After a good sauna session, you might notice your heart pounding and sweat pouring off your body – feelings similar to a light workout. This has led many to wonder: can spending time in a sauna replace exercise, or at least mimic some of the benefits of a workout? The answer is yes and no.
Saunas do cause physiological changes akin to moderate exercise, but they don’t work your muscles or burn as many calories as a full workout. Let’s break down the similarities and differences.
What Happens to Your Body in a Sauna
In a hot sauna, your body’s core temperature rises. To avoid overheating, your heart rate increases to pump blood towards the skin (to dissipate heat) and you start sweating buckets.
These responses are very much like what happens during aerobic exercise. In fact, studies show that heart rate and blood pressure during a sauna session can resemble the response to brisk physical activity.
For example, a person’s heart rate might climb into the 120–150 beats per minute range in a sauna, which is similar to what happens during light-to-moderate cardio exercise. Blood flow to the skin surges, and in some people, their heart is pumping almost as much blood as it would on a brisk walk.
This “passive cardio” effect is why regular sauna use has been linked to improved cardiovascular health. Your heart is a muscle, and giving it a frequent gentle workout (without the mechanical stress of movement) can be beneficial. Over time, sauna bathing can help lower blood pressure and improve the function of blood vessels, much like exercise does. One scientific review even noted that the cardiovascular strain in a sauna corresponds to about the same as a short, moderate-intensity exercise bout.
Moreover, saunas trigger the release of certain hormones and cellular responses that are also seen during exercise. For instance, heat stress from saunas can increase growth hormone levels temporarily and activate heat shock proteins, which aid in muscle recovery and metabolic health.
What Saunas Don’t Do
Despite these similarities, sauna sessions are not a replacement for exercise. Importantly, sitting in a sauna doesn’t significantly engage your muscles. You’re not building strength or endurance in the same way as going for a run or lifting weights. The calorie burn is also lower.
While you do burn some extra calories in a sauna (because your body is working to cool itself), it’s roughly equivalent to a slow walk. As noted earlier, maybe a few hundred calories at most for a long sauna session. Compare that to a proper workout, where you could burn 2–3 times more in the same duration, depending on intensity.
Also, exercise has unique benefits for coordination, bone health, and mental health (through the release of endorphins and the sense of accomplishment) that a passive activity like sauna bathing can’t fully provide. For example, weight-bearing exercise strengthens bones and improves balance – a sauna won’t do that.
In short, while a sauna makes your cardiovascular system act “as if” you were exercising to some degree, it’s missing the muscular and aerobic training components.
The Sauna-Exercise Combo
Rather than choosing one over the other, why not use both? Many fitness enthusiasts use the sauna as a complement to their workouts. After exercise, a sauna session can further boost circulation and relax muscles. Interestingly, research suggests that very fit people (high cardiorespiratory fitness) and also use saunas frequently have the lowest risk of heart disease and death – possibly because fitness and sauna bathing together have a synergistic effect on health outcomes.
For individuals who cannot exercise due to injury or certain health conditions, sauna therapy offers a gentle alternative to get some cardiovascular benefits. Doctors have noted that heat therapy could be a useful stand-in for light exercise for those who are physically unable to exercise. It won’t build muscle or endurance, but it can help keep the heart and blood vessels in shape to an extent.
Final Thoughts
So, do sauna sessions mimic a workout? They mimic some aspects – mainly the cardiovascular and sweating part – but not others. Think of a sauna as “exercise-lite.” It’s a great way to relax and give your heart a healthy stimulus. However, for full fitness, you’ll still want to move your body through activities like walking, running, cycling, or strength training.
For Australians in particular, using a sauna might even feel like a familiar experience – after all, our summers can be sweltering, and just being outside on a hot day gets the heart pumping too! But jokes aside, incorporate the sauna wisely: enjoy it after a gym session to unwind or on rest days for a bit of passive conditioning.
You’ll get the best of both worlds by combining regular exercise with regular saunas. Your heart will be happier, and so will you, as you soak in the heat knowing it’s doing some good for your body.
If you're looking to bring that recovery experience home, check out our full range of saunas here.
References
Ketelhut, S., & Ketelhut, R. G. (2019). The blood pressure and heart rate during sauna bath correspond to cardiac responses during submaximal dynamic exercise. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 44, 218–222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2019.05.002 Wikipedia+15PubMed+15ScienceDirect+15
Laukkanen, J. A., Lipponen, J., Kunutsor, S. K., Zaccardi, F., Araújo, C. G. S., Mäkikallio, T. H., Khan, H., Willeit, P., & Lee, E. (2019). Recovery from sauna bathing favorably modulates cardiac autonomic nervous system. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 45, 190–197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2019.06.011 PubMed
Mayo Clinic Proceedings Review. (2022). Sauna bathing in northern Sweden: results from the MONICA study. International Journal of Circumpolar Health.
Mayo Clinic Proceedings authors. (2023). Cardiovascular and Other Health Benefits of Sauna Bathing. Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Describes heart rate rising into the 120–150 bpm range during sauna, similar to moderate exercise.
Patrick, R. P., & Johnson, T. L. (2021). Sauna use as a lifestyle practice to extend healthspan. Experimental Gerontology, 154, 111509. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exger.2021.111509 PubMed+15ScienceDirect+15Stanford Center on Longevity+15
Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine Review Authors. (2025). Sauna use as a novel management approach for cardiovascular… Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine, 0(0), Article 1537194. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcvm.2025.1537194
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Heat Acclimation for Athletes: Can Sauna Sessions Boost Performance?