30 days with a Sauna Blanket: What’s the Verdict?

It’s the end of September, which can only mean one thing.. it’s time to evaluate one month of using Hydragun’s HeatPod, the infrared sauna blanket. Saunas seem to be all the rage at the moment, with benefits touted for everything from sleep to longevity – but is this a tool that will stay in our recovery toolbox?

1. The Scientific Evidence - Does it actually work?

The health benefits of thermotherapy – high heat exposure for short periods – have been celebrated since the Ancient Greeks and Egyptians. Today the sauna capital of the world, thought to house over 3 million of them, is Finland.

The Finnish sauna, which is traditionally heated to 80-100C at 10-20% humidity, is the sauna type which has been subject to the most extensive research.

The health benefits of frequent use range from lower rates of heart disease, stroke, dementia, pain, respiratory illness and even mortality. For example, men aged 40 and above who used saunas at least 4 times a week were 65% less likely to develop dementia, and 62% less likely to develop stroke over 25 years than those using a sauna once a week or less (Laukkanen & Kunutsor 2024).

The benefits have been attributed to many different mechanisms, including lower blood pressure, improved circulation and cardiorespiratory function. Studies have also found boosts in immune function, glucose metabolism, muscle recovery and quality of life.

When you get hot, your blood vessels dilate, your blood pressure drops. Your heart pumps harder and faster, and your peripheral circulation increases. You sweat, muscles relax, endorphins get released. Within heat-stressed cells, heat shock proteins get activated which help to protect against DNA damage by counteracting oxidative stress, and reducing inflammation.

If you were exposed to heat stress all the time it could cause problems, but the key is short doses, several times a week. For optimal sauna benefits, researchers suggest that we can aim for 3-7 sessions per week, for 15-20 minutes.

Interestingly, these benefits seem to be over and above exercise, making it an ideal post exercise recovery tool.

With all this research, the sauna blanket probably ought to get 5 stars for evidence, BUT the problem is, that this is a new technology and most of the evidence was gathered from other types of sauna.

In the HeatPod’s favour is the fact that it heats up to 85C which is comparable to a Finnish sauna, albeit at zero humidity. Sauna blankets emit Far Infrared Radiation (FIR) that can penetrate deep into your body – you still sweat, and you still see the heart rate increases. While it’s plausible that we’ll still see similar benefits, I’m scoring the sauna blanket 4 out of 5, until we see some research validating this approach specifically.

Overall: EVIDENCE? ***** (5 STARS!)

2. Practicality factor: could this be part of your daily routine?

The HeatPod looks like a big padded sleeping bag. You take it out of the box (that was the hardest part), you plug it in, and within 10 minutes it’s up to temperature and ready to use. There’s a simple control you use to change the timing and temperature. That’s it. It folds up pretty small, and only weighs 8.5 kilograms so you could easily put it in the car for a weekend away.

The Heatpod is sold with a range of accessories – the pillow, a footpad and towelling insert. I definitely recommend the towel because it’s incredibly comfortable and it also means you can easily take it out to wash it, rather than wiping the entire sauna blanket.

Climbing into the sauna blanket feels like getting into a warm bath, or having a deliciously warm hug. It’s immediately comforting.

I also love the fact that you can do this and multitask. I frequently had a little nap, or sometimes read a book, listened to music, or just did some breathwork and relaxed.

In comparison to driving to a leisure centre, or even the lovely beach sauna near me, this was incredibly convenient. The HeatPod with towel insert is currently on sale for £599 in the UK. You get a 30 day risk free trial and an 18 month warranty. If you used it 3 times a week for 18 months, that would be around £2.50 per session, plus electricity costs. I actually think that’s pretty good value.

So, I’m going to give this 4 stars for practical feasibility – it loses a star for being too heavy and electricity-hungry to take in our boat across the Atlantic, but while at home, it’s increasingly becoming my go-to recovery tool.

PRACTICALITY: **** (4 STARS)

3. gROW Factor: How did 1 month of sauna use affect me? Did it help me gROW?

I’ve used the sauna blanket an average of 4 times a week, usually post exercise, but sometimes in the evening as part of my wind down routine, about an hour before going to sleep.

I wear a Whoop which tracks my sleep, strain, recovery and heart rate variability.

This month I’ve been regaining strength after breaking my collarbone in May so my exercise duration and intensity has been going up, with my average daily strain increasing by 1.1 since August.

Even so, my recovery score increased by +6%, heart rate variability by +2 points, and my sleep performance improved +4% to 85%.

How much of this is due to the sauna blanket? It’s so hard to say – after 2 weeks my sauna days were associated with a 4% increase in recovery, but by the end of the month, Whoop says that on average, logging sauna use only predicted a 1% higher recovery score the next day.

There was just so much other stuff going on I feel like this could be an underestimate.

I certainly felt as though I slept well after a sauna session and some research suggests that a sauna before bed leads to reduced muscle soreness (Ahokas et al 2023), faster sleep onset and more deep sleep (Engström et al 2024) – but results are inconsistent (Uhlig-Reche et al 2025). I’d recommend finishing your sauna at least an hour before bedtime, to allow the body to cool before you get into bed.

What WHOOP doesn’t tell you is how it feels, or how much benefit I’ve felt from taking time out to relax after a workout. As a sleep expert I’m always telling people to take time to pause and relax during the day, and this feels like a such a great way to do it.

So, did the the HeatPod help me gROW? I’m happy to give it 3 stars, with potential for more in the future with longer term, regular use.

gROW Factor: *** (3 STARS)

4. Feel Good Factor

Finally, I feel as though we ought to make room for a feel good factor, not least so that we get a nice round score out of 20. And honestly, more than once while peddling away on the turbo trainer or sweating on the erg, my only thought was – 5 more minutes and its sauna time!

I’ll be honest I went into this thinking it was a bit of a gimmick, but it is a definite thumbs up from me. And I’m really hoping they don’t want it back because I fully intend to keep using it.

FEEL GOOD FACTOR: ***** (5 STARS)

OVERALL SCORE: 16 out of 20

16/20 is a VERY strong start..

Stay tuned for the October recovery challenge..

Sophie Bostock

Dr. Sophie Bostock is a leading sleep scientist, TEDx speaker, and TV expert with a PhD in health psychology. She has represented Great Britain in coastal rowing, canoed 2,000 km from Canada to Alaska, and rowed around Great Britain for the British Heart Foundation. Her pioneering work explores the link between sleep, stress, and peak performance — making her a unique force in the world of endurance sport.

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October 29, 2025 Vicki Anstey