How Long Should You Stay in the Sauna?

The question of how long you should stay in a sauna is a seemingly simple one. And yet, despite all the hype around saunas, there isn’t a universal, one-size-schvitz-all answer.At this point, we have a ton of peer-reviewed research to back up the benefits of sauna use. Human studies have consistently produced clear evidence of everything from improved cardiovascular fitness to increased production of growth hormone. So, you’d think, the logical thing would be to simply reproduce those study conditions: same duration, same temperature, same result. However, while that may work in the lab, where the goal is to test a specific hypothesis, experts tell GQ it’s not that simple.“People love to be told exactly what protocol to follow,” says Jason Sonners, DC, PhD, a longevity-and-recovery expert leading research at the University of Miami’s department of molecular biology. “They think, in order to get [a specific study’s] result, that’s the exact protocol that they need to follow. I’m not discounting that—I think that’s important for us to better understand the benefits—but at the same time, I’m far more nuanced when it comes to what I recommend to people.”Here’s why you shouldn’t try to replicate studies that you read about online, and how long experts say you should actually aim to spend in the sauna.Aim for the middleThere’s a lot of impressive research that demonstrates just how effective a sauna can potentially be at spurring certain health benefits. Take growth hormone, for example. One Finnish study famously saw growth hormone levels surge an average of 16-fold among participants in just one day. That’s a huge finding, considering growth hormone can, among other things, boost your metabolism and supercharge muscle growth—and we produce less of it as we age.But here’s the thing: Those study participants had to spend an entire hour in the sauna—and not just once, but twice in a single day. “That’s a lot of sauna, and definitely too much for any beginner or probably even intermediate, for that matter,” says Ben Yamuder, MS, CSCS, USAW-1, an exercise physiologist at HSS.The researchers actually put their subjects through that hellish ordeal for seven straight days, which is how they also learned that the effect was diminished with each consecutive exposure. Ultimately, the study authors concluded that, in order to maximize growth hormone production to this extent, a person would have to repeat the two-hour protocol once a week, while also abstaining from sauna use between sessions.But growth hormone isn’t the only reason to use a sauna, and to limit exposure to just once every couple of days would be to miss out on a whole spectrum of equally useful benefits. In fact, a 2017 study published in the European Journal of Epidemiology found an inverse relationship between frequent sauna use and inflammation, with subjects who reported four-to-seven exposures per week exhibiting the lowest blood levels of C-reactive protein—a common marker of systemic inflammation. Moreover, a 2019 study found sauna use to have the same effect on cardiovascular fitness as moderate exercise.The point being, with so many potential benefits to gain from sauna use, it doesn’t make sense to chase one at the expense of others, especially when experts agree that landing somewhere in the middle will likely get you a bit of everything.Listen to your bodyOne of the reasons why Dr. Sonners cautions against re-creating specific sauna protocols is that everybody has a different heat tolerance, and, when it comes to spending time in the sauna, more is not always better.“If you’re pushing really hard, because you read that you need to be in there for 40 minutes, and that’s putting a lot of stress on you and exceeding what your body is willing to tolerate, you could actually be doing more harm than good,” he says. “If you’re exceeding that level of tolerance, you’re probably irritating your nervous system. You’re not necessarily improving your cardiovascular system or getting the anti-inflammatory response, because you’re creating too high of a stressor.”Dr. Sonners likens sauna use to weightlifting. "Whether we’re talking about the cardiovascular, energy, or neurological benefits, it goes back to the concept of hormesis,” he says—the scientific term for what happens when you subject your cells and tissues to stressors, causing them to rebuild stronger.While one person’s muscle-building workout might involve bench-pressing 200 pounds for five reps, we don’t say that in order to build muscle everyone needs to follow that protocol. The weight and volume that you need to lift in order to build muscle is completely dependent on what you’re able to handle, and the same applies to the sauna. “A sauna is stressing the body through temperature regulation, and a lot of the benefits of sauna have to do with teaching your body how to regulate,” Dr. Sonners says.As with building muscle, sauna gains are all about consistency and incremental progress. “Being consistent is the biggest thing,” says Christopher T. Minson, PhD, a professor of human physiology at the University of Oregon. “You’re not going to get any benefit whatsoever from doing one-offs here and there in the sauna. Find what works for you, and what you’re going to want to keep doing.”Pace yourselfTo make the most of the sauna’s benefits, Yamuder recommends building up to at least 60 minutes total per week—split up into sessions that work for your current tolerance. “If you’re a beginner, you really only need to start with about five to 10 minutes per session, anywhere from three to five times per week,” he says. “Once you are a little bit more adapted, after four weeks or so, you could start going for 10 to 20 minutes, based on how you feel, three to seven times per week.”“The science has kind of shown that you want to go over 10 minutes in any session,” says Dr. Minson, who notes that more seasoned sauna users should ideally aim to hit 30 minutes—either straight or separated into more manageable intervals. "It could be broken up into two 15-minute sessions with a break in between, or maybe a 20-minute session and a 10-minute session,” he says. “Someone who’s newer to this could even do three 10-minute sessions, where you go in for 10 minutes, get to where you feel fairly hot, come out for five minutes, take a cool shower or just sit down and cool off for a little bit, and then go back in.”“At the end of the day, it really comes down to what you can handle,” says Yamuder. “If you start feeling dizzy, you should leave the sauna for sure. But if you have a mild or moderate level of discomfort—where you start to have that little internal argument, like, Should I stay a few more minutes or not?—I think you should probably try to stay five-to-10 minutes after that.”As for the optimal sauna temperature, research trials seem to favor 80 degrees Celsius, which converts to 176 degrees Fahrenheit. “I really want it over 170,” says Dr. Minson. “I actually usually say 180 to 190. I think those are ideal temperatures.” Of course, as with duration, temperature can be built up over time. “A beginner could be somewhere around 120 to 160 to start,” says Dr. Sonners. “If you’re just getting into using the sauna, I wouldn’t jump into a really hot, long, and very frequent protocol. I would start with lower temperatures, shorter sessions, and a slightly lower frequency.”