Whatever your motivation is to sweat, getting started and being in the right mindset isn’t as easy as it sounds.
Imagine it’s a peaceful Sunday afternoon, you’re sitting down on your living room couch watching TV, when all of a sudden your phone unexpectedly starts vibrating.
You never get random calls like this on a Sunday. “Is it an emergency? Is my family ok? What’s going on?”
You look over at your phone to see what’s happening. It wasn’t a call, it was your “Gym Time” alarm set for 2pm. Phew!
Just as you’re about to get off the couch to get a workout in, you get sucked back down into its everlasting comfort, causing you to turn off your phone and pretend like your gym reminder never went off.
You argue back and forth with your motivation about getting your workout in or sitting comfortably on your couch, until you finally decide to head to the gym.
“AHH…okay, I’ll go” you say.
This decision causes a rush of motivation to hit you like an electricity volt to the Energizer Bunny. You bounce up, hop over to your room, snatch your gym bag, and head to the gym.
We all know the “after workout” feeling is so good, but what about how difficult it can be to get there? Getting to that “sweat stage” is by far the biggest struggle in finding the motivation to workout. So why wait to be almost half done with your workout to get to the feel-good, motivating stage.
Wouldn’t you rather START your workout with blood pumping, heart rate slightly up, sweat dripping, and body feeling warm? Why not reach that point by jumping in an infrared sauna first? Not only are you reaching the sweat stage faster, meaning you’re reaching your motivation sooner, but you’re providing more benefits to your body than any workout alone.
Infrared saunas, specifically the ones from Sunlighten, stimulate metabolism and improve fat burning for energy; increase your core body temperature to increase calorie burn; help to eliminate toxins that cause fat storage; and produces an increase in blood flow that mirrors the benefits of a passive cardio workout.
It also penetrates joints and improves flexibility. Far infrared is known to help with muscle soreness, and near infrared helps with tissue regeneration to help repair and grow muscles faster.
All these benefits before you even pick up a weight or break into a jog!
While some may use their Sunlighten sauna after their workout to relax and further detox, I prefer to jumpstart my workout by sweating sooner, and here’s why.
Eight years ago, when I started sitting in saunas before my workouts, I had no clue it would drastically improve my health and fitness like it has.
A world class physical therapist said, “When you recover from exercise, your heart rate should come back down to normal. Sitting in a sauna for more than five minutes is going to keep your heart rate up—it’s essentially a form of passive exercise—so it’s really going to delay your body from starting its recovery process.”
After hearing that and having experienced the benefit of getting in the sauna before my workout – experiencing the clarity and motivation it’s given me to get my workout in – I know the positive impact it has.
Here are just some of the ways my Sunlighten sauna has benefited me:
- Improved my skin health
- Leveled up my workout intensity
- Sharpened my mindset
- Made my body feel better
- And so much more
Enough about me though, I want to share with you my pre-workout sauna routine that gets me motivated to sweat before I’ve even started my workout.
Get in the sauna 15 minutes before a workout.
Warm-up #1 Breath work (3-point breath) nasal only!
- 15 second inhale
- 15 second hold
- 15 second exhale
- X 4 rounds
Warm-up #2 Wrist mobility
- 1 minute Flexor stretch
- 1 minute Extensor stretch
Warm-up #3 Ankle mobility
- 10 internal rotation
- 10 external rotation
- 10 plantar flexion
- 10 eversion
- 10 inversion
Warm-up #4 Neck mobility
- 12 Rotation clockwise
- 12 rotation counterclockwise
- 1-minute neck flexion hold
It’s simple, effective, and gets me in the right mindset to actually WORKOUT. It instantly gets me right into the sweat stage. I love it!
If you haven’t been taking full advantage of your sauna, or one your gym has, then I fully recommend adding Sunlighten Sauna sessions into your pre-workout routine. It’s a game changer!
I’ll leave you with this awesome inspirational quote below.
“If you’re not sweating, then you’re not working out!”
