•  
  •  
 

Abstract

Sauna bathing is a commonly used tool that induces thermoregulatory physiological responses for recovery and cardiovascular health. Heart rate variability (HRV) is a measure to determine the body’s autonomic nervous system state and is used to assess recovery status. Although sauna exposure has been associated with a favorable HRV response, the effects of sauna bathing following aerobic exercise on post-exercise HRV remains unclear. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of far infrared sauna bathing after aerobic exercise, compared to seated euthermic recovery, on HRV during post-exercise recovery. METHODS: Twenty college students (18-35 yrs) participated in two trials using a randomized crossover design. Each trial consisted of 30 min of cycling on a calibrated cycle ergometer, followed by either 30 min far infrared sauna or 30 min post-exercise euthermic seated recovery. Both trials concluded with an additional 30 min euthermic seated recovery period. Paired t-tests were used to evaluate differences in heart rate root mean of squared sum differences (RMSSD) between sauna and no sauna conditions following aerobic exercise. RESULTS: The results indicated that there was no significant difference in RMSSD between the sauna (M = 2.9730, SD = .95061) and no sauna conditions during exercise (M = 2.7688, SD = 0.7), t(19) = 1.349, p > .05. During the post-exercise seated phase, RMSSD was significantly lower following sauna exposure (M = 4.6864, SD = 2.1) compared to no sauna (M = 17.1113, SD = 9.5), t(19) = -6.160, p < .001. During the recovery phase, RMSSD was significantly lower in the sauna condition (M=19.1085, SD= 11.8) compared to no sauna (M = 37.1003, SD = 26.2), t(19) = -3.669, p = .002. CONCLUSION: The implementation of sauna bathing following aerobic exercise resulted in transient reductions in RMSSD. Significant differences were observed during post-exercise recovery and the additional seated recovery period when compared with the no sauna condition. These findings suggest that sauna bathing may delay autonomic recovery rather than facilitate parasympathetic activity following aerobic exercise.

Download

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.