I just joined LA fitness and it is gorgeous!!!

does a sauna or steam room offer any benefits for health or the muscles?

How long should I stay in? can I do both one after the other? if so in which order?

thanks

The heat will ease any pain and loosen you up. The steam can help open your sinuses and pores. The sauna will dry up any acne one would have, dry out your sinuses if you're snotty. I think the wet heat is better for your muscles than the dry is.

As for my choice of sauna or steam room. I hate both. I'd rather be in the cold. I already have fire in my veins, I don't need to be in a hot room.

I normally go from sauna to steam room then to the spa pool.
By the time I get out I actually feel relaxed.

I go sauna to steam room to shower.

Sauna gets the sweat going, steamroom gets the pores open, and shower cleans that **** out, and a cold rinse closes it back up.

However, some advice:

Never spend more than 15 minutes in the sauna or steamroom at a time.

NEVER LIE DOWN IN A SAUNA OR STEAMROOM. You could pass out because the bloodflow would drain out of your head when you sat up. I learned about this from an article on "How to have sex in public places", and it advocated "sitting-up" positions only for sauna or steamroom.

Wear a fucking towel. I don't care if they're old, wrinkly balls or young shiny-smooth ones, I don't wanna see em.

Make sure you're hydrated.

I dont think I could tolerate 15 minutes in either

and they are both in the mens locker room so I wont be having sex in them but thanks for the tip

This is a month old thread and my question is not actually on-topic, but I just gotta know, dudemanboy: how hot are the saunas in the US? I'm asking because I've run across some pretty lame excuses for a sauna all over Europe so I'm curious. I'm half-Finnish and half-Russian and that makes for a fairly authentic breeding sauna-wise.

This is a month old thread and my question is not actually on-topic, but I just gotta know, dudemanboy: how hot are the saunas in the US? I'm asking because I've run across some pretty lame excuses for a sauna all over Europe so I'm curious. I'm half-Finnish and half-Russian and that makes for a fairly authentic breeding sauna-wise.

Do you think that all saunas in the US are set to one particular temperature?

Well they aren't.

Yes, of course I think that. How incredibly astute of you.

Now that you've given an idiotic answer perhaps you could try answering something along the lines of "well, at our gym...".

Actually, this is a YEAR old thread. It's 2006 last time I checked.

That WAS astute. Apologies. Too much heat up here. Melts the brain.

Now that I've apologized for the thread necromancy (honest mistake) could somebody please answer my question? I'll rephrase it even:

"What temperature are the saunas at your gym/whatever?"

the temperature in my gym is HOT HOT HOT with a 100% chance of passion

It's not an idiotic answer. The US has over two hundred and ninety five MILLION people most of which have little idea of what a true Finnish sauna is. They don't even pronounce it correctly. It's "sownaa" not "sawna".

Most Americans can't take the heat of a true sauna and they won't let you put water on the stones.
Many times patrons will turn the heat down since the thermostats are usually accessable.

I could go on about the people reading the newspaper in the sauna and other irritating crap but whatever.

Now that I've apologized for the thread necromancy (honest mistake) could somebody please answer my question? I'll rephrase it even:

"What temperature are the saunas at your gym/whatever?"

My grandmother was pure Finn and our own (home) sauna was always around 212 F (100 C).

I have been in clubs where it was as cold as 125 F.

Saunas are a great way to cleanse your body of toxins. But, as already noted, don't stay in for more than 15 minutes at a time, You can damage your internal organs.

I enjoy the steam room at my gym after swimming. I then shower off after the steam room. I know of no evidence that steam rooms increase the rate of recovery, rid the muscles of lactic acid or other byproducts. If you had a hard session at the gym I would not reccomend finishing off with a sauna or steam room because you should re-hydrate after a session.