Sauna Before or After Workout? Why I Go Right After 30 Minutes on the Bike

Should you do the sauna before or after workout? I’ve tried it both ways, and these days the sauna is always the last thing I do. My usual routine is 30 minutes on a recumbent bike at the gym, a 15 to 20 minute drive, and then 40 minutes in a private infrared booth set to 137°F.

I’m not a trainer or a doctor. I’m a regular person who rides a stationary bike as part of my routine and goes to the sauna about twice a week, and I take photos of my screens because I like real numbers. So everything below is what I actually do: what the bike and my watch said, what I drink, what happens between the gym and the sauna, and how my body feels when I get it right.

The short version is that after works better for me, as long as I drink enough. The longer version, including what happens when I don’t, is below.

My answer	After. The sauna is always the last thing I do
Workout	30 minutes on a recumbent bike, level 1, about 60 RPM
Heart rate	110 to 122 bpm on my watch. The bike’s Target Heart Rate program set my target at 119
What I drink while riding	Ice water with sugar-free electrolyte powder
Gap before the sauna	A 15 to 20 minute drive, depending on traffic. No shower, no snack
Sauna	Private infrared booth, 40 minutes, set to 137°F
After	Towel off, cool down, drink more in the car, shower at home
How I feel after	Loose, a little sleepy, and really refreshed
Best for / Good to know	Best for people who already do easy cardio and want to add a sauna without overthinking the order. Good to know: I only ride the bike at an easy pace, so this isn’t about heavy lifting or race days

Sauna Before or After Workout: My Short Answer

After. I ride first and sauna second, and that’s my regular routine now.

It just fits how my body works. When I finish the bike, I’m warm, a little sweaty, and my legs feel worked. Sitting in the booth after that feels like the end of the workout instead of a separate errand. By the time I walk out, I’m loose, a little sleepy in a good way, and honestly so refreshed. It feels like everything got flushed out of me. I know that’s a feeling and not science, but it’s the feeling that keeps me going back.

I have tried it the other way, too. When I did the sauna first, my body felt kind of heavy and sluggish for the workout after. That’s just me, and I honestly don’t know if there’s one right answer for everyone, but it settled the question for me.

There’s one condition, though. This only works for me when I drink enough, and I’ll get to that below, because it’s the part that changes everything.

Why the Sauna Is Always the Last Thing I Do

Here’s the other reason. After the sauna I feel great, but I’ve sweated so much that the last thing I want is more exercise. All I want is to go home, shower, and call it a day for working out. That feeling has never changed, so I stopped fighting it.

So everything else goes before it: stretching, the bike, my foot soak, golf practice, all of it. The sauna comes last, every time. You can see how that plays out on a normal morning in my wellness morning routine. And at night, before bed, I take a half bath, where I soak up to about my waist. That one is just for winding down.

Sauna Before vs After a Workout: What I Noticed

I can only compare the two the way I felt them, so here’s my side by side:

During the workout	Sauna first: my body felt heavy and sluggish. Sauna last: my usual 30 minutes on the bike, no problem
After the sauna	Sauna first: I still had a workout ahead of me. Sauna last: loose, a little sleepy, and really refreshed
What I want next	Sauna first: to get the workout over with. Sauna last: to go home, shower, and be done for the day
Which one I stuck with	Sauna last, every time

If you’re reading this because you’re trying to decide, my honest suggestion is to try both and pay attention to that first row. How your workout feels when you’re already warm and sweaty is the part that decided it for me.

My Workout Half: 30 Minutes on a Recumbent Bike

I ride a recumbent bike, the kind with a seat back, and I set the workout to 30 minutes every time. On the day I took these photos, the console showed level 1, about 60 RPM, and 1.38 miles at the 13-minute mark.

I use the bike’s Target Heart Rate program. I put in my info and set it to 65%, and it gave me a target of 119 beats per minute. That’s the easy, steady kind of effort I go for on the bike. If you want to figure out your own easy zone, I explained how I did mine in how I calculate my Zone 2 heart rate, and my whole beginner setup is in my stationary bike Zone 2 workout.

My watch only caught about 22 of the 30 minutes that day, but those minutes still tell the story. Around 14 minutes in, my heart rate was 110 to 112. By 21 and 22 minutes, it had crept up to 117 to 122. So even at level 1, I’m pretty warm by the end of the ride.

What I Do While I Ride: Electrolytes and a Book

Two things come with me on the bike every time. The first is my pink tumbler, filled with ice and sugar-free electrolyte powder. It’s the Liquid I.V. Sugar-Free I started buying for my sauna days, and now I drink it during the ride, too.

The second is my earbuds. I listen to a book while I ride, and 30 minutes goes by a lot faster when I’m in the middle of a chapter. Drinking and listening, that’s pretty much my whole bike routine.

How Long I Wait Between My Workout and the Sauna

This is the part I rarely see anyone talk about. My gym and my sauna aren’t in the same place. The sauna is at a wellness studio that’s a 15 to 20 minute drive from the gym, depending on traffic.

I don’t do anything in between. No shower, no snack, no errands. I get off the bike, grab my tumbler, and drive straight there. So my gap is really just the drive.

That’s the whole gap. If your gym has a sauna inside it, your gap might be a few minutes instead of twenty. In that case, I’d still give yourself a moment to drink something and towel off before you go in. Here’s how my whole day lines up.

My Sauna Half: 40 Minutes at 137°F

My sauna is a private infrared booth with red light. I book a 40-minute session and set it to 137°F, which is my personal max. I explained why I stop at that number in how hot is a sauna.

Here’s how the 40 minutes actually go. When I check in, I tell the front desk how long I want, and they load it onto the booth for me. Forty minutes is the max. The booth is already set up with a towel, a robe, and a little pair of dark goggles for the red light. It doesn’t start at 137°F. On one day I photographed the panel at 125°F eight minutes in, and it climbs from there to my setting and stays.

I bring electrolyte water into the booth with me, too, and sip it the whole time. If you want to know how I decided on 40 minutes, it’s all in how long I stay in a red light sauna.

When the session is over, I towel off, cool down for a bit, wash my hands in the studio restroom, and then sit in the car drinking more until I feel cooled off. Only then do I drive home. The studio doesn’t have showers, so I shower as soon as I get home. After a ride plus 40 minutes in there, I really need it.

If you want my exact cool-down steps, they’re all in how I cool down after a sauna session.

Does the Time of Day Change Anything?

Most of the time I do this whole routine in the morning. I like getting all my exercise done early so the rest of the day is free for everything else. The day I took these photos, I went in the early afternoon, and the order was exactly the same. I’ve gone in the evening plenty of times, too. If you’re torn on timing, I compared the two in sauna in the morning or at night.

As for how often, my membership lets me use the sauna once a day, but I usually go about twice a week. On the days I don’t go, the bike and my other routines still happen. The sauna is just the last stop when it’s on the schedule.

What I Pack for a Workout and Sauna Day

Since I go straight from the gym to the sauna, everything has to be in my bag before I leave the house. This is what’s in it:

• My tumbler with ice and sugar-free electrolyte powder, for the bike and the drive
• Electrolyte water for inside the booth, too
• Earbuds, so I can listen to my book on the bike
• Two towels from home. My skin is sensitive, so I like towels washed in my own detergent, even though the studio gives you one
• A claw clip to keep my hair up in the booth

I don’t pack a change of clothes. I towel off and go home in what I wore, then shower. If you want the full list I started with, it’s in what to bring to an infrared sauna session.

What Happens When I Don’t Drink Enough

Here’s the honest part. When I don’t drink enough water, or I drink plain water and skip the electrolytes, the whole routine is rough on my body. The relaxed, refreshed feeling doesn’t show up. I just feel drained.

So on any day I work out and go to the sauna, electrolyte water comes with me for both. It honestly makes it a completely different experience. If you only change one thing about your routine, I’d make it this one. I wrote down exactly how much I drink in how much water to drink after a sauna.

My Workout and Sauna Order, Step by Step

If you want to copy my routine, here it is in order:

1. Fill my tumbler with ice and sugar-free electrolyte powder.
2. Ride the recumbent bike for 30 minutes on the Target Heart Rate program, listening to a book.
3. Drive 15 to 20 minutes to the sauna studio. No shower, no snack.
4. Sit in the infrared booth for 40 minutes at 137°F, with electrolyte water.
5. Towel off, cool down, and drink more in the car.
6. Shower at home.

Before You Try It

I’m not a doctor, and this is just what works for me. If you’re pregnant, have a heart condition, take medication that affects how you handle heat or your blood pressure, or you’re just not sure, ask your doctor before adding a sauna to your workouts. And if you ever feel dizzy or sick in the booth, get out. That’s my rule, no matter how much time is left on the timer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

If I had to boil it down: ride first, sauna second, and bring electrolyte water for both. And give yourself a small buffer between the two, even if it’s just the drive.

Next up, I’m sharing the sauna towels I actually use and how I lay them on the bench. Do you sauna before or after your workout? Tell me in the comments, I’m curious if anyone else does the bike then sauna thing. And if it’s your first time in an infrared booth, here’s what to wear in an infrared sauna.