Health Fitness Briefing
-to-
Medical, Health and Fitness Professionals

By
HRTfit Sauna Corporation

© HRTfit Sauna Corporation 2007

 

 

 

Statement of Purpose

...HRTfit Sauna Corporation is seeking your professional review as part of the medical, health and fitness community regarding our health fitness strategy. Our company is committed to promoting health and wellness through frequent use of infrared saunas for reasons detailed within this briefing.  We have reviewed the engineering, safety features and technical enhancements in test saunas to provide individuals confident recommendations for use of an infrared sauna as a safe and effective cardiovascular exercise. HRTfit Sauna is committed to support our customers in understanding and monitoring their progress and achieve their goals for long-term health.

...We recommend our customers initiate medical supervision or remain under medical supervision as a fundamental component of managing their health specifically when using an infrared sauna as part of their exercise behavior.  Our web based HRTfit Charts are made available to anyone wishing to measure, track and graph their heart rate, blood pressures, weight, body fat %,  % water, and blood glucose levels.  HRTfit Charts can be printed and shared with your physician, health and fitness professional or simply used to reinforce your progress and stay on track.

...Our testing and research began in 2004 and we believe home based infrared saunas represent an important option for improving health fitness.  Please keep a critical frame of reference and compare our health fitness strategy, method and results to other health fitness programs you are familiar with.

 

 

What is a HRTfit Sauna ?

HRTfitSauna refers to select commercially available infrared saunas with specific
technical features identified since our testing began in 2004. These technical features address the application of sauna therapy as an important option in managing one’s health fitness. Currently, HRTfit Sauna Corp. continues its research and is preparing a course of instruction on Health Fitness through frequent and long-term use of infrared saunas. In the interim, we are seeking your critique as medical, health and fitness professionals.

Our focus is to solve for the health fitness equation represented above. The U.S. Surgeon General’s landmark report on national health and fitness in 1996 and subsequent research by the N.I.H. identify a public health dilemma. Their reports highlight an overstatement of requirements for achieving health benefits within recommendations made by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) in the mid-1980’s and early 1990’s. For a decade, health policy makers have back peddled from these unrealistically high standards for the broad population. Yet, 86% of the population is apparently willing to risk the consequence of declining health rather than investing in the ACSM’s recommended number of hours or intensity of exercise. (even revised lowered standards). Lacking sufficient measurable success, recent health policy initiatives have lurched into the mindset of prohibition. “If we can’t convince you to adopt healthy behaviors, we can at least prohibit, by regulation or law, select behaviors and products that impact your health”.

There are stumbling blocks to maintaining hours of exercise per week that include; time constraints, concern about pain, injury or medical conditions, inconvenience and competing priorities like family and other social obligations, standard work day fatigue, old-fashion skepticism, even the weather, etc. A small minority has adopted additional moderate activity in their lifestyle, like walking or home and garden activities, yet the gap between life expectancy and healthy life expectancy is trending negative. (The United States ranks 24th in healthy life expectancy despite our lead position in medical technology, biochemistry and clinical practice) HRTfit Sauna Corporation is promoting a new strategy: No sacrifice… no discipline… just relax and get healthy.

Depicted below are the relative gains in health benefits from a moderately active lifestyle versus only modest additional gains achieved through high physical fitness and high intensity exercise.

Improved health, with regard to degenerative or chronic diseases, is achieved by shifting from a sedentary lifestyle to a moderately active lifestyle. That is, a lifestyle defined by its moderation in exercise, diet and other behavioral factors. Developing health fitness in methods most find simple and convenient to begin and maintain is the objective of our research. Adopting a lifestyle of health fitness is more likely when you (1) see short-term results and (2) are not required abnormal levels of discipline or sacrifice associated with high intensity exercise or too restricted a diet. Both are too much like work and we have enough of that already. Obvious exceptions would be preparation for athletic competition and those who earn a living using physical fitness or physical presentation.

Regarding motivation to become healthier, nothing motivates like short-term results. It is part of the human condition. Side stepping requirements for discipline and sacrifice to achieve short-term results leads to long-term results in health fitness because the method is sustainable.

As a rule, self-discipline and self-control are over prescribed and underachieved. Why not graduate from the themes of competition, discipline, and sacrifice so prevalent in health and fitness strategies. Most people are not responding, particularly young people. “No pain-no gain” logic is outdated socially as a strategy for promoting health fitness.

We submit the following graphs that depict six-month usage of a HRTfit Sauna
averaging four sessions per week over a six-month period in 2006. Consider how this method promotes health fitness and side steps many stumbling blocks to sustainable results.

The following graph shows a plot of heart rate versus systolic and diastolic blood
pressures during six months of sauna sessions for our 54-year-old test subject. Measurements were taken every five minutes during sessions that lasted 40 – 65 minutes. (Most sessions lasting 40 minutes) All data over the six-month period was averaged relative to measurements taken at the same time interval during each session.

Please note that heart rate gradually increases from low to moderate exercise intensity throughout the sauna session. Unlike any other exercise regimen, however, one experiences normal and low normal blood pressures. There is a measurable risk associated with inducing high blood pressure through large muscle exercise. In part, that is why blood pressure is frequently monitored during cardiac rehabilitation. The risk is discounted and seldom addressed by fitness experts. There is no positive way to spin the risk factor associated with induced high blood pressure during exercise. Instead, a strategy of discipline and sacrifice in exercise and diet is sold to achieve an improved blood pressure profile or heart muscle capacities. (Advocates of discipline and sacrifice as a health strategy are expert in the psychology of guilt and circular argument)

So, why not exercise your heart and maintain blood pressure levels in a safety zone? The short answer may well be (1) there is but one known way (unfortunately, not well known), and (2) its too easy and pain-free. (Too convenient and pain-free for muscles and joints, leads to less use of prescription and over the counter drugs and doesn’t necessarily require a professional attendant).

In the following graphs, changes in body composition and weight loss are plotted for our test subject during the same six-month period as heart rate and blood pressure data graphed above.

Two of the four variables to the health fitness equation are cardiovascular exercise and body composition. Our research places its primary emphasis on effective and safe cardiovascular exercise, and a secondary emphasis on healthy body composition. Decreased total body weight can occur as body composition changes but the goal is a longer, healthier life as opposed to a reduced pant or dress size. In fact, our test subject did experience dramatic changes in both body composition and body weight in just six months.

Is it likely we have a unique test subject? Unfortunately, he is not unique enough. He is hypertensive, was overweight, before age 50 had angioplasty, stents, bypass surgery and has a significant list of orthopedic problems. In these regards he is much like a growing majority of the population. His physiological response to heat, however, is more like 95% of the population. Your body’s response to heat is metabolic where numerous naturally occurring chemical reactions all require energy. Approximately 0.58 kcal (Calories) per gram of sweat are used during the body’s natural response to cool itself. By measuring body weight changes associated with water loss during his sauna sessions, we calculate a range of 1200-1500 Calories used by our heat acclimated subject during each sauna session. A heat acclimated subject would anticipate sweating as much as 1 - 2 liters / hour as the body becomes effective at cooling itself in response to the sauna. Heat acclimation will generally be achieved in two to six weeks of HRTfit Sauna sessions.

With other variables held constant, (1) responsible and light to moderately intense cardio exercise at safe blood pressure levels, (2) change in body composition, and (3) weight loss associated with lowering the percentage of body fat are all predictable and reproducible using the HRTfit Sauna.

One other measurement is provided for your consideration. Following the six-month period of sauna sessions, our subject was tested at Wooster Community Hospital Health Point for Cardiorespiratory Fitness using a one-mile walk test estimate of VO2max.

Cardiorespiratory Fitness Test

The Institutes test subject, a 54-year-old male was tested at Wooster Community Hospital Health Point on August 19, 2006 following a six-month period of HRTfit Sauna sessions. No other physical exercise, during the six-month period, was permitted beyond the moderate activity associated with his daily work life as a small business manager. Indeed, the test subject has not undertaken any large muscle physical exercise regimen since his heart surgery in 2000. The test subject currently weighs 200lbs and completed a 1.0-mile walk test in 13 minutes 10 seconds with an exercise heart rate of 112 beats per minute. The estimated VO2max would be:

W = 200 lbs G = 1 (male gender = 1) T = 13:10 = 13 + (10 / 60) = 13.167

HR = 112 bpm

VO2max = 88.768 – (0.0957*W) + (8.892*G) – (1.4537*T) – (0.1194*HR)

VO2max = 88.768 – (0.0957*200) + (8.892*1) – (1.4537*13.167) -(0.1194*112)

VO2max = 46

Fitness Classification
(Based on VO2max in ml/kg/min)

 

To this point, we have focused on cardiovascular exercise and body composition as two important variables in the health fitness equation. Muscular flexibility and muscular strength are also important in achieving health fitness. Again, a HRTfit Sauna improves results in developing muscular flexibility and strength.

Our research group, the Institute for Health Fitness Technologies, has designed a muscular flexibility routine recommended for use during your sauna session. The routine is approximately twenty minutes in length and has the advantage of developing flexibility while all moving parts are warm and comfortable with good blood flow. A light weight – high rep lifting routine is being tested using equipment you can attach to your sauna or stand alone close by. A
targeted 15-minute lifting routine is made more effective because you are warm and loose from your sauna session. Metabolic rate is high from the sauna session and a short lifting routine extends that rate thus burning additional calories. You would not expect the same increased metabolic rate if you lifted the same routine cold (i.e. lifting as an isolated exercise event). Why not build strength while you burn calories at a higher rate than the exercise alone can account for?

We encourage you to consider this information at a personal level as well as from a professional perspective. The HRTfit strategy for health fitness is comprehensive and initial data supports a favorable comparison between these results and virtually any fitness strategy. It also represents a paradigm shift in exercise physiology similar in scope to the quality movement in manufacturing of the 1980’s. Following your review and whether you support or reject concept or product, your professional opinion matters to us. If you can find additional time to offer your opinion on this data and outline of health fitness strategy, your opinion will be given serious review and your questions, if any, will be answered. If you are interested in additional data, please access our website, hrtfitsauna.com, or contact us directly.

Thanks again for your time and counsel.

Charles M. Davis
(330) 683-3300 or fax (330) 683-3355
chuckdavis@hrtfitsauna.com
web: hrtfitsauna.com