--- title: Gym: Why You Shouldn't Use a Steam Room After Working Out description: Stay safe canonical: https://time.com/3971955/steam-room-after-working-out/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-24T21:27:40.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:57:13.813Z og:title: Why You Shouldn't Use a Steam Room After Working Out og:description: Stay safe og:url: https://time.com/3971955/steam-room-after-working-out/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1a5e7a2ebbdc0c10/6987789ce53aba58bb4d6e44/health-weight-exercise-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1926 og:image:height: 1083 og:image:alt: TIME.com stock photos Weight Loss Health Exercise Weights og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why You Shouldn't Use a Steam Room After Working Out twitter:description: Stay safe twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1a5e7a2ebbdc0c10/6987789ce53aba58bb4d6e44/health-weight-exercise-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why You Shouldn't Use a Steam Room After Working Out > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays to 40,000 subscribers as of August 2026. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. by [Jessie Militare / MIMI](https://time.com/author/mimi/) ## Jessie Militare / MIMI Author Jul 24, 2015 9:27 PM UTC  Elizabeth Renstrom for TIME by [Jessie Militare / MIMI](https://time.com/author/mimi/) ## Jessie Militare / MIMI Author Jul 24, 2015 9:27 PM UTC [_MIMI_](https://www.mimichatter.com/) _is a Time Inc. property._ If you think a nice nap in a steam room is just what you need to relax after an intense workout, think again. [_Shape_](http://www.shape.com/lifestyle/mind-and-body/scary-steam-room-dangers-linked-dehydration)spoke with Dr. Daniel Vigil, an associate professor of health sciences at UCLA and team physician for the UCLA Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, about the link between dehydration and steam rooms, and he completely discredited the latter as a post-workout go-to. Of course, he says there are positives about steam rooms: the heat gets your blood flowing and dilates your blood vessels, which in turn enhances circulation to the muscles. But, without proper blood flow and adequate blood pressure when your vessels are dilated, you can faint. AKA, if you’re dehydrated, which you likely are after sweating up a storm on the treadmill, then you need to skip the steam room. Scarily enough, a [77-year-old woman died](http://www.wfsb.com/story/29550299/report-woman-had-been-dead-several-hours-in-co-gym-steam-room) in March in a steam room after suffering acute renal failure due to dehydration. Younger people are not exempt from this kind of tragedy. Vigil says it’s better to hit up the moist space before a workout to loosen up stiff muscles. “After a workout, the body tends to be dehydrated from all the sweating,” says Vigil. “To expose your body to more heat leads to more sweating, more dehydration, more complications to your blood pressure. If you’re already dehydrated before the steam room, you’re putting a strain on your internal organs.” Yikes. Make sure to drink water, guys. And here are some surefire signs to make sure you’re okay or not okay to enter a steam room: if you’re pumped and feeling strong, then you’re good to go. But if you feel weak and tired, then those are red flags. _This_ [_article_](https://www.mimichatter.com/scary-links-between-steam-rooms-and-dehydration-1259094089.html) _originally appeared on_ [_MIMI_](https://www.mimichatter.com/)_._ _More from MIMI:_ * [Ariana Grande’s New Perfume Smells Like Marshmallows](https://www.mimichatter.com/ariana-grandes-new-perfume-smells-like-marshmallows-1263821271.html) * [The Number of People Who Don’t Wear Sunscreen Will Shock You](https://www.mimichatter.com/how-many-people-actually-wear-spf-1262948455.html) * [This Newspaper May Be Able to Predict Future Obesity Levels](https://www.mimichatter.com/study-suggests-newspapers-can-help-predict-future-obesity-levels-1262502172.html) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3971955/steam-room-after-working-out/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3971955/steam-room-after-working-out/"},"headline":"Why You Shouldn't Use a Steam Room After Working Out","datePublished":"2015-07-24T21:27:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:57:13.813Z","description":"Stay safe","url":"https://time.com/3971955/steam-room-after-working-out/","keywords":["Living","health"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1a5e7a2ebbdc0c10/6987789ce53aba58bb4d6e44/health-weight-exercise-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jessie Militare / MIMI"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1a5e7a2ebbdc0c10/6987789ce53aba58bb4d6e44/health-weight-exercise-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TIME.com stock photos Weight Loss Health Exercise Weights","caption":"TIME.com stock photos Weight Loss Health Exercise Weights","creditText":"Elizabeth Renstrom for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3971955/steam-room-after-working-out/","name":"Why You Shouldn't Use a Steam Room After Working Out"}}]}] ```