Ellen is a cross-country skier, always looking for ways to optimize her performance. She will embark on a 10-week infrared health journey for recovery and to see if the IR SaunaPod can have an effect on her recovery after an ankle fracture in February.
– Four years ago, I started a project: I decided to become Australia's best female cross-country skier, she says, chuckling a bit as she adds that she wasn't prepared for how good Australian skiers were.
Ellen is a dual Norwegian and Australian citizen. She actively competed in cross-country skiing until she was 16, but had to take a break because she contracted glandular fever (mononucleosis); a break that lasted until she was 23.
– I heard that the Australian national team was missing a person to form a relay team for the Olympics, and I thought, I have to do something about that.
WEEK 0 - Wanted to prioritize training
At the time, she was studying at BI Norwegian Business School and didn't feel ready for a conventional life.
– I finished my bachelor's thesis and went "all in" on my skiing ambitions. Initially, I worked alongside it, but I had to quit that because I wanted to prioritize training. The goal was first to get to the Olympics, but that didn't happen. In February, I broke my ankle.
When we speak, she has just had her first ski trip after six weeks of rest.
– It goes well when I'm on the track, but my ankle is unstable. It's tough to get an injury in the middle of the season, but I've started rehabilitation and will come back stronger.
Recovery is a big piece of the puzzle
Ellen is interested in seeing how infrared sauna can help streamline her recovery and the process towards a full training routine, and when she is back to 100% training again. She usually trains two sessions a day. In total, she has between 10 and 24 hours of training per week.
– I feel progression every day. When I started dedicating myself, I was doing around 400 training hours a year. Now I'm at just over 700. I respond well to training, but I always want to optimize and perfect what can be influenced, to become the best possible skier. Recovery is a big piece of the puzzle.
Her naprapath recommended infrared sauna.
– She has an IR sauna herself and is very happy with it. She told me that the sauna works internally, at a cellular level, and initiates several good processes in the body. Very exciting!
Excited about infrared sauna
Ellen is also studying sports in Lillehammer, but her cross-country skiing career is her main priority. She usually competes for Heming and is associated with Team OBOS.
– I thought it would be easy to make the national team in Australia and go to the Olympics, but the great thing about the challenge is that I've become a much better skier than I initially thought. I never believed I would reach the level I'm at today. The competition has sharpened me, and I'm not giving up.
Ellen will continue towards the World Championships next year.
– I can't give up when I'm on my way to becoming even better!
She has more to gain and notices improvement with each session, which she describes as extremely motivating. Now she is curious about what an infrared sauna can do, especially concerning recovery.
– I'm excited to see the effect, and if it turns out it has no effect, the sauna at least does no harm. I've also experienced poorer circulation and drier skin where I have the injury. Will an IR sauna have any effect on that?
Ellen has never tried an infrared sauna and wonders what it feels like to sit inside the tent.
– It's incredibly cool that I was chosen.
WEEK 3 - After three weeks with infrared sauna, Ellen is hooked.
She is surprised at how easy it is to use, how much she sweats in it, and how high her heart rate gets. – I sleep better, my skin has become softer, and my batteries are recharged, she says.
Luxury me-time
Ellen is extremely satisfied with her infrared sauna.
– The fact that you just turn it on, sit inside, and complete a sauna session in under an hour is almost unreal.
The start of her infrared health journey has gone well.
– The sauna has become a little luxury me-time for me, which is really enjoyable. I feel like I've gotten a home spa, she says, laughing.
Over the past three weeks, she has trained one to two times a day. Given her ankle fracture, the focus has been on gradually increasing her training.
– I've spent more hours on skis, and it's been extremely nice to jump into the sauna when I get home from training. Especially when I'm a bit cold, it's lovely to sit in it and get thoroughly warm from the inside out.
Better sleep, softer skin, softer joints and muscles
Three weeks is not a long time, and Ellen doesn't feel she has trained consistently enough or tried the IR sauna long enough to comment on recovery, but she was very curious about sleep beforehand, and she thinks that has generally improved a lot.
– I sleep soundly and well through the whole night after taking a sauna.
She was also curious if the sauna would affect her bone fracture.
– It's hard to know how it affects rehabilitation, considering so many other factors also play a role, but I feel that my joints and muscles become softer, and that must have a positive effect on my ankle too, as it has been quite stiff.
In addition, her skin has become softer, which she hadn't considered beforehand.
– I'm surprised at how soft my skin has become. Especially on my thighs, where I can get bumps in winter, but they are completely gone. I'm also surprised at how incredibly high your heart rate gets from sitting in the sauna. Not to mention how extremely much you sweat. My goodness, it feels like I'm sweating liters!
It couldn't be simpler than this
Ellen found the IR sauna easy to use. In fact, easier than she had imagined.
– It's extremely easy to set up and take down, and when I want to turn it on, I just plug it in. I can't imagine that it would be easier to take a bath/sauna than it is with this portable IR sauna.
She has used it three to four times a week, and can say that she has become hooked, also because it is so convenient to use.
– I take a sauna after training or in the evening. After training if I'm a bit chilly. Then it's extremely nice to get warm from the inside, and in the evening it's lovely to take it to relax before going to bed. As mentioned, I sleep so deeply and well! I usually take a cold shower after the sauna.
Mental relaxation and fully charged battery
Over the next few weeks, Ellen will continue to use the sauna as she has done so far, as she finds it has worked very well.
– I will continue to use it to optimize both training and daily life.
One of the best things about a portable infrared sauna, Ellen finds, is that she doesn't get completely overheated in the head when sitting in it, compared to a traditional sauna.
– I get an inner calm, regardless of whether I take it in the evening before going to bed, or in the middle of the day with a lot to do afterwards. The IR sauna gives me the energy level I desire. It acts as a mental relaxation and I feel like I step out of it with a fully charged battery.
WEEK 6 – I LOVE the sauna! You get addicted, Ellen exclaims.
After six weeks on her health journey, the sauna has become an important aid in her daily training routine.
Enormous difference with sauna
Ellen's latest discovery on the training and recovery front is how the sauna works with her body after a tough training session.
– Today I had my first cycling interval, which was a big strain on my legs. I sat in the sauna to investigate how I recover in it and if there would be any difference. When I finished the sauna session and a cold shower, my legs felt so much better afterwards.
Her legs were heavy before she sat in, but it was also harder to sit in the sauna than before.
– After 15 minutes, I was completely exhausted, but I sat for 30 minutes and that was more than enough. Afterwards, my legs felt much lighter, and during the second training session that day, I could barely feel that I had done intervals.
When she recovers faster from tough sessions, it also affects her performance and the quality of her training session later the same day or the next day.
– It's especially after tough sessions and heavier training days that I've noticed the enormous difference the sauna makes. I believe the same effect will occur when I train less, but that you won't notice as big a difference.
Eats in the sauna after training to optimize efficiency
Ellen has sat in the sauna with a heart rate monitor to record her pulse as her heart beats quite hard.
– My pulse was up to 143, which means heart rate zone 1: a pulse equivalent to what I train with on a slow long run. My Zone 1 pulse is 113-149, and my max pulse is 206. My resting heart rate is around 45-50, she explains.
Optimal recovery for Ellen involves good rest, sufficient sleep (she often sleeps 8-9 hours and 30-60 minutes during the day), good nutrition, and getting nourishment right after a training session. The sauna has become a valuable tool for recovery.
– It helps me rest and relax well, and when it opens up the capillary network and gets the blood circulation going, I believe this easy blood flow helps eliminate waste products when I sweat.
How often she takes an IR sauna varies from three to six times a week.
– I like to take it as soon as I get home from training, and sometimes I eat while sitting in it to optimize efficiency, she laughs, and continues.
– I drink an extreme amount during a session, and I can feel the difference in my sweat – how much I sweat – depending on whether I've drunk a lot or a little on the same day and throughout.
No dry skin and ankle is steadily improving
The rehabilitation of her ankle is going very well. Ellen experiences setbacks occasionally, where her ankle becomes sore and swollen when she roller skis. At the beginning of her health journey, she also felt pain during the sauna sessions, but those pains are gone. The skin around the fracture is no longer dry either.
– If my leg becomes sore and numb, it passes more quickly now than a few weeks ago. I have bought a road bike for variety and to get in volume training with less strain on my leg.
Extremely motivated
The ski season is over for now. With an Olympic dream that was shattered, followed by an ankle fracture, Ellen felt that her world, for a moment, simply fell apart.
– As an athlete, you live in a bubble where ski races and the goals you set mean everything in the world. When you don't succeed, it's tough, but adversity makes you more resilient, and I've developed thicker skin for future competitions when a World Championship or Olympic ticket is at stake.
She is on the Australian national team and is now well into her new season preparation.
– I will train a lot going forward and hopefully be fully back after the summer. I will continue to use the sauna several times a week. It has become an important aid in my daily training.
Life is very good.
– There's a lot to do at school and it's non-stop. I'm looking forward to a calmer routine with full focus on my ambitions. With the development I've had, I'm immensely motivated to continue pursuing skiing. I haven't shown what I'm capable of on the ski track and have set new goals for myself.
The first goal is the World Championships in Planica, and after that, Ellen takes one season at a time.
– But there's an Olympics in Italy in 2026 that's very tempting to continue towards, she smiles.
WEEK 10 – "Infrared sauna shortens recovery time"
– I've found out what happens to your body when you don't take an infrared sauna, says Ellen after 10 weeks on her infrared health journey. She had a break due to illness, and is surprised at what ailments returned when she stopped.
But, let's start at week 0. The cross-country skier primarily wanted to test the IR sauna for recovery, to see if it could be a tool to optimize her training routine and make her a better skier. Her answer to that is: YES!
– Based on what I've experienced, I think so. The sauna has delivered. It has become a great element in my daily life as a supplement to training and recovery. I see it as a useful tool and I have gotten a lot of joy from it in a short time.
Better recovery and softer skin
She mentions the experience after her first cycling interval, which she talked about in the previous update; how heavy her legs were when she sat in the sauna after the training session, and how much better they became afterwards.
– During the second training session that day, I could barely feel that I had done an interval. I got a clear answer that IR sauna shortens recovery time.
That she notices such a big difference after tough sessions is what has surprised Ellen the most. She is also fascinated by how much she sweats and how soft her skin becomes.
– If there's anyone in the room when I come out of the sauna, I just say, "Look at this! LOOK at this!"
Ellen laughs.
– The sweat is pouring off!
A tough six months with illness
However, it has been a tough six months for Ellen.
– I won't hide it. I've been very lucky before regarding illness and injury, but after the ankle fracture, it seems like I've gotten everything. A virus, probably RSV without it being confirmed, I've been picked up by an ambulance with severe abdominal pain – which was so extremely painful I thought I was going to die – and after that, I got COVID.
The abdominal pain was a ruptured ovarian cyst.
– The ruptured cyst and COVID happened between the last update and now, and therefore I have taken a break from the sauna.
It has been physically and mentally challenging.
– Every time I've really gotten into training and started to recognize my own body again, something new has come up. It gets a bit exhausting. The positive thing is that I've become quite good at rehabilitation, she laughs, and emphasizes that patience is the key to most things.
Infrared sauna, ankle fracture and dead fingers
A sauna break gave Ellen new surprises.
– First, I started feeling pain in my ankle again, which had disappeared after starting with the IR sauna. In addition, my dry skin returned. And dead fingers.
She has had dead fingers before, but hadn't thought about it in connection with her health journey, as recovery was the main focus.
– When I stopped taking sauna, I realized I hadn't had dead fingers while I was regularly using the sauna. Dead fingers and dry skin are concrete physical reactions that I can see. The ankle probably needs training stimuli too, but overall, I think it has a lot to do with blood circulation. That the sauna keeps the blood circulation going.
Ellen has started gentle rehabilitation and new sauna sessions again. Her ankle is better, her skin is not dry, and her dead fingers are gone.
A tool for well-being and recovery
She finds it delightful to sit in the sauna when she comes home from a cold and wet roller-ski trip. Unlike standing in the shower and turning the water hotter and hotter without feeling warm, she quickly experiences internal warmth when she sits stiff with cold in the sauna.
– And then I end up taking a cold shower instead, she smiles.
IR sauna has become a tool for well-being, as well as recovery.
– I get a sense of calm when I sit there. It's quite lovely.
She will definitely continue to use the IR sauna and looks forward to testing how it will be to use it after races.
– How will it help me recover for the next competition? That will be exciting.
Text: Trine Dahlman
Read the update on Ellen's health journey ONE YEAR AFTER!
