Recovery with an IR sauna: Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen
Biathlon star Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen grew up with a sauna at home in Geilo and has made active use of it in his recovery routine. When he moved to Oslo, an IR SaunaPod Maxi from Radiant Health came to the rescue.
"I've always loved saunas and thought it was a shame not to have one in my flat in Oslo. So I wished for a sauna for Christmas last year, and I got one from my gommo (grandmother)."
He was surprised by how effective and hot the sauna tent was.
"It's completely on a par with having your whole body inside a scorching hot traditional Finnish sauna. It's fascinating. I didn't think I would sweat on my forehead with my head outside, but there's no difference. You sweat quite a lot."
Recovery and rest: often more important than the training itself
Vetle can look back on a dream season in 2021/22, with five individual podium finishes and two wins in the World Cup. The season peaked when he secured Olympic gold for Norway in the biathlon relay in Beijing.
To perform at his best, he believes recovery and rest are just as important as the training itself, and often more important. Sauna is a tool he uses to make recovery more efficient and shorten recovery time.
"With over 25 hours of training a week at the most, you have to be really good at recovery to perform optimally. Many people find it easy to train the same amount, but what may be difficult is having the patience, and the courage, to recover well enough and let the body work with the training."
It's not necessarily how much you train that separates being the best from not managing to be the best, but how good you are at relaxing and recovering. It's about having surplus energy and ending up on the plus side.
"When we train, we build up a lot of lactate in our legs and arms. Skiing is a full-body sport. We use every single gram of muscle we have and get a lot of lactic acid. That's where the sauna comes in."
Active and passive recovery
With the sauna, you get both active and passive recovery at the same time.
"You rest while your circulation increases and more oxygen reaches the muscles. Lactic acid builds up when the muscles don't get enough oxygen, and the muscles become 'sour'."
Sauna greatly increases blood circulation, delivers more oxygen to sore muscles and can help break down lactic acid, thereby shortening and improving recovery time.
"With as much as we train, it's important to be ready for the next session that same afternoon, and the day after. It never ends. Elite athletes are the extreme part of society when it comes to working towards goals and thinking about consequences. Nothing is left to chance."
An efficient daily routine and portable solutions
"Is making your daily routine more efficient something you think about a lot?"
"Oh yes, we think about it almost every minute of the day. We are very, very careful that everything should be as efficient as possible. We want to use as little energy as possible on things outside the sport, and recovery should go as smoothly as possible."
Even trips to the shop are carefully planned.
"When we're in the car, for example, we do the shopping on the way home from training so we avoid the extra trip and save those extra minutes. That way we get more time to either train or recover. When we travel, we don't arrive at the airport until we absolutely have to."
It's all in the details, which is also why he often chooses portable solutions for heat and recovery in a busy daily life.
Looking forward to the journey with Vetle
When the founder of Radiant Health, Siw Hansson Kaulbach, heard that Vetle was a keen sauna enthusiast, she got in touch.
"I think it's so cool that my infrared products can help optimise Vetle's training and competition days," she says.
"With so many days of travel, competitions and training camps abroad, the portable infrared saunas are perfect to take along on the road too. I'm incredibly excited about this journey with Vetle."
Disclaimer: The content of this article is intended as general information only. Research on infrared heat and red light therapy is still evolving, and individual results may vary. Our products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease. Contact a doctor or other qualified healthcare professional if you have questions about your own health, diagnosis or treatment.
Text: Trine Dahlman
