Salivary cortisol response to post-exercise infrared sauna declines over time.

ABSTRACT: Heat exposure after exercise may enhance recovery of physical performance but can also impose additional physiological stress on athletes. This study investigated the effects of post-exercise infrared sauna (IRS) on adrenal and autonomic nervous system (ANS) responses and examined how these responses adapt over time during a 6-week training intervention. Forty female team-sport athletes were pair-matched into an IRS-group and a control group (CON). Participants completed jumping exercises followed by IRS (10 min, 50 °C) or passive recovery and physiological assessments during two experimental trials: in the first (EX1) and in the last (EX2) week of the training intervention. The ANS responses were assessed by nocturnal heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability recorded before and after ex

SUBMITTER: Ahokas EK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12416168 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature