Sauna Is Legal Doping and Most Runners Have No Idea

[00:00:00] There’s a training tool that bumps your VO2 max up Three points when you combine it with your running. It builds blood plasma volume the same way altitude training does without moving to the Colorado Rockies or sleeping in an altitude tent in your bedroom. And it triggers your body to produce EPO, the same hormone that Lance Armstrong was injecting illegally for years, except your body makes it naturally.

[00:00:24] And almost no runner I know is doing this. I’m gonna show you the exact sauna protocol that I’ve been using for the last 10 years that’s been giving me crazy run gains, three issues with sauna that runners don’t know about when they start, the live longer and better bonus that makes this way more than a performance tool, and a free cheat sheet and start right now sauna guide.

[00:00:44] I’m Daren, certified run coach and runner of almost 30 years. And in those 30 years, I figured out I actually love running in hot, humid, middle of summer weather. While everyone else is complaining and melting into the asphalt, I see basically everyone out there, including you, Brenton. Some of that’s just who I am, but mostly I’m gonna say it’s because I’ve been doing the sauna thing consistently for the last 10 years.

[00:01:04] And in that time I’ve been trying to preach to runners the benefits of this, and they ignore it completely while chasing gear and supplements that I’m gonna say do a fraction of what this sauna thing actually does. So how does sitting in a hot room actually make you faster? So your kidneys are producing EPO right now endogenously.

[00:01:22] Not much, but every time you push hard in serious heat, that number climbs. And when EPO goes up, your body makes more red blood cells, and more red blood cells means more oxygen getting to your legs and your whole body and your muscles, et cetera, when it actually matters. Lance Armstrong, if you remember him, uh, was injecting synthetic EPO exogenously for years to get exactly that effect, and that was illegal.

[00:01:45] You can trigger a similar response by sitting in a very hot room until things get uncomfortable, and also sitting in a hot bath. But this is not about hot baths. That is an episode for another day. We’re gonna talk about sauna in here. And that’s not recovery. That’s actual training. When your core temperature climbs in a dry traditional style sauna

[00:02:03] I’ll talk about the other styles of saunas and how effective they are very, very shortly. But yeah, when your core temp goes up, your body starts producing more blood plasma volume on top of all that EPO also, which again, is more blood pushing to your muscles, which will then be a lower perceived effort at the same speed.

[00:02:19] That’s the same adaptation that altitude training is trying to get, just without the two to three-week trip living at the top of a mountain or sleeping in an altitude tent in your bedroom for 10 to 12 hours a day. And yes, to get the benefits of that tent, you actually have to stay in there for 10 to 12 hours straight at a time.

[00:02:35] So sauna is just an easier way. A 2007 study published in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport took competitive male runners and had them do 30-minute sauna sessions right after their workouts. After three weeks, the runners’ run time to exhaustion went up 32% with a 7% bump in blood plasma volume.

[00:02:53] That’s a serious number. 32% is, is ridiculous. That’s the difference between hitting your goal time and standing at the finish line doing the math on what went wrong. Now you know- why sauna makes you a faster runner. But what does the actual protocol look like to do all this? So I’ve given you what to actually do for free with my sauna cheat sheet that comes with 16 other race day hacks that I’ve tested on myself, I’ve researched and talked to other experts about.

[00:03:18] I’ll go into detail in the next 20 seconds on what you actually do in the sauna, but since this is a lot of info and theory, I just want you to take this away with you and practice it for yourself. I even have a hack in there if you don’t have access to a sauna, but you have a bath in your house. You can use that as a little bridge to start sauna-ing without actually sauna-ing.

[00:03:36] Scan the QR code here or hit the link below in the description if you’re watching or listening somewhere else that’s not YouTube. So here’s how to get the benefits from the sauna. Get in after your workout, any workout, easy run preferably when you first start, not before, because you’re already warm, sweaty, and dehydrated and that’s exactly the state that kicks off a lot of these adaptations.

[00:03:58] Start with five to seven minutes twice a week after an easy run. Yes, I know, five to seven minutes. We wanna gradually build up a few minutes every week until you can get to 15 to 20 minutes because a lot of people, they don’t like being hot and I’ll talk about Being hot and all that stuff in a second, but you need to build up, and you can.

[00:04:15] And it actually only takes four to six weeks to get to 20 minutes, which is the ideal number. And then if you could do three and four times a week, that’s amazing, but I understand people got time, et cetera. I am very fortunate to have a sauna literally right next to my gym, which is right next to my house, so I am overdosing on it, uh, literally, figuratively, metaphorically, et cetera.

[00:04:34] You don’t need to be a hero in there and pass out, though. Back to the sauna. I’ve done that. Uh, I didn’t pass out, but I got real dizzy and lightheaded, and the risk is not worth the reward. And, like, it took me a couple hours to recover after. Like, it’s not worth it. You just need to be consistent, and you need to kinda suffer a tiny bit, just a little bit.

[00:04:51] It’s gonna be uncomfortable. Not the worst suffering you’ve ever had. Yes, just like 1% better each week runner would do, consistency, behavior, habits, showing up, et cetera, 80%, 90%. Oh, another thing is to start at the bottom of the sauna if there are levels in the sauna, so there’s benches, and work your way up.

[00:05:08] It gets hotter and more humid the higher you are and the further away from the rocks you are in the sauna. That’s like pro level, 10 out of 10. So give yourself one to two months before you go there. And if you want, you can also buy one of those wool sauna hats. I’ll show you in a second. So this here.

[00:05:23] And it looks pretty cool. Uh, and it also protects your head from frying. Because your head is close to the top of the sauna, that’s actually the hottest part. Your brain actually panics, thinks it’s on fire, and makes you get out before your core temperature gets hot enough. Okay, so three things to remember before you start getting hot and sweaty.

[00:05:42] Number one is know thyself, as Drake said. I don’t know if Drake is cool. Can I quote Drake? You need to be able to tolerate heat. Some people hate heat and love the cold. Others love heat and hate the cold. That’s me. And if you truly hate the heat, try just five to seven minutes in a proper Finnish dry sauna and see how much you actually hate it.

[00:06:01] Some people actually end up liking it once they’re in. There’s a guy that I know, that I coach, Brenton, he hates being hot, but he actually likes the sauna, so eh. Again, you might just still hate it though, but it’s worth trying it. Give it three or four weeks. Try it twice a week at least, and then you can say, “I hate this thing.”

[00:06:16] This is real though, and there are other ways of improving your VO2 max without hating your life and huffing and puffing and breathing. Issue two, dehydration is very real, especially for runners that are running three, four, five, 10 times a week. You’re going in already depleted from training. Load up on electrolytes.

[00:06:31] So not just water, electrolytes. Sodium, a lot of that, so just salt if you can, salt tablets, pills, whatever. Um, and then make sure you get your magnesium, potassium, and all the other stuff. Do that the night before, do that before your workout, and then make sure you do it after your workout. And if you can, even, uh, if you’re doing a lot of sessions later in the day.

[00:06:49] Not just plain water. Again, water alone after a hard session can actually make things worse because it flushes out the salt you just lost. You wanna sip on water or an electrolyte blend or a carb electrolyte mix, that’s actually ideal, when you get out of the 20 minutes. Do not chug that whole liter, which is a quart-ish, uh, the minute you open the door.

[00:07:09] Slow hydration is the trick here. That’s why we’re starting out slow, so it should feel really easy and like, “Oh, I didn’t really do anything.” You should break a sweat. Issue three, don’t go in fasted after a long run. I’ve done this. It’s rough. So, uh, you can do a fasted run. That’s fine. I don’t really recommend it with new runners and if you’re doing long, but let’s say you like fasted runs.

[00:07:31] Make sure you eat a bunch of carbs and a little bit of protein if possible towards the middle or end of your run if you know you’re gonna use the sauna, and then get in. Your body needs something in the tank or you’ll do more damage than good. Again, the return on investment once you start really going into the suffer state is not worth it.

[00:07:46] That’s the basic protocol. All right, so what do you do when you’re in the sauna? Just chill out. Zone out and be mindful or meditate. You could stretch gently, self-massage, especially if this is after a run. It’s a great time to do it. Lots to do though if sitting still isn’t your thing. Just don’t take a phone in and scroll because it will overheat and it’ll just shut off.

[00:08:08] This is your one chance in the day to sit still and think. Use it. So if a hot room can do all that, why do most runners still skip it? One word, they’re confused, because not all saunas are built the same. All right, so now I gotta talk about infrared and steam saunas. Place I go to, the recovery center, a lot of people like the infrared.

[00:08:26] They go, “Oh, infrared’s better for me. You know, da, da, da.” I’m like, “Eh.” Honestly, and this is my opinion, I feel like infrared sauna’s like sitting next to a space heater set on polite. I’ve tried it and I, I do not rate it. The temperature barely scratches 70 degrees Celsius, 160 Fahrenheit, on a good day, and the evidence for the performance claims is razor-thin, small.

[00:08:47] I know people swear by them, and fair enough, do it, but I came there to actually sweat, like, properly sweat. I have seen some study, I, I don’t even know if it was legit, that’s why I’m not even putting it up here, but I saw something like you need to do an hour to an hour 15 minutes straight in that because it heats from the inside out like a microwave and ugh.

[00:09:05] But again, you need to just properly get hot and sweat, the kind where you lost track of whether five minutes have passed or 20 and the wooden bench under you is covered in pools of water. Hopefully your sweat as the liquid. That’s when adaptations happen, when you’re uncomfortable. Just a little bit. Not too much uncomfortable, just a little bit.

[00:09:22] VO2 max intervals, they aren’t comfortable. Strength training isn’t comfortable. Hill sprints, they’re not comfortable. A real sauna isn’t supposed to be comfortable either. Hard life now, easy life later. That’s how this whole universe and physics and the whole energy balance works. Steam saunas, I think they trick you a bit.

[00:09:41] While I do like steam because it does feel hot, high humidity raises the dew point and makes lower temperatures feel extremely hot on your body and your brain. If your body’s freaking out and your brain’s hot and your head’s hot, then yeah, you will actually feel like it’s hot. Steam saunas only get to about 60 degrees Celsius, 140 degrees Fahrenheit, before the steam will legit burn your skin and you actually can’t stay in there.

[00:10:02] It’s the same problem as infrared. You’re feeling hot doesn’t mean your core temperature is actually rising, and you can’t stay in the steam that long because you’ll get burned. From all my research, you just need a traditional Finnish dry sauna. That’s 80 to 90 degrees Celsius, which is roughly 175 to 195 degrees Fahrenheit.

[00:10:19] If it’s not making you question your choices within about 10 to 12 minutes, I don’t think it’s hot enough. Don’t have a sauna at your gym or close to you? A 2025 study had trained runners do 45 minutes in 104 degrees Fahrenheit, that’s 40 degrees Celsius, hot bath five times a week right after their run.

[00:10:37] Their VO2 max went up 4% in five weeks. So if you can’t get to a sauna, you can actually fill your bathtub in your house instead, and it’s kinda free. But there’s one more angle that a lot of runners ask about once they start adding heat. What happens when you combine sauna with cold? So I love doing hot and cold contrast therapy cycling after hard sessions.

[00:10:59] It’s one of the best things I’ve added for my brain and my mood and my body. I get this body like euphoric buzz. It’s, it’s similar like being on drugs, to be honest. I don’t do drugs, uh, I don’t drink anymore, and it’s like the closest thing for me. So my best protocol that I’ve been using is this. This is my personal one.

[00:11:14] Feel free to remix it, adapt it, et cetera. One day a week I’ll spend about 40 to 50 minutes in the sauna total, but I break it up into intervals. So I’ll do the first session 20 minutes hot, then I take a two to three minute break outside. I just sit. I don’t go in the cold plunge yet. I don’t take any shower.

[00:11:30] I might take a warm shower just to kind of wash off the sweat. But back into the sauna. I’m trying to keep my core temperature up. After that break, I go right back into the hot finish dry sauna for 10 to 12 minutes. The break was to keep my core temperature up, but I also didn’t want to be in there for 30 to 40 minutes ’cause it’s too much for me, or however much more my body can handle since my core temperature is staying elevated.

[00:11:52] All right. So then after that 10 to 12 second session, I have two to three minute break in the normal temperature outside the sauna. I might walk around, sit, I might get something to eat, sip on some water, electrolyte carb mix. And then I try to do another five to seven minutes in the sauna. It’s my third hot round, or as long as I can handle.

[00:12:07] At this point, I am quite fatigued, and I actually do this as its own session. This is not after a run. And then I get into the cold plunge for two to three minutes, so as cold as I possibly can. But then I go back into the hot after the cold two to three minute plunge for about five to 10 minutes. And this will take usually about 50, 60 minutes.

[00:12:25] And something happens in that transition that honestly just clears everything. My head is sharper, my body, it feels light. I get this like amazing euphoric body buzz. And if I haven’t done it in a few days or a week or two It’s like doing a drug for the first time. Don’t recommend doing drugs, people. So is this actually helping my performance though?

[00:12:44] I don’t know yet. There’s a real question about whether the cold plunge after raising your core temperature is partially undoing the heat adaptation. That’s why I have one day a week where I try to do hot, hot, hot, then cold, then hot so that I’m like compounding all of the core temperature rising in the heat just to kind of offset me doing the contrast therapy.

[00:13:02] I haven’t found clean research either way. Maybe one day they’ll do a study on the benefits of contrast therapy for runners or just people in general, general population. I might not do VO2 max sessions for a couple weeks, and I feel like I’m getting unfit. I go to do a VO2 max session if I’ve been doing consistent sauna, and I still feel sharp.

[00:13:19] So comment if you want it or watch this one until the end to tell the algo to show it to more runners. So that’s the performance side. Here’s the part that has nothing to do with race times and everything to do with living a longer and better life. This is where sauna combined with running gets properly interesting.

[00:13:34] There’s a Finnish cohort study published in JAMA Internal Medicine back in 2015. It tracked over 2,300 middle-aged men for an average of 20 years. This is a good study. People who use the sauna four to seven times a week were around 40% less likely to die from any cause during the study compared to people who only went once a week.

[00:13:54] Rhonda Patrick, Andrew Huberman, whole bunch of other people all did deep dives on this data and landed on the same protocol. 20 minutes multiple times per week, dry heat only, the Finnish type, not the infrared, not the steam. That’s the same protocol that raises your VO2 max. So you’re doing one thing and cashing out twice, faster running and a longer life from the same 20 minutes of sitting in a hot room.

[00:14:16] Most performance tools will cost you something down the line, some extra load, some fatigue to manage. Most longevity tools don’t touch your race times. Sauna is the rare thing that pays you both ways. And one kind of asterisk here, the longevity data is observational. Correlation is not causation, which just means that Finnish people who sauna four to seven times a week probably have other healthy habits going on too, and they’re privileged, and Finland is in Scandinavia, and the quality of life is nicer and higher, and everyone’s happier.

[00:14:48] So other things could be relating to why they live longer, not just the sauna. All right, go and get that sauna cheat sheet for new sauna folks. You’ll also get 17 other hacks that will make you 17% better for your next race. So yes, 17 one percent better hacks, 17% total. You’ll get signed up automatically for my free email course, six lessons, five minutes each, six days in a row, uh, right in your inbox.

[00:15:11] You don’t gotta do anything. And then one email a week until I die, hopefully of natural causes, or you unsubscribe, whichever comes first. Everything I know about getting 1% better each day, week, month, year, and a whole bunch of mental stuff and habits, it’s all baked in there. But the biggest hack isn’t the sauna.

[00:15:26] It’s clicking the next episode on the 17 race day hacks to get you 17% better for your next race day. Video’s below if you’re on YouTube, or the link in description if you’re somewhere else. Peace.