Pamela suggested heat therapy as a possible remedy for my 2 week old niggling muscular strain on my lower back. I decided to give it a shot. You would probably be laughing at me if I told you that I had no idea there was a steam and sauna room at California Fitness.

The back is a core muscle group which aids in other higher intensity workouts like the shoulder press and the lateral raise. However I was able to go about my regular exercises without feeling too much a pain.

After a grueling work out for 2½ hours, I decided to get a taste of heat therapy for a couple of minutes. My first experience in a steam room years ago was ended in a jiffy. It was at a friend’s condominium. I could not withstand the high humidity and exited after barely less than 5 minutes, but that was then.

Within less than a minute upon entering the steam room, I was starting to get really sweaty and before too long, my entire body was perspiring. I was dripping sweat. Even standing under the watchful eyes of the burning sun in uniform during my POP practices didn’t bring about such intense perspiration.

I didn’t exactly had problems breathing though it was more difficult than usual. Onto the sauna room, the air was caused by rocks being heated by a stove. It was however not as humid as the steam room, I could quite comfortably sit in there without overly perspiring.

After having been in both rooms, I prefer steam to sauna therapy. Though I was a sweaty mess at the end of it, I find myself actually relaxing after a workout. I tried leaning backwards to bring out the pain on my lower back. It still hurts, but not as much. Hopefully with more sessions of steam therapy, it would actually get better and in time fully recover.

Apart from applying the pain relieving cream prescribed by the doctor on my lower back daily, I shall make it a point to spend some time in the steam room after every workout.