Master the 200 Rule for Your Sauna

If you don’t know this rule, DON’T BUY A HUUM SAUNA!

I urge the average person buying a HUUM heater to know the 200 rule and be CONSTANTLY aware of this anytime they are in the sauna. A good hygrometer costs 12 dollars and you hang it on the wall. You just add the temperature of the sauna room and the humidity, and if it goes over 200 then you know you should either turn the temperature down or stop pouring water on the heater. Going OVER 200 HAS THE OPPOSITE RESULTS YOU ARE PROBABLY WANTING IN A SAUNA.

We have the HUUM heater turned up to the highest level and pouring water on the rocks. Then we have it set at the same temperature but with a fan and see if the fan is the key to preventing the sauna from breaking the 200 rule.

If going over 200 and you want to keep your core body temperature 3 degrees higher or the artificial fever, having the heater up so high and having it steamy is not a good thing. Having a heart rate up so high and sweating heavily just reduces blood volume and dehydrates a person. At this point, no more water-soluble toxins are being released. First of all, the toxins have to be released from the interstitial fluid to be removed in a sauna. Longer sessions or hotter sessions will do it. The liver can only metabolize so many fat-soluble toxins and just sweating twice as much only releases water and screws up the electrolyte balance.

For the people who can handle saunas rated over 200, the safest way is to drink lots of electrolytes before the session, do EWOT at the point cardiac drift gets you out of breath, and definitely do what I do: I sit on my towel with a mat under it that keeps my voltage of my body at least 50 millivolts higher than it would be. Doing these 3 things are the only way I can break the 200 rule and have a 30-minute session. I only do this once about every 10 days.  

I get the best results when the sauna is kept at or close to a 200 rating. Not any above that. That is, for the majority of the weekly sessions. Best results happen when the core is 3 degrees higher for a sustained 15 to 30 minutes. Longer is not better. For those that can’t handle it, switching from a cold plunge to the sauna can help.

For those who are disciplined, you are not doing this while drinking water during the session. If you're drinking water the whole time, that defeats the purpose, and many people stay there 45 minutes to an hour but their core never stays at the 3-degree fever.

Also, I urge people to try both types of sessions: having a really hot sauna but only 10% to 20% humidity, and on some days, having a not-so-hot sauna but having lots of humidity. So if the room is at 100% humidity and the temperature is at 100 degrees, that’s already at 200.

For those who are not going to use steam in their sauna and using it more for detox than any other reason, I recommend getting a visceral heater where you have an armature that brings it right up to your perineal peritoneal pelvic fat.

Notes to consider:

• If you can stay in the sauna longer than 15 minutes at a time, it is not hot enough or the relative humidity is not high enough. If you have to take a break before 10 minutes, then it is too hot, even if not breaking the 200 rule.
• If you want to stay in for 30 to 45 minutes, the way to get the benefits is to create a “bio sauna.” This is when the sauna is at a low temperature and the humidity is very high. It makes you think it’s really hot due to the low latent heat and high heat coefficient, but it’s only tricking you.

The temperature is at the lowest setting but the humidity is really high. Show the person after 15 minutes and then after 30 minutes.

Know your attitude towards your sauna. There are 2 types of attitudes you can have when going in the sauna: Are you the type that wants to relax and enjoy the sauna and just chill out? You aren’t concerned about health benefits even though you know you are getting them. The other way to view your sauna is as a workout or detox tool. You are trying to biohack and maximize the benefits of the sauna the best you can. Many people don’t like being borderline uncomfortable during their sauna session. Most people don’t have the discipline.

• Electricity can cost a lot just to heat the sauna up for an hour just to go in for 10 or 15 minutes. I like to do three 10 to 15-minute sessions and take a cool shower or do my ice bath. I repeat this 3 times and then I feel like I spent the 2 dollars or so heating my sauna up better. I feel much better after doing 3 sessions back to back than just one session per day.
• Breaking the 200 rule — If you are going to pour water on the rocks and have a high-humidity sauna with high temperatures, the humidity causes the skin to sweat less and hold heat in the body. If the body can’t sweat properly it can cause the body to overheat too quickly.
• If using the sauna at 170 to 190 degrees like most people do, I do not recommend pouring 80 ml of water on the rocks at once. This will definitely break the 200 rule.
• Get a scale — I always weigh myself after my sauna sessions. Sometimes I lose 2 pounds of water and when doing intense sessions I can lose around 5 pounds of water weight.
• Pouring water — Don’t pour too much water on the rocks all at once. This will cause a heat wave and too much latent heat will go into the room at once. For those that have studied Brownian motion in high school physics, you may have remembered what happens to water when it is heated. I know how to avoid heat traps in the sauna and this is very easy to fix.

When pouring water on the rocks, the hot steam makes it feel hotter but the sauna is not actually hotter. For those that have studied relative humidity vs. absolute humidity will know about this. The heat wave should feel hot but not uncomfortable. This is why the marine-grade floor fan is so important.