The Rí Sauna Optimiser
A Rí Research Publication
The Sauna Optimiser.
Six research-backed protocols for running your sauna the way serious athletes run their training. Free, 12 pages, sent straight to your inbox.
Most sauna advice comes from one of two places. A mate with strong opinions, or a supplement brand with something to sell you. Neither tends to include citations.
This is the other option. Six protocols, each drawn from peer-reviewed research, written in plain English, built for someone who already understands that recovery is a variable you programme, not a thing you fit in if there's time.
Pick the one that matches what you're training for. Follow it for a few weeks. See what happens.
The Six Protocols
Each one pulled from the actual research, with the source cited so you can read further if you want to.
Start Here
Minimum effective dose. One hour per week, split across 2-3 sessions, at 80°C. Enough to start seeing heat shock proteins, FOXO3 activation, and the dynorphin-to-endorphin rebound.
Ref: Hussain & Cohen, 2018, Evid Based Complement Alternat Med
Cardiovascular & Longevity
4-7 sessions per week, 20 minutes each, at 79°C or hotter. Over twenty years of Finnish longitudinal data: 50% lower cardiovascular mortality vs. one session or fewer.
Ref: Laukkanen et al., 2015, JAMA Internal Medicine
Growth Hormone
Four 30-minute rounds at 80°C, fasted, once every 10 days. Acute spike of 16x baseline growth hormone, measured post-session. Not a weekly protocol. A periodic one.
Ref: Kukkonen-Harjula & Kauppinen, 1988, J Appl Physiol
Cortisol Reset
Four sauna-to-cold contrast rounds. 15 minutes heat, 2 minutes cold, repeat. Use mid-training block, after a heavy week, or whenever the nervous system is stuck in sympathetic drive.
Ref: Kukkonen-Harjula et al., 1989, Eur J Appl Physiol
Cold Exposure
Not strictly sauna, but it belongs here. 11 minutes per week of deliberate cold (split into 2-4 bouts) drives brown fat conversion, improves insulin sensitivity, and elevates dopamine for hours.
Ref: Søberg et al., 2021, Cell Reports Medicine
Mood & Dopamine
Extended heat triggers dynorphin release. Stay past the moment it gets uncomfortable, and the brain upregulates mu-opioid receptor sensitivity. Mood baseline shifts for days.
Ref: Janssen et al., 2016, JAMA Psychiatry
Built on peer-reviewed research
Every protocol in this guide is sourced from published research in JAMA Internal Medicine, Cell Reports Medicine, JAMA Psychiatry, the European Journal of Applied Physiology, and the Finnish longitudinal sauna cohort studies running since the 1980s. Each citation is listed in the PDF.
Your training has a plan. Your recovery should too.
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Companion Product
The Rí Sauna Crown
The tool that lets you actually follow the protocols above. Merino wool, designed in Ireland. Drop 01, limited to 200.