Everything You Need To Know About How To Use Heat Exposure To Enhance Performance, Burn Fat, Gain Muscle And Think Better.
Ben Greenfield Life
Ben Greenfield
4.6 • 5.2K Ratings
🗓️ 18 June 2014
⏱️ 64 minutes
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Summary
I go to the sauna once a week, and often twice a week in the winter.
I get a huge pile of the magazines or journals I subscribe to, like ESPN, Fast Company, or Mother Earth News (and sometimes even grab a book I don't mind destroying) then settle in for a good 30-45 minute sweat session.
After about 25 minutes, it get pretty tough as my heart rate and core temperature rapidly rise, and I eventually get so hot that I have to quit reading - and then I simply switch to staring at the wall and doing deep, meditative breathing to sit things out for as long as I can. I pretend I'm some kind of ancient warrior sitting in an Indian sweat lodge, or a prisoner of war tossed into one of those heat torture chambers.
Then I take a cold shower and I feel amazing.
I've used this strategy to train for everything from racing Ironman in the lava fields of Hawaii to preparing for a tennis tournament in a stifling indoor tennis courts stadium.
But why does heat work so well to enhance performance?
Can you use heat to build muscle or burn fat?
What's the best kind of heat? Saunas? Steam rooms? Those dorky sauna suits?
You're about to find out the answers to these burning questions (ha!), and so much more.
My guest in today's podcast, Dr. Rhonda Patrick (pictured right) has a Ph.D. in biomedical science, a Bachelor’s of Science degree in biochemistry/chemistry, has done extensive research on aging, cancer, and nutrition, she did her graduate research on the link between mitochondrial metabolism, apoptosis, and cancer...
...and she knows a thing or two about heat exposure too, as you can see from her video here on heat stress.
Dr. Patrick is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute, where she conducts clinical trials looking at the effects of micronutrients (e.g. vitamins and minerals) on metabolism, inflammation, DNA damage, and aging. In addition, she is investigating the role of vitamin D in brain function and other physiological functions. She has also done research on anti-aging techniques at the Salk Institute for Biological Sciences.
During our podcast, you'll learn everything you need to know about how to use heat exposure to enhance performance, burn fat, and gain muscle.
-3 ways getting into a sauna could actually grow new neurons and make you smarter...
-The best to use heat to build endurance, build muscle and heal injuries...
-How much heat exposure is enough, and how much is too much...
-Whether it's really true that you can increase growth hormone inside a sauna...
-How heat can help you produce the "runner's high"...
-The amazing anti-aging effect of saunas and how it works...
-What the best type of heat is, and whether there is a difference between wet heat vs. dry heat vs. sauna suits vs. infrared saunas and mats...
-How to ideally combine heat exposure with cold thermogenesis...
Resources discussed in this podcast:
-CoolFatBurner vest
Do you have questions about how to use heat to enhance performance, or any other thoughts about this episode with Rhonda Patrick? Leave your comments by clicking here.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This podcast is brought to you by the Thorn FX AM PM Complex, the best multi-vitamin on the |
| 0:07.7 | face of the planet. You can check it out now at bengreenfilledfitness.com slash multi. |
| 0:14.8 | Welcome to the bengreenfieldfitness.com podcast. We provide you with free exercise, nutrition, |
| 0:21.6 | weight loss, triathlon and wellness advice from the top fitness experts in the nation. |
| 0:27.3 | So whether you're an Iron Man triathlete or you're just trying to shed a few pounds, |
| 0:32.2 | get ready for non-runner-the-mill cutting edge content from bengreenfieldfitness.com. |
| 0:50.2 | Hey folks, it's bengreenfilled and I'd like to welcome you to week three |
| 0:56.8 | in which my podcast sidekick Brock is still off exploring Europe somewhere. Probably I don't know |
| 1:05.7 | in some salt mine off the coast of Portugal or maybe off catching sardines in Norway. I don't know. |
| 1:13.9 | But either way, I once again am here relegated to having to sit around with yet another |
| 1:21.6 | amazing special guest. And I'm going to introduce my guest to you in just a second. But before I do, |
| 1:29.4 | I want to remind you that something I've talked about before in the podcast is the fact that |
| 1:35.4 | I go to the sauna and I go to the sauna about once a week and sometimes in the winter when |
| 1:41.9 | it's cold here in the frozen tune drove, Spokane, Washington, I'll go twice a week and I'll get this |
| 1:48.1 | huge pile of magazines and journals that I subscribe to, like ESPN and Fast Company and |
| 1:56.0 | Mother Earth News is another one that I read. Sometimes I'll even grab a book that I don't mind |
| 2:01.2 | destroying and I settle in for like a good 30 to 45 minutes of a sweat session in the sauna. |
| 2:08.4 | And usually it's after about 25 minutes that gets really tough in my heart rate and my core |
| 2:13.4 | temperature start to go up and I eventually get so hot that I have to stop reading and just start |
| 2:18.4 | like staring at the wall and doing deep meditative breathing to sit things out for as long as I can. |
| 2:25.6 | And sometimes I'll pretend I'm like in some kind of a Native American sweat lodge or like some |
| 2:30.7 | some prisoner of war tossed into a heat torture chamber even though I'm really in the in the YMCA |
... |
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