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Winter has a way of making movement feel harder than it needs to. The cold stiffens things up. Motivation dips. Recovery takes longer. And the habits that felt easy in summer start to slide.
This post is about infrared sauna and Pilates, which help with all of that. They will serve as a recovery ritual that keeps your body moving and feeling good through the colder months.
What Infrared Sauna Actually Supports
An infrared sauna works differently from a traditional sauna. Instead of heating the air around you, it uses infrared light to warm the body directly. The result is a gentler heat that penetrates more deeply and tends to feel more tolerable, especially for people who find conventional saunas overwhelming.
Recovery and muscle soreness
After a demanding Pilates session, muscles need time and the right conditions to recover. Infrared heat supports circulation, which helps move metabolic waste out of tired tissue and bring fresh blood in. Harvard Health notes that regular sauna use is associated with reduced muscle soreness and improved recovery between sessions. For people who train consistently, that means less time feeling stiff and more time moving well.
Nervous system regulation
One of the less talked about benefits of infrared sauna is what it does for the nervous system. Gentle, sustained heat encourages a parasympathetic response, the rest and digest state that many people struggle to access in a busy day. If you carry tension through your shoulders, jaw, or upper back, thirty minutes in the sauna often does more to release that than an hour of stretching. Better Health Victoria highlights the role of heat therapy in supporting stress recovery and overall wellbeing.
Consistency through winter
Cold weather reduces motivation and increases the perceived effort of exercise. A warm, restorative session at the end of a winter week gives you something to look forward to, which makes showing up more likely. Recovery rituals are underrated as consistency tools. If your body feels good, you come back.
Timing: Before or After Training
The question of whether to use the sauna before or after Pilates comes up a lot. The answer depends on what you’re trying to get out of each session.
After training
This is the most common and most straightforward approach. Finish your Pilates class, let your heart rate settle, then spend 20 to 30 minutes in the sauna. The heat supports the recovery process, helps muscles release residual tension, and gives your nervous system a chance to downregulate before the rest of your day.
At Polestar Brookvale, pairing a Pilates class with an infrared sauna session is one of the most popular ways members structure their week. It works because it requires no extra travel or time planning. You are already here.
Before training
Using the sauna before Pilates can help with warmth and mobility on particularly cold mornings. Ten to fifteen minutes is enough to raise tissue temperature and make movement feel more accessible. Keep it short. A long sauna session before training increases your cardiovascular load and can leave you feeling flat rather than ready.
On rest days
Sauna on a rest day is genuinely restorative. It keeps the body warm and supported without adding training load. For people managing a high workload, caring for family, or dealing with winter fatigue, a standalone sauna session mid-week can be the difference between feeling run-down and feeling recovered.
Hydration and Safety Notes
An infrared sauna is well tolerated by most people, but a few simple habits make the experience consistently positive.
Drink water before you go in
Come hydrated. An infrared sauna produces significant sweat, and starting the session already low on fluids makes it less comfortable and less effective. A large glass of water 30 minutes before your session is enough. Bring water in with you and sip as needed.
Know your limits
Start with 20 minutes if you’re new to an infrared sauna. Most people work up to 30 to 40 minutes over a few sessions. If you feel lightheaded, overly hot, or uncomfortable, step out. There is no benefit to pushing through discomfort in a recovery session. The goal is to feel improvement.
Who should check with a professional first
If you’re pregnant, managing a cardiovascular condition, or taking medications that affect heat tolerance, check with your GP before using an infrared sauna. For most healthy adults, it’s a low-risk, high-benefit addition to a regular movement routine.
A Sample Week: Pilates, Sauna and Rest
This is one way to structure a winter week that balances movement, recovery, and rest without overcomplicating things.
Monday
Reformer Pilates class followed by 25 minutes in the infrared sauna. A solid start to the week that sets the tone without depleting you.
Tuesday
Infrared sauna only. No Pilates. This is your mid-week recovery session. Twenty-five to thirty minutes of heat, no training load, just circulation support and nervous system downregulation. It is a short investment that makes Wednesday’s session feel significantly more accessible.
Wednesday
Studio session with a focus on any areas of tightness or technique refinement. This is your higher attention session of the week. No sauna on this day if the session was demanding. Rest and hydrate instead.
Thursday
A Pilates class or studio session, depending on how your body is feeling. If Wednesday’s session was demanding, keep Thursday lighter. A mat class or a gentler Reformer session works well here. The goal is to keep moving without adding more fatigue before the Friday session.
Friday
Mat Pilates class followed by 30 minutes in the sauna. End the working week feeling recovered rather than depleted. This session is about maintenance and wellbeing, not pushing hard.
Weekend
One active rest day, including a walk and gentle stretching, or nothing at all. One complete rest day. Winter is not the time to train through fatigue. It is the time to build a sustainable rhythm that carries you through to spring.
If you’re new to Pilates and want to build this kind of routine from the start, the 28-day Kickstarter is a good entry point. Unlimited classes for 28 days give you the chance to find your rhythm before committing to a longer membership.
How to Book at Polestar Brookvale
Infrared sauna sessions are available as singles, or in packs of 3, 5, and 10. Sessions have a three-month expiry. Singles and doubles are available, so you can bring a partner or come on your own.
Pilates classes run six days a week across Reformer, Mat, and Power Plate formats. Maximum 12 people per class. You will not get lost in the room.
Full pricing for both is available on the pricing page. If you want help working out which combination suits your schedule and goals, get in touch, and we’ll point you in the right direction.
Recovery Is Not Optional. It Is Part of the Plan.
Training without recovery is just accumulated fatigue. The people who move consistently over the years are not the ones who push hardest. They are the ones who have figured out how to feel good between sessions.
Infrared sauna and Pilates are a simple, low-effort combination that supports exactly that. Warm the body. Move it well. Let it recover. Repeat.
Book your sauna session and add a Reformer class that same week. See how your body responds when recovery is built in from the start.
