How Long Should You Spend in a Sauna? A Practical Guide
It's one of the most common questions we get at Urban Heat. And the honest answer is: it depends. But that's not very useful on its own, so here's a practical framework - grounded in the research and in what we actually see working for people.
Start with 'listen to your body' - but here's a framework
For first-timers, we don't give a rigid number. Bodies respond differently, especially in the first few sessions as you adapt to the heat.
What we do give is a structure: 10 to 15 minutes in the sauna, around one minute in the cold plunge, then a rest period before repeating. Most people do two to three rounds in a one-hour session.
That rest period matters. It's not filler between rounds - it's when your body actually rebounds from the cold and prepares for the next heat cycle. Sitting in the lounge for a few minutes, breathing, letting your heart rate settle. Don't skip it.
Over time, as your body adapts, you might find you can comfortably extend to 15 or 20 minutes per round. That's normal. The point isn't to push duration - it's to build familiarity with how heat feels, and gradually increase your tolerance without forcing it.
What does the research actually say?
The most cited evidence comes from long-running Finnish studies tracking sauna use over years and decades. The findings consistently point to frequency and accumulated weekly time as the variables that correlate with the strongest health outcomes - cardiovascular health, stress reduction, improved sleep, reduced all-cause mortality.
Andrew Huberman, drawing on this research, has referenced a target of around 57 minutes of sauna time per week as a threshold associated with meaningful benefit. That number gets cited a lot - sometimes as gospel, sometimes with confusion about what to do with it practically.
The key thing to understand is that 57 minutes is a weekly total, not a single session target. How you get there matters less than whether you get there consistently.
How to actually get to 57 minutes a week?
This is where it becomes more useful to think in terms of your own schedule rather than optimising a single session.
If you're going twice a week - which is what I'd recommend for most people - two sessions of roughly 30 minutes in the heat across two or three rounds gets you there comfortably. That's the sweet spot: achievable, not extreme, and sustainable over time.
If you can only get there once a week, 57 minutes of heat time in a single session is a lot to ask. A more realistic target is 40 minutes across three rounds, with proper rest between each. That's still a meaningful dose, and it compounds if you do it every week without fail.
I sauna two to three times a week myself, and my sessions run to about 30 minutes of heat time across two rounds. I've been doing this long enough that it doesn't feel like a target I'm chasing - it's just what a session looks like. Getting to that point takes a few months of consistent use.
What if you can't hit that number?
Do it anyway. A 20-minute session once a week is not optimal, but it's significantly better than nothing - and it's a habit you can build on. The worst outcome is treating the 57-minute figure as a threshold below which sauna use isn't worth bothering with. That's not what the research says.
Consistency compounds. A shorter session done regularly will outperform a longer session done sporadically. If your schedule only allows one visit a week, make it reliable first, and worry about duration second.
What you're optimising for also shapes how much this matters. If you're primarily using sauna for stress and sleep, the regularity of the practice probably matters more than hitting a specific weekly minute count. If you're using it for cardiovascular health or recovery from training, accumulated heat exposure over time is more directly relevant - and that's where the weekly total becomes a more useful target.
When people push too long - and what to do
Staying in the sauna too long is the most common mistake, and the signs are pretty clear: dizziness, heart palpitations, a sudden sense of feeling unwell. It comes on faster than people expect, particularly in the first few sessions before the body has adapted.
If that happens, the protocol is simple. Get out of the sauna. Breathe slowly. Sit down. If dizziness persists, lie flat with your legs raised against a wall - this helps blood return to the brain. Don't rush to the cold plunge. Drink water and give your body time to stabilise.
It's worth saying: this isn't a reason to fear the sauna. It's a reason to respect it. Duration isn't an endurance test, and more time in the heat beyond a certain point doesn't add benefit - it just adds stress your body doesn't need. Ten minutes done properly is more valuable than twenty minutes done badly.
How long per round vs total time - does the split matter?
In practice, the difference between a 15-minute round and a 20-minute round is less significant than the difference between doing two rounds and doing three. Total accumulated heat time is the variable that matters most, and you can get there through different round structures.
Where people get confused is by conflating duration with intensity, or by trying to optimise a single session without thinking about the week as a whole. If you're spending 15 minutes per round and doing three rounds twice a week, you're already well above the research threshold. If you're spending 25 minutes in a single round once a week and feeling depleted afterwards, you're probably working against yourself.
The cleaner way to think about it: build a session structure that you can sustain and repeat, where you leave feeling better than when you arrived. That's the benchmark.
If you're in South London and want to try it for yourself, you can book a session at Urban Heat - [book a session here]. If you're new, our team will walk you through the protocol on the day.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a beginner spend in a sauna?
Start with 10 minutes per round and see how you feel. If you're comfortable, build to 15 minutes over your first few sessions. There's no benefit to pushing longer before your body has adapted - and the adaptation happens faster than most people expect.
Is it better to do one long round or multiple shorter ones?
Multiple shorter rounds with cold plunge and rest between them. The thermal contrast between heat and cold is where much of the benefit comes from, and repeating that cycle two or three times per session is more effective than a single extended stay in the heat.
What are the signs you've been in the sauna too long?
Dizziness, heart palpitations, nausea, or a sudden sense of feeling off. If any of these occur, leave the sauna immediately, breathe slowly, sit or lie down, and hydrate. Don't push through it.
How often should you use a sauna to see benefits?
Twice a week is the practical sweet spot for most people - enough to accumulate meaningful weekly heat exposure and build the habit without requiring a daily commitment. Once a week consistently will still produce benefits over time; it just takes longer to compound.
