09/04/2026
LEARNING POINT!!
Ohh it’s all a bit scientific 😁 🤯
We’re often asked whether it’s a good idea to jump straight into a sauna after a LONG or COLD swim. The short answer is no, and here’s why. ✋
We Don’t Recommend Using a Sauna Straight After a Long Swim 🏊🏻 🛑
Find out how to use a sauna correctly as a contrasting hot cold therapy here ⬇️
https://www.boots.com/healthhub/fitness-exercise/what-is-contrast-therapy
Read on to find out why you shouldn’t Sauna after a long cold swim
When you come out of cold water, your body is still busy trying to stabilise its core temperature. 🥶
Going straight into a sauna can actually increase afterdrop, make you feel faint, and put extra strain on your heart. ❤️ 🥵
It feels like the right thing to do, but physiologically it isn’t.
If you don’t know what after drop is keep reading‼️
Professor Mike Tipton, one of the world’s leading experts in environmental and extreme temperature physiology at the University of Portsmouth, explains it simply:
“The biggest risk comes after you leave the water, not while you’re in it.”
What Professor Mike Tipton means by that quote
When Tipton says “The biggest risk comes after you leave the water, not while you’re in it,” he’s talking about a physiological process called afterdrop.
In simple terms:
• When you’re swimming in cold water, your body protects your vital organs by shunting warm blood to your core.
• Your arms and legs get much colder than your torso, but you don’t fully feel the danger because you’re still moving.
• The moment you get out, that cold blood from your limbs starts to return to the core.
• This makes your core temperature continue to fall, even though you’re no longer in the water.
That’s the “afterdrop” and it’s the moment when people are most likely to feel faint, confused, shaky, or unwell.
Why this matters for saunas
If you jump straight into a sauna while your body is still in that unstable state:
• Your blood vessels suddenly open up
• Cold blood from your limbs rushes back to your core even faster
• Your heart has to work harder
• You can become light‑headed, nauseous, or collapse
So Tipton’s point is:
The danger isn’t the cold water itself, it’s what your body does in the minutes after you get out.
That’s why gradual warming, layers, and time to stabilise come before any sauna use.
