How does sauna improve the recovery for a professional athlete? In an exclusive interview with Helo, Finnish 100 meter hurdles Nooralotta Neziri tells about how sauna helps achieve her goals!
For a professional athlete, recovery is A and O. Research have found that sauna decreases muscle soreness and boosts recovery. For Nooralotta, sauna is an important routine that she can't live without. She uses her Helo sauna on a weekly basis and when we ask her about how it helps her in her training, she sees a lot of benefits with a post workout sauna session:
"Sauna helps me alot in every phase of my season. During base training it really eases my muscles and reduces the aches that hard training gives me. It’s really one of the most important recovery tool every week!” - Nooralotta Neziri
Nooralotta is currently recovering from a leg injury, and Helo is happy to provide her with the best sauna experience to speed up the recovery process. Saunas have been shown to cause an increase in blood flow, which is one of the main benefits of using them for injury recovery. It can help to increase blood flow to the injured area, which can minimize swelling, relieve pain and promote healing.
Except from being a peaceful oasis of calm and a break from reality, regular sauna use have shown to lower the levels of cortisol (stress hormone) in the body. For Nooralotta, that's crucial for her mental recovery:
"During the competition season sauna also plays an important role for recovery. During competition season I travel alot and in addition to physically stress I also have more stress in general because competing stresses the mind more. So after almost every competition when I get home, I go to sauna to make myself ready for the next one!" - Nooralotta Neziri
Research have shown that a sauna session can have dramatic effects on sleeping patterns. By raising your body temperature in the sauna just before it is time to go to bed, your heated body will automatically work to readjust its temperature afterwards. It is this cooling-down and normalising after the sauna bath that helps improve your sleep. When asking Nooralotta about how sauna helps her improve her sleep, she answers:
"I feel that sauna improves my sleep because I feel so relaxed after sauna. We all know that sleep is one of the most important thing not only for athletes but for everyone!" - Nooralotta Neziri
Finnish 100-meter hurdler Nooralotta Neziri (NoLo), has reached the semifinals in the World Championships and the Olympics, as well as the finals in the European Indoor Championships. In her home Helo have installed a unique combination of traditional and IR sauna, which she uses every week. See her Helo sauna here!