Key result
Adding postexercise sauna to regular exercise shows no additional HRV benefit over exercise alone.
Why the study?
Long-term adaptations in heart rate variability to regular exercise combined with sauna bathing remain unexplored.
Does adding regular sauna bathing postexercise improve heart rate variability compared to regular exercise alone in sedentary adults with CVD risk factors?
RCT (n=38)
1:1:1
Does adding regular sauna bathing postexercise improve heart rate variability compared to regular exercise alone in sedentary adults with CVD risk factors?
Adding regular sauna bathing postexercise offers no additional benefits to heart rate variability over regular exercise alone in sedentary adults with CVD risk factors.
Adding postexercise sauna confers no HRV benefit beyond exercise alone; challenges assumptions of synergistic autonomic effects in at-risk adults.
Regular exercise has been shown to increase heart rate variability (HRV) for different populations. Acute and short‐term studies using heat therapy and sauna bathing have also shown HRV improvements. However, long‐term adaptations in HRV to regular exercise and sauna bathing remain unexplored. In this 1:1:1 multi‐arm trial, sedentary participants ( n = 38) aged 49 ± 9 years with at least one CVD risk factor were randomly assigned to regular exercise and 15‐min postexercise sauna (EXS), regular exercise only (EXE), or control (CON) group, for an 8‐week intervention. Indices of HRV (RR interval, RMSSD, SDNN, resting heart rate [HR], HRMAX–HRMIN, high frequency power [HFP], and low frequency power [LFP]) were measured before (PRE) and after (POST) the trial. Compared to CON, EXE increased the time‐domain measure of HR MAX –HR MIN ( p = 0.003), and elicited significantly smaller decreases in the frequency‐domain measure of LFP ( p = 0.022). There were no statistically significant differences between EXS and EXE for any of the HRV indices measured. Eight weeks of regular exercise conferred positive changes in both time‐ and frequency‐domain measures of HRV. However, adding regular sauna bathing postexercise offered no additional benefits to HRV over regular exercise alone.
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Lee et al. (2025) conducted an RCT in Sedentary with at least one CVD risk factor (n=38). Regular exercise and postexercise sauna vs. Regular exercise only or control was evaluated on Indices of heart rate variability (RR interval, RMSSD, SDNN, resting HR, HRMAX-HRMIN, HFP, LFP). Adding a 15-minute postexercise sauna to regular exercise for 8 weeks offered no additional benefits to heart rate variability indices compared to regular exercise alone.
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