I hit the hot tub once a week to help loosen my body up after a week of work.
Wish I could go more just don’t have the time.

I was in the hot tub today and a buddy shows up says he never uses the hot tub just the sauna and steam room.
He hopped in for a while and we chatted. I have used a steam room and sauna before I just feel like I am suffocating and really dislike it.

Buddy says he prefers the others. Figure what the heck I’ll give it a go. If my buddy was not in there I would not have lasted 37 seconds before leaving.

I made it about 10 granted this was after being in the hot tub for about 30.

Do you find the sauna and or steam room beneficial? If so what do you feel it helps.

Do you think it can help acclimate one to heat in the long run? If it is 70* I am absolutely roasting if I am doing anything in 70+ degree weather I am soaked in sweat.

I make special vacation trips to Japan just to enjoy "hot tubs" (onsen in Japan - really natural hot spring water that flows into bath / tub like units. Hard to explain - could be small single size to large 30 people size). Temp is almost universally 40C (104F). You can complement w/ dry or steam saunas and/or cold baths.

In the US, I like taking hot baths at home - 40C. I'll stay in for about an hour (the bath cools over time).

I like dry saunas - I'll stay in them for about 30-60 min. But out of manners and habit, I will usually shower before entering. So, that may be different.

I don't care for steam saunas. They feel dirty and breathing can be uncomfortable if they are too hot. I can take the prickly heat but it's not to my preference. Unless perhaps I have some congestion - it may help alleviate.

I generally use for sore muscles and/or to prevent stiffness after exercising. And it's somewhat relaxing until the heat starts to get to you. The steam sauna is not relaxing for me though.

ETA: in the US, I generally don't use saunas in public. Around here, they tend to be somewhat disgusting.

Back pre-apocalypse when I was hitting the gym before it closed due to pending doom of the shutdowns, I used to hit both the sauna and the hot tub after every workout.
The highlight of the workout.

I have been getting in the dry sauna regularly after my workouts for about 4 years now. I try to get in 5 25 minute sessions per week (followed by a cold shower).
I'm 58 years old and I feel great, BP is under good control, my resting heart rate is consistently under 60 bpm, and I almost never get sick.
Difficult to tease out how many of these health benefits are related to regular exercise vs. sauna use, but there seems to be quite a bit of good data supporting the health benefits of regular sauna use. Good luck!

ETA Yes, it took me a while to get up to 25 uninterrupted minutes in the sauna. I think I started with 10 and gradually worked my way up...

Big fan of dry saunas. I will sit in one for 10 mins pre-workout to loosen things up, hit the gym for my workout, then shower and sauna for another 15-20 mins after workout.

I do @ 14 min of stretching in the sauna after I workout. I make sure I drink water beforehand and the heat doesn't bother me. My brother likes to get into the hot tub/Whirlpool instead, but I suspect that the harsh chemicals are a bad thing and try to avoid that stuff.

"Emerging evidence suggests that sauna bathing is linked with several health benefits, including a reduction in the risk of high blood pressure or hypertension [5, 6], stroke [7], neurocognitive diseases [8], and pulmonary diseases [9–11]. "

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6262976/
https://bmcmedicine.biomedcent...86/s12916-018-1198-0