Body

I Visited an Urban Sweat Lodge — and This Is What Happened

You're going to sweat — a lot

by Hannah Savin | COMMENT

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Why is sweating such a good thing? Sweating, in addition to regulating the body temperature, provides a wealth of other benefits. Shape House gets you sweating with custom-made beds that utilize FAR infrared sauna technology. These are light rays that you cannot see and will not burn you. Instead, the rays radiate heat that will penetrate up to 1.5 inches beneath your skin. Much like visiting a traditional sauna, the FAR infrared beds slowly and steadily increase your body temperature to 158 degrees, which causes the body to sweat (a lot).

Sweating detoxifies your body by opening up pores and allowing toxic chemicals and heavy metals to flow out. The increase in body temperature also raises your heart rate (much like working out) which, in turn, strengthens cardiac muscles and produces a metabolic boost for approximately 36 hours. In a typical sweat session, you can expect to burn between 800 and 1,600 calories. Thanks to the heat, the sessions are very relaxing and work to relieve sore muscles, as well as remove lactic acid from the body and produce a nice endorphin rush when you're finished. Sweating also increases blood flow and removes impurities from the skin so you're left with a radiant, dewy complexion.

Image courtesy Hannah Savin

SEE NEXT PAGE: What to expect going in for your first sweat session

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