October 1, 2025, 11:23 am | Read time: 5 minutes
During her last vacation, FITBOOK editor Anna Echtermeyer accidentally created a daily ritual: three hours in the sauna every evening, often after exercising. Why she would do it again anytime and how it affected her muscles and mind.
An Eighth of the Vacation in the Sauna Hut
Our last family vacation in the mountains had a relaxed structure: feeding rabbits in the morning, hiking at noon, followed by Kaiserschmarrn, and evenings in the sauna hut with a bathing pond, every evening from 6 to 9 p.m. As sweat poured from my pores, the sun set behind the mountains opposite. Since there were hardly any other guests at the accommodation interested in the sauna in the evening and our little son always found something to do in the hut, I reserved my sauna slot day by day for two weeks. Initially out of curiosity, then out of habit, and eventually out of conviction. I calculated: I spent an eighth of the vacation in the sauna hut–and a total of seven hours in 90 to 95-degree heat.
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Ritual as an Effective Recovery Measure
What initially sounded like a wellness experiment soon turned out to be an extremely effective recovery measure. Because while I pushed my muscles to their limits on some days while hiking, I experienced in the evenings how the alternation of heat and cold benefited my body.
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Knee Pain Swept Away
Hikes with many elevation gains are usually a sure guarantee for heavy legs, aching knees, and muscle soreness that creeps into every step the next day. At the beginning of the vacation, I made a foolish training mistake, running down 700 meters of elevation on a forest path with my legs accustomed to flatland. It hurt so painfully behind the kneecap that I thought: That’s it.
Since cold is known to dampen inflammatory processes, I climbed down the ladder into the pond up to my knees before each first sauna session. Cold for two or three minutes to calm the knees. Without declaring cold rituals in the style of Wim Hof followers as a new religion, I must acknowledge: My knee didn’t bother me again during this vacation.
Feeling After Cooling in the Pond Too Good to Skip
Afterward: three rounds in the Finnish sauna, in between–blood pressure ahoy–full-body cooling in the pond. Brutal, but uniquely invigorating. I usually struggle with cold–but the feeling in the cold pond was too good to skip. The intense cooling in the pond also resulted in me sweating faster and more completely in the sauna than usual. In the heat, I could hear my pulse. When it sped up, I ended the sauna session, without a sand timer.
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Not Once Muscle Soreness, No Heavy Legs After Hiking
As a result, I didn’t experience muscle soreness once in two weeks. Not after 500, not after 100, and not after 2,000 meters of elevation. That sounds absurd if you know how many elevation meters usually feel in the legs the next day. But that’s how it was. No pulling the next morning, no paralyzing burning in the thighs, no exhaustion pain. Instead, my legs felt ready every day, as if someone had pressed the reset button. The cold immediately after training and the subsequent heat in the sauna elevated my recovery to a completely new level.
What I also established besides sauna sessions: I stretched additionally every evening after the sauna and in the morning before breakfast–a bit more extensively than usual, as the vacation routine allowed it–thighs, buttocks, calves. Since my sports teacher father-in-law gave me the tip, I always exhale when stretching into the tension–yoga practitioners will also know this.
What I Take from This into Everyday Life
Where I would otherwise have expected tired, heavy legs, there was only freshness. I didn’t need rest days between activities. Relaxed muscles, well-circulated, rosy skin. Trained vessels through the interplay of heat and cold. Did you know that sauna sessions can increase muscle growth?
So I was able to train more in the two weeks than usual. But of course, I didn’t just enjoy it for the training boost: The sauna hut was also really good for my soul. The valley became quiet, the sky layered colors. The sunset was a sweaty bonus. Breathe deeply, enjoy.
What I take from this into everyday life (because I don’t have a preheated sauna hut by the pond waiting for me every evening): The principle of cooling knee joints and leg muscles immediately after running. Ice packs from the freezer for a few minutes on the knees, front and back of the thighs. Or in the shower: let cold water run over legs and knees. Then put on warm jogging pants and stretch lightly. A small reminder that effective recovery doesn’t have to cost anything!
By the way: At home, an unused sauna has been sitting idle for years. I should revive it.