Burn FAT in a SAUNA? | Calories tested versus doing regular cardio

How many calories can you burn by using a sauna and is it enough to help you burn fat? The makers of some sauna products say you burn plenty but I wanted to test that out.
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[@Lazy_Jay_Racing]

I am happy to know that after over 25 years of running and racing, I can retire and not pile on the weight, by simply sleeping in a big sweaty bag! 😂😂😂👍 I'm new to your channel and already loving the sensible mentality with your brilliant sense of humour included 😁👍👏

[@cianmacken5475]

Wrist activity trackers are not only inaccurate measures of calorie expedature, but are also inaccurate with respect to one activity to the next. Case and point - your supposed calories expendature in the Sauna

[@Jaxyboy2006]

After following the big boys like greg doucette will tennyson remington james who have helped me lose 4 stone in weight i love it when i see an upload from you mark you guys arent full of bullsh*t like alot of youtubers! Really enjoy your personality and information as someone who also enjoys cycling and fitness! Keep up the good work you definitely deserve alot more subs!

[@Jaxyboy2006]

@@MarkLewisfitness Thanks! Im hoping to get on zwift in the near future! Cycling to work an hour a day has helped massively with my cardio as well as making better choices with my diet!

[@marlonsantana21]

Thank you for that, That was exactly what I was looking for. You seem to be a Very nice guy, I hope you the best. The calorie spent in the sauna is almost the same as sitting on a couch, It's just the metabolic regular basis expenditure.

[@random55555]

I love the sauna and have experimented for years about the weight loss potential. My findings were similar to yours. Yes I can eventually get into zone 3 HR, but the effects on my weight loss were negligible. I found that I’m much better off biking, running, or hitting the stair master if I am trying to lose weight. Now I view the sauna as a relaxing and beneficial post workout routine, but don’t look at it as a way to burn a bunch of calories. Great content, and it seems to match my the experiences I have had as well. Great work!

[@LyellWalker]

Maybe the question is being posed wrong. It shouldn't be cardio vs sauna but more like cardio AND sauna. If you can combine them both in a weekly routine you'll see very good results.

[@cianmacken5475]

Your findings make sense, a wrist calorie tracker is using hr as its primary metric, and the sauna is raising your heart rate by putting your body under enormous stress, not due to the need to circulate oxygen more rapidly as you use stored energy.

[@hotwheels1838]

​@cianmacken5475 if your heart rate is rising.....of course you're burning calories. I've been in zone 3 as well sitting in a hot sauna.

[@nosforatu101]

My partner was slightly disappointed that we didn't get a second falling over vid. Great vid. Love your sense of humour. Keep up being above average. :-)

[@JuanRojo-bv7jm]

Thanks for your video. I like that you experiment and measure yourself. There are plenty of video explaining the benefit, yet very few that do actually test and measure the impact. Take care.

[@antsmands]

Love my sauna! I usually do 45 to 60 min @54-60C not for calorie lose but more so to passively extend my workouts! Great information!

[@MarkLewisfitness]

i love it for that - just bolts on a muscle cool down while maintaining cardio work load to any hard session!

[@noggintube]

Good video. These things prey on people's laziness or desperation unfortunately. There's no quick fixes, it needs motivation for how much food goes in the body and how much activity burns it off.

[@RunAllTheMiles]

I've got a sauna, I use it for 20 minutes, never thought of using it for weight loss, an hour in the thing is definitely not worth any size piece of cake lol, I've been for a 3 hour run up mountains this morning in the lake district, much more fun than a sauna, interesting video 😀👍

[@RunAllTheMiles]

@@MarkLewisfitness yeah was great weather for it, I set off early so apart from a few wild campers I had the place to myself for a couple of hours 👍

[@kennyquinnell6650]

Interesting topic Mark, love the idea of a Sauna in the garden!

[@maximeguerin5017]

Thanks for Sharing, I am currently in the process of optimizing my Calorie Expenditure. I love data and I am very active , i use the same watch as you. I agree completely with your result and got the same with my home dry infrared, hence i dont use it much anymore unless i have a good movie to watch but it takes one hour to be worth it calorie wise and its not fun unless i thrive for heat. Anyway I want to mention, I use 3 times a week a Steam Hammam Sauna, and its another story completely in 15 min , my heart rate goes to 140 on first session then I jump in cold water and walk around until my HR goes down to 120 and hop back in the steam sauna. Second wave my HR goes up to 160 in 10 minuts. (Im 48 so its close to my treshold). I keep going like this for 50 minut and I burn 500 Calories, with the afterburn of my shower etc routine I get around 600 Calorie for 1 hrs. If I remove my resting metabolism its a net 520 Cal per hour. I think your video should be named (Infrared Dry Sauna) as its another animal than Steam Sauna completely.

[@pizzathehut2001]

Thanks mic in t shirt made a huge difference, love the fact that it claims infrared removed radiation but infrared is radiation,

[@MarkLewisfitness]

Its special radiation😂😂😂

[@FifthKnowledge]

Thanks much for the scientific research! Some sauna makers claim 600 to 800 calories in 30 minutes! Saunas do seem to be good for healing and pain relief, but more than 200 calories each time, I never believed it based on my own weight reduction.

[@SherpaDave]

Yeah... you got me with the rowing machine joke at the end. Nice.

[@markwildphotography]

“I own a sauna” you’re such a snob 😂 Been watching loads of your videos man, quality content 🙌🏼

[@markpowell5116]

My wife is constantly asking me to stop taking the gym equipment to bed!

[@WhenWillILearn]

Even the massage gun...

[@paulmorrison30]

Another top class video 👊🏾

[@GetOnEmTV]

Very well done 👏 ✔️ 👍

[@kevinfinke6927]

The biggest bit of inspiration that I got from this video is to figure out how to go running with cake!

[@hikerJohn]

My Polar & Strava say I (weighing 205) burned 2000 kcal in 2hrs Run/Walking 8 miles with 1400ft of elevation gain/loss. If I do 20 miles only walking it has me burning 4800 in 6-1/4 hrs. Some web based calorie estimators that don't count HR only weight, time, distance and elevation has it about 20% lower than that. So I dont know if it's that much but it seems consistent between my weight and your numbers at your weight. But sweating in a sauna is TRICKING the system via the HR monitor into "thinking" you are active and burning calories so I'm certain the calories are much lower than recorded. Still . . . I hear that heat (all heat in infrared) is good for mitochondria remodeling (out with the old - in with the new) according to Dr. Rhonda Patrick and a few others on KZbin.

[@MeriaDuck]

What a load of poppycock in the infrared sauna marketing. I do enjoy our sauna for similar reasons and just enjoyment of heat without clothes while keeping the rest of the house relatively cool.

[@richardbaldwin7055]

Can you do a video on what athletic gear you bring on holiday?

[@aleksandratrzcionka8973]

I wonder if the numbers change if you add cooling sessions in between (I mean straight into a pool of ice cold water). Will the shock cause more energy expenditure?

[@robjones2613]

Great vid 👍What activity is your garmin on? What type of heat source does your sauna use? Thanks

[@MarkLewisfitness]

I use the "yoga" session - it doesnt matter to the metrics much beyond what it displays on screen at the time (heart, cal, respiration rate, time)

[@richardbaldwin7055]

Have you considered adding a cold Plunge pool? Some people swear by it.

[@Jeff-rx4de]

I'm sorry but I'm going to push back on comments in this video. I would like to see you track your calories at a rested room temperature for 60 minutes, then do the infrared sauna for 60 minutes and then do a Finnish sauna for 60 minutes. You say you will not burn a significant amount of calories in a sauna. If you burn 40 calories sitting at rest for 60 minutes and you burn 486 calories in a sauna I would say that's pretty significant.

[@hotwheels1838]

Absolutely 💯

[@IronHosch]

Hulk alone is a easy thumb up! ;)

[@peterbradbury4620]

Hi Mark. I’m just like that guy on the advert “I never really enjoyed the gym, only went for the steam room and sauna”. Really missed it during lock down and been thinking of getting one for the home to add to my newly pimped pain cave. What model have you got?

[@MarkLewisfitness]

Clearlight - not cheap, but VERY good

[@hakes98]

Man, listening to foreigners talk about sauna is absolutely nuts. Sauna is for enchanced cleaning, relaxation and if you're so inclined, recovery and stretching. Burning calories or spending 4 minutes in a 65°c sauna to burn calories sounds absolutely delusional.

[@MarkLewisfitness]

In the UK a huge number of saunas and especially sauna blankets are sold on the basis of calorie burn. Ridiculous

[@tomwright9904]

We can appropriate your cultural practices for weight loss if we like... though perhaps we shouldn't call it sauna. I'd 35 minutes in a sauna uses 10 percent extra calories a day and so pushes someone inti weight loss we shouldn't lie about the possibility . But the numbers should be accurate

[@christianmarriott2983]

I appreciate this does not fit in with the core message of the video - but which sauna did you buy - and do you recommend it? - Kitchen Aid stuff is working a treat by the way.

[@Rachaelshaw7]

What does your sauna do to your body battery?

[@SherpaDave]

Was Rocky IV really better than Rocky?

[@iamgoliath225]

Good info

[@danbradbury4067]

Love your videos

[@TGTD100]

I wonder if Nixon is suffering from a salt deficiency... 😂

[@MarkLewisfitness]

He's just weird😆

[@cheeesehh]

Are the garmins OK in the sauna? I usually leave mine out

[@cheeesehh]

@@MarkLewisfitness 😂 good to know. Might risk it on April 12th 😂

[@airtime0007]

Can I ask what temp yours goes up to? I’ve got a Saunamed infared (cheaper version of the clear light) which tops out at 65c. I always have it jacked for 35 minutes. Whilst I do sweat, it never seems that strenuous. I’m starting to wonder if it’s working right based on that video. I’m not some super human either. On your average 30c summer day I go all Victorian lady

[@airtime0007]

@@MarkLewisfitness my understanding is the benefit comes from the output of the panels rather than the ambient temp. The panels cycle on and off once the air temp reaches 65. So I switch on, get in at 50, set the temp to 65 and then the temp builds whilst I’m in it. This way the panels are continuously outputting whilst I’m in it. That’s my theory anyway.

[@airtime0007]

@@MarkLewisfitness so, yes air temp is displayed. There is a temp sensing probe that extends down from the ceiling

[@airtime0007]

@@MarkLewisfitness Yep. That’s the max temp.It takes longer to get there at this time of year compared to the summer. Funnily enough I’ll have to check, but I’m sure when I bought it it said max temp 60c but the controller goes to 65 and air temp reaches it.

[@tomwright9904]

I mean a 10ish percent increase in calorie usage while sitting your house seems okay...

[@kevinyang367]

Maybe I missed it, but wouldn't we catch a cold sleeping in the sauna blanket. Sweating all night, dehydrated, hot as hell, sleeping in a pool of your own bacteria?

[@AB-qx3pf]

TRT AND a stand alone Sauna?!! But no coffee? :-0

[@jc171177]

The Incredible Nixon lol

[@cliffclermont]

"....oil from the rowing machine on the sheets..." I hate when that happens. Nice video. So much pseudo-science in sports/nutrition.

[@dskordo]

Now I want cake. Grrrr. ;)

[@theoz-swede7975]

You should have checked calories burnt just sitting on the couch...

[@grichad8458]

A stupid and radom question Mark.. Is sauna heat bad for hair loss?

[@grichad8458]

@@MarkLewisfitness love your sense of humour 👍

[@Timjacks01]

Everyone loves a sweaty sack 👌🏻🤣

[@BleuNoirProductions]

Oil on the sheets is a small trade-off though, think of the additional calories burned in the ensuing fight with your partner! Great video otherwise. 🥵

[@jnellis84]

Just a fun bit of science - you burn more calories while sleeping than you do watching tv.

[@TheFistFuckingHolyGuacamole]

the difference between small c and capital C :)

[@RAj-vy9bj]

Oily sheets, lol

[@heinz8277]

Nice😂😏