The Kennewick Hot Room Session: 20 to 40 Minutes, Stop Signs and Mineral Replacement
A session in the hot exercise room at Spinal Fitness Health and Wellness Center in Kennewick, WA runs 20 to 40 minutes, standing or sitting, inside a low-EMF Sauna Fix radiant tent that emits 550 to 3000 nm light and radiant heat, reaches a maximum of 155°F, and has no traditional preheat period. The room’s page calls exercise in radiant heat an intense training environment and states that duration and effort should build gradually rather than being treated like an ordinary room-temperature workout. Members use the room 24/7 with a door code issued once their training is complete, and every Thursday from 2 to 6 PM the center is open to new visitors for a free session.
What the tent emits
Chapter 20 of Eileen Durfee’s book, Spinal Fitness, describes the Sauna Fix as a full-spectrum incandescent sauna and states that it is not a standard far-infrared sauna. A conventional far-infrared sauna, the book states, heats the body primarily through longer infrared wavelengths; full-spectrum incandescent bulbs deliver visible red light, near-infrared light, mid-infrared and far-infrared heat from the same source. The book distinguishes the 2 light bands: red light is visible and primarily reaches superficial tissue, and near-infrared light is invisible and penetrates more deeply. The center’s page gives the tent’s output as 550 to 3000 nm.
The room rules for a 20-to-40-minute session
Before first use, every member completes a safety screen and receives hydration guidance. The room’s page then sets 3 session rules: follow the posted operating procedure, start conservatively, and wear eyewear and use towels to wipe sweat through the session rather than only at the end. Chapter 20 of the book gives the same direction for the Sauna Fix: “Begin gradually. Short sessions are more effective than overdoing it.” It also calls for appropriate eye protection with bright incandescent light and for towels and sauna surfaces to be cleaned regularly.
Clothing depends on the session booked: a public session is a swimsuit, and a private session is bare skin. Our earlier article on public and private sessions covers that rule.
Stop signs from the page and from the book
The room’s page: never exercise through dizziness, nausea, confusion, unusual shortness of breath or faintness.
The book’s Sauna Fix chapter: “Dizziness, weakness, headache, racing heart, nausea, or unusual fatigue are signs to stop, cool down, hydrate, and reassess.”
Who checks with a provider first
The room’s page states that heat exposure is not appropriate for everyone, including some people with cardiovascular conditions, impaired heat tolerance or medication-related risk, and asks members to ask their licensed healthcare professional whether heat training is appropriate for them. The book’s list for sauna use: anyone who is pregnant, medically fragile, heat-intolerant, severely dehydrated, or managing cardiovascular, kidney, neurological, endocrine or medication-sensitive conditions should consult a qualified healthcare provider before using sauna therapy.
Minerals after the session
The book states that when the body sweats, minerals are also lost, and that a person using sauna therapy regularly should replace sodium, potassium, magnesium and trace minerals, not only water. Its rule for after a session is to rehydrate with mineral-containing fluids, not plain water alone. The book connects that mineral loss to hair tissue mineral analysis; the center offers hair tissue mineral analysis at $270, processed by Trace Elements, Inc.
Booking a visit in Kennewick
Spinal Fitness Health and Wellness Center is at 214 E. Albany Ave, Building E101, Kennewick, WA 99336, serving Kennewick, Pasco, Richland, West Richland, Benton City and Walla Walla. Visits are by appointment; call or text 509-670-9713, evenings and weekends included. The $150 Month-to-Month membership includes the near-infrared saunas and the general and spinal fitness equipment, and members who have completed their training use the hot room on their own schedule. Eileen Durfee founded the center, has worked in the health field since 2010, and is a Certified Personal Trainer and the inventor of Spinal Fitness.
Keep Exploring
This article is for educational purposes only. The hot exercise room at Spinal Fitness Health and Wellness Center is a wellness service for general well-being. Heat tolerance varies from person to person.
