Acute Effects of High-Intensity Interval Exercise While Wearing a Sauna Suit on Energy Expenditure and Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption

Abstract Matthews, ARD, Astorino, TA, Crocker, GH, and Sheard, AC. Acute effects of high-intensity interval exercise while wearing a sauna suit on energy expenditure and excess post-exercise oxygen consumption. J Strength Cond Res 36(9): 2427–2433, 2022—The use of sauna suits has increased because of claims that they enhance weight loss and increase body temperature during exercise. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine changes in energy expenditure (EE) and excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) in response to high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE) while wearing a sauna suit. Twelve recreationally active men and women age = (28.7 ± 6.0 years) initially completed assessment of resting metabolic rate and maximal oxygen uptake. On two separate days, subjects completed HIIE consisting of ten 1-minute intervals at 85% peak power output, both with and without a sauna suit. Oxygen consumption, heart rate, and core temperature were continuously measured during and 1 hour after exercise. Energy expenditure during (285 ± 57 kcal vs. 271 ± 58 kcal) and post-exercise (123 ± 30 kcal vs. 113 ± 16 kcal) was significantly higher ( p = 0.025) with a sauna suit than without a sauna suit. However, EPOC (6.19 ± 4.46 L of O 2 vs. 4.25 ± 3.36 L of O 2 ; p = 0.05) was not significantly different 1 hour after exercise, and core temperature was similar ( p = 0.62) between conditions. Fat oxidation was significantly increased for 60 minutes after HIIE with a sauna suit ( p = 0.009). Wearing a sauna suit during HIIE elicits greater EE vs. not wearing a sauna suit, but the increase of 23 kcal may not benefit weight loss.