What Is a Sauna Suit?

Physical sciences have come a long way in recent years, with closer attention on how to get your workouts in more effectively for the greatest rewards. Whether people want to get more out of their reps, perfect their technique in boxing or burn as many calories as possible, there is inevitably a scientific study that can help them do so.

One of the more recent focuses of these studies is sauna suits. They are pieces of equipment that you can wear (similar to a boilersuit) that help you to sweat more and lose more weight from your workouts. Many are looking into the benefits of owning a sauna suit and whether or not it is worth it for their long-term health and boxing progression.

A new global study carried out across 30 countries has found that 45% of people globally say that they are currently trying to lose weight. As more people become conscious of losing weight, greater attention is put on methods such as sauna suits to help them achieve their goals.

However, there is not much known about what these suits can do for athletes and their fitness goals.

That’s why we’ve put together this article explaining what a sauna suit is and how it can impact your boxing training. Keep reading to find out everything you need to know about what a sauna suit is, how it works and what benefits it can bring to your training.

What Is A Sauna Suit?

One of the most important things in the sport of boxing is maintaining a specific weight. Any sudden changes in weight either in training or leading up to a fight can have drastic impacts on the fighter and their opponent, where severe cases can lead to cancellations and even fines.

We found that there are over 493,000 people participating in boxing in the UK alone as of 2021, all of which will have the shared need of paying attention and sometimes changing their body weight. This has led the boxing community to find a mutual solution to their problem – sauna suits.

Sauna suits are a type of equipment, typically worn like a boilersuit, that is used to trap heat around your body and produce more sweat than you would in typical workout gear. Most sauna suit makers suggest that the effort of working out in the suit increases the intensity of a workout without having to increase your actual level of effort. They are made of thick equipment targeted at preventing the heat you create from exercise from escaping and using it to continually warm you up.

The targeted result of using a sauna suit is higher fitness levels and possibly increased weight loss after regular use of a sauna suit. When it is taken off, there will be a thick layer of sweat surrounding the outside that you have produced from the additional heat. This sweat signifies the calories you have burnt from the exercise – a common misconception is that you burn calories by sweating, but instead they are burnt from the exercise.

Normal sauna suits are made from a waterproof fabric designed to make the wearer incredibly hot and sweat profusely. They often carry the name ‘rubber suits’ because the earlier versions were made with rubber or rubberized cloth – now, they are made using PVC or coated nylon cloth for comfort, durability, flexibility and effectiveness. These materials are far more adept at allowing a user to move comfortably during a workout whilst retaining as much heat as possible, helping you to sweat more than usual.

Sauna suits made of PVC tend to be heavy-duty and primarily made for more experienced, semi-professional boxers who have a greater understanding of how best to use them. They are fitted with elastic cuffs, ankles and waistbands for a comfortable and secure closure and to keep any sweat inside the suit to minimise messes and retain heat. It also works incredibly well to keep your muscles warm, helping with aerobic conditioning slightly more than the standard sauna suit.

Sauna suits can be an effective and integral part of a boxer’s workout, providing a little extra efficiency that can go a long way once they step in the ring.

How Does A Sauna Suit Work?

According to a 2018 study, exercising in a sauna suit can increase physiological strain and induce larger sweat losses. These conditions can help many boxers to increase the number of calories they burn from a workout and improve their aerobic functions as they go – but how exactly do sauna suits do this?

Sauna suits work by reducing heat dissipation by inhibiting the evaporation of sweat. Essentially, the suit works to trap the sweat you produce against your skin to result in greater heat storage internally, which works to raise your core and skin temperature. As a consequence of this, you will begin to sweat more and work harder during your exercise, maintaining the cycle until you have sweated significantly.

Furthermore, this heat storage enhances the stress on the body’s physiology causing increased heart rates and lower blood pressure. Without a sauna suit, the evaporation of sweat will return to its normal function as a cooling mechanism – but with the suit, both the sweat and heat are retained to prevent cooling functions from working.

Boxing is a sport that has grown in popularity in more recent years, with a newfound interest from younger generations who look to revive the fighting sport. As they work to bring the sport of boxing back into the limelight, additional equipment such as the sauna suit is also revitalised, making them ever more popular and relevant in today’s boxing scene. It’s important to understand exactly how they work, and how to safely use them before you attempt to. Misuse of a sauna suit can cause significant damage to your body and can counteract any possible healthy intentions you had using it.

Conditions induced by a sauna suit can lead to dehydration and heat-related illnesses, such as hyperthermia, myoglobinuria and rhabdomyolysis. Although tempting, you should not stay in a sauna suit for as long as possible, because overstaying in one can not only help to overdo your weight loss goals but also hurt your health in the short term.

As long as a sauna suit is used sensibly and responsibly, you should be fine. It can be a fun and easy piece of equipment to use and becomes even more helpful the closer to fight night you get. Always keep in mind that you will need lots of water whilst using it and that you should be well-energised for a session in the suit.

What Are The Benefits Of A Sauna Suit?

Sauna suits are becoming one of the most popular pieces of boxing equipment on the market, with amateurs, novices and professionals alike all opting to give it a go in the name of aerobic fitness and weight loss. What exactly are these athletes gaining from using the sauna suit, and what can you gain too?

Studies suggest that wearing a sauna suit in the heat can increase core body and skin temperature, heart rate, perceived effort, thermal sensation, and thermal comfort compared to other conditions. This means that exercises are done at the same intensity as normal, but whilst wearing a sauna suit, can result in a greater cardiac load and a much larger energy tank during fights.

Furthermore, it can be a beneficial way for desperate fighters to lose water weight before a tough fight. If someone is struggling to cut that final bit of weight, a sauna suit can do wonders in a normal-tempered room in sweating out the pounds. Besides, once the weight has been made and checked, fighters can rehydrate and regain their water weight ready for the fight ahead to be comfortable, acclimatised and prepared.

Lastly, sauna suits can do wonders for enhancing your response to your training. Studies have found that sauna suits can help you to pick up the pace against your training partners when it comes to conditioning, helping you to improve spontaneously and far faster than normal.

If you want the maximum results from a sauna suit, you need to find the best one. One of the best current providers of sauna suits is SportsMaxx, a high-quality boxing equipment provider renowned in the market for their efficiency, care and durability. All of their quality options guarantee a boost in training outcomes, with benefits including regulating weight, enhancing metabolism, and improving cardiovascular health to ensure you are training hard yet smart. Their Maxx Pro Sauna Suit for Weight Loss is by far one of the more popular products in the market, with over 100 sales already for this innovative piece of equipment.