Americans, stop going to sauna with your clothes on
Seriously, it’s strange
It’s the weirdest thing I’ve heard in a while. My boyfriend and I were living in Las Vegas a couple of months back and were frequent gym goers. Luckily there was also a sauna one could go to afterwards.
I love the sauna. It’s the best feeling to have your muscles and mind relax after a workout session, not to mention the baby soft skin afterwards and the added benefits of increasing your human growth hormone levels.
I guess the other local tenants were not that into sauna as the one in the women’s locker room was almost always empty. I did occasionally run into a few females in the changing room but no one was ever even changing clothes there — looks like they were there just to have a break. The rare times when another female happened to be in the changing room when I stripped down for sauna I did get the feeling that the other person was generally slightly uncomfortable but that just feels to be the norm: people on general don’t seem to be very comfortable with the naked human body. Even large gyms have separate changing cabins in the changing rooms.
On the men’s side it was a different story though. People were going to the sauna — fully clothed.
My boyfriend described to me an account when a clearly really fit big guy walks into the sauna with all his gym clothes on, his headphones on and his shoes on!
This did not happen just once but several times and by several different people. On each occasion, the men were sitting in the heat next to my boyfriend with his towel, with their tech gear and shoes. Does something not feel off here?
Some of these dudes even entered the sauna before their workout and then started to lift weights or do their bench presses with their already soaked clothes on.
Is it a case of “See how sweaty I am from all the working out?”
Do you not care about personal hygiene?
I can get behind understanding why some would not care about their phone or headphones getting ruined by the heat and humidity. It’s a consumerist world after all. (But on a serious note: don’t do it, it gets ruined!)
However, getting your clothes all wet and sweaty in a sauna likely does you more harm than good.
I know there are some crazy weight-loss methods out there that advocate wrapping yourself into film, going into sauna and sweating all the fat out.
In reality, you just lose water.
Even if you were into that, this does not work with your clothes on! The toxins and dead skin that you sweat out will just attach themselves on the inside of your clothes and when you then continue wearing these same clothes, you’ve just made sure that all this waste finds it’s way back into your body.
This is because your pores open up in the sauna — and when you now treat these open pores with your own waste from inside your clothes, rash and pimples are quick to follow!
Not to mention, no one wants to work out on a bench that’s just been sat on by a super sweaty person. At least have some respect for others if not for yourself!
Going to the sauna is not sexy
I realize part of why this is happening is cultural: sauna is more of a Nordic thing and other cultures may not have a clue what’s it all about. Well, here to put the story straight: sauna is a way to relax your body and mind, it improves circulation, increases the levels of human growth hormone, softens the skin and cleanses your whole body.
People generally go there naked, with a towel on or with a swimsuit. All these are acceptable versions.
However, a bigger reason why someone might choose to stay fully clothed in a heated room is likely the whole shyness factor or the idea that sauna is somehow a sexy place.
Well, it’s not.
Sauna is filled with so much heat that everyone there will be too over-heated to think of anything else than “Did I drink enough water before coming in?” and “Should I drink more?”
Sure, it can be a social place as well but trust me, absolutely no one cares about how anyone else looks in a sauna. You’ll all be sweating and just thinking how much longer you can bare the heat.
On a side-note, I’ve once been invited to a large birthday party where everyone went to the sauna naked. There were around 120 people at the party, I only knew the host and the sauna complex was huge. That was a place where I wanted to keep my clothes (towel) on.
I remember walking into the sauna with my towel on and being super surprised to see absolutely everyone stark naked. Men and women together. People were making introductions, small talk etc. After some small talk I quickly excused myself and decided that was not for me. So you see, even someone used to sauna gets embarrassed when outside the gym and not expecting mixed gender nudity.
Last note about shoes
Why, oh why the shoes on? The weirdest part about the men in sauna for me was the shoes. I just don’t get it.
It’s dirty and and filled with bacteria and so unhygienic.
This is a whole other topic but wearing shoes inside the house it pretty much on the same level as keeping shoes on inside the sauna for me. It’s just incomprehensible why someone would do that: why bring all the dirt from outside into your own house? Or even worse, into someone else’s house. Do you enjoy washing the floor every day or what’s that all about?
If anyone has a great answer for this, please educate me.
And remember, sauna is not a place for clothes.
— ABOUT THE AUTHOR —
Eeva Metssalu is a freelance writer with a lot of international experience. She has lived in Wales, France, Estonia, China, Singapore, the US and writes about her observations as well as experiences from across the globe.
She has a degree in Political Science as well as Mandarin and has worked in the European Parliament, in a tech startup TransferWise as well as founded her own organization to educate youth on international issues.
