source: Laukkanen et al., 2015, JAMA Internal Medicine (2,315 Finnish men, 20 years); Laukkanen et al., 2018, Journal of Human Hypertension (102 people, one session, no control group; doi 10.1038/s41371-017-0008-z) (link)

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