The difference between a hammam and a Russian bath
To experience all the benefits of this establishment, you need to know how to visit the hammam correctly. It is very important to evaluate in advance all the benefits of Russian and Turkish baths, to find out what the health benefits and effects of each of them are.
It’s worth saying right away that the differences between these two types of baths are visible to the naked eye. If a Russian steam room is always decorated with wood, then a Turkish hammam is always decorated with marble. In the east, it is customary to create the most acceptable conditions for comfortable accommodation of guests and take care of their comfort. But the differences don't end there.
Reviews
Necheukhina D.O., 32 years old, Ozersk We visited the hammam almost immediately after arriving in Turkey. The hammam helped us instantly relieve fatigue after the flight and stock up on strength for the first excursions. They say that you need to steam while your skin has not yet tanned; the procedures themselves should prepare it for tanning. Pakhomov B.G., 48 years old, Kirov A real hammam is only in Turkey. Russian analogues of hammam differ in everything: from the heating system of the premises to the poor-quality finishing of the steam rooms themselves - they have nothing in common with the classic Turkish hammam. Therefore, I prefer to go to the hammam only when vacationing in Turkey. Borisova A.N., 28 years old, Cheboksary There was such a bathhouse near our hotel in Turkey, we went for a walk, and along the way we encountered many hammams, the prices in them were quite low. Therefore, I will give useful advice: do not rush to visit the hammam at the hotel, look for other offers nearby.
Gentle conditions
You can find out how to properly visit the hammam in Russia from this article. An important feature is that in a Turkish bath the effect of steam on the body is more gentle. The air temperature in the hammam fluctuates between 40-50 degrees Celsius. While in a Russian bath it usually reaches 75 degrees.
At the same time, there is high air humidity in the hammam. It reaches 100 percent. And the air itself at this time is saturated with essential oils. Due to the fact that the temperature in this bath is lower than in a Russian one, even those who cannot stand extreme conditions and extreme heat can visit the steam room. It is much more comfortable to be in the hammam. There is virtually no risk of problems with blood pressure, since the vessels dilate slowly. In a Russian bath, everything happens exactly the opposite.
It is mandatory that the hammam has comfortable and comfortable sun loungers. Such rest is excellent for not only restoring physical strength, but also inner peace. One of the rules for visiting the hammam is to drink tea. It has special healing properties.
Treatments for rejuvenation
- Massage with coconut oil;
- Rub in the honey-vitamin mixture;
- Wrap with Moroccan clay, chocolate, seaweed.
Select procedures from the list or limit yourself to applying peach, grape seed, or olive oil.
Treatments in the hammam are not only pleasant, but also useful for rejuvenation and health promotion.
- Decay products and salts are removed from the open pores along with moisture.
- Tissues and blood are saturated with oxygen.
- Cell division and blood flow increase.
- The keratinized cells of the epidermis are removed.
- The skin texture is evened out.
Every time after an intense workout, athletes take steps to quickly recover from stress. They drink or don't drink water, close the carbohydrate window, or drink protein shakes. One of the controversial measures of influence, which, according to reviews, gives the most significant results, is considered by many to be a sauna or bathhouse.
When figuring out how to properly go to the sauna after training and whether to visit it at all, you need to understand that the opinions of doctors can be fundamentally different from the judgments of coaches or ordinary athletes. Therefore, it is very important to find out all the pros and cons of such a procedure, compare them with your own health status, as well as possible consequences. That is, it is better not to conduct such experiments without going to the doctor, so as not to develop complications that could have been avoided.
To understand how a sauna affects an athlete’s body after a workout, it doesn’t hurt to know that it can be not only one standard, familiar type. Currently, there are more than ten types of baths with different types of heating.
Benefits of a Turkish bath
So, why is hammam so useful? Firstly, the skin is freed from sebaceous plugs, the work of the sweat glands returns to normal. Blood circulation in the body improves, and blood vessels become elastic. As a result, your body is completely cleansed of toxins, waste and harmful substances. If inflammatory processes develop in the joints, they subside. It is recommended to visit the hammam if you have gout. A Turkish bath helps to quickly remove acid from the body and helps relieve pain.
In the hammam, thanks to essential oils and aromatic tea, the respiratory tract is cleared, a lingering cough is cured, and phlegm disappears. The skin acquires a healthy appearance and metabolism accelerates. After a visit to the bathhouse, the body's protective functions are enhanced. Hammam can even save you from depression, providing a feeling of complete relaxation, eliminating fears and heavy thoughts.
Oriental sauna for weight loss
- To improve oxygen supply and penetration of nutritional components, steamed skin is cleansed with peeling. The following abrasives are used: salt, coffee or a special product with fruit acids.
- The body is rubbed with handmade soap with anti-cellulite components - essential oils, Dead Sea minerals, olive oil and peeling is performed.
- The active substance is distributed onto the thighs, buttocks, and thighs. The body is then wrapped in film.
What do you choose for wraps?
To eliminate orange peel, applications with green coffee, berry extracts, kelp, coconut oil, special gels and creams are effective.
- Coffee promotes the breakdown of fat and accelerates cell renewal.
- Vitamin-mineral complex with brown algae nourishes and tightens the skin.
- Creams are not able to get rid of subcutaneous fat, but they have a lifting effect and even out the texture.
Ideally, a bandage wrap with gel impregnation is used, which activates drainage in the subcutaneous matrix. After 30 minutes, the applications are removed. The temperature of a heated body decreases gradually. To tighten the pores, pour cold water on yourself or jump into the pool. In one session, up to 3 cm of volume is lost.
I want to visit this piece of paradise often. Turkish women do not deny themselves pleasure and find a reason to spend quality time once a week. There are no restrictions for experienced steamers, but one visit per week is enough for beginners. After a month you can increase it up to 2 times. If you wash in the bathhouse more often, the therapeutic effect will decrease.
Benefit
- About a cold;
- Sore throat, laryngitis;
- Diseases of the respiratory system, except asthma;
- Joint pain due to arthritis, rheumatism, gout, radiculitis;
- Neurosis, melancholy;
- Chronic fatigue;
- Muscle pain after sports training and injuries.
Regular visits to the hammam will stop the development of hypertension in the initial stage.
Contraindications
- For oncology;
- Liver problems:
- Cardiac ischemia;
- Hypertension;
- Pathologies of the thyroid gland;
- For cataracts;
- After a stroke.
Temperature and steam put stress on the kidneys. At the first symptoms of discomfort, they move to the waiting room or lobby.
Gynecologists agree that visiting a steam room is dangerous only in the early stages. The ban is due to the fact that with an unformed placenta, there is a high risk of miscarriage. In the second semester, expectant mothers can indulge in the pleasure of sitting in the hararet with light steam and pampering their skin and hair with masks and oils.
In the last 3 months before giving birth, many try not to take risks. If the pregnancy proceeds without complications, relaxation will not cause harm. It is better to refuse visits in the last month. Heating and sudden cooling of the body causes redistribution of blood. This can cause premature release of water.
Who is the hammam recommended for?
Anyone who has learned how to properly visit a hammam can go to a Turkish bath. This will be especially useful for those who often suffer from flu, colds, and have weak immunity.
If you suffer from gout or arthritis, then bath procedures will help solve joint problems once and for all, forget about stiffness and pain. The same applies to those who suffer from osteochondrosis.
If you constantly experience nervous tension and often experience stress, then the hammam will help smooth out the negative impact of external factors. It is also useful for everyone for general health and ridding the body of toxins and harmful substances. There are only a few exceptions.
Dietary properties of millet porridge:
Let's first remember what the benefits of this dish are before considering its calorie content. Millet porridge contains essential amino acids, which are the raw materials for building new skin and muscle cells. It contains complex carbohydrates that help remove waste and harmful toxins from the body; healthy vegetable fats, without which it is impossible to absorb provitamin A (carotene) and vitamin D. Among the vitamins, it should be noted - A, PP, B6, B5, B1 (also known as thiamine), B2, E, beta-carotene, folic acid (vitamin AT 9). More than 60% of the mass of millet porridge is carbohydrates, 3-4% is fats, 11% is proteins. In addition, millet porridge contains a large amount of fiber and a number of minerals - iron, fluorine, phosphorus, silicon, and so on.
Millet helps cleanse the body of antibiotics, toxins and waste, and binds heavy metal ions. Thanks to this, people living in areas with unfavorable ecology should definitely consume this cereal. Millet porridge is useful for those who suffer from atherosclerosis, diabetes, liver and pancreas diseases, nervous and cardiovascular diseases. As you can see, this dish is valued not only for its low calorie content.
Millet porridge is very good for those who are susceptible to heart disease - millet contains a large amount of potassium, necessary for normal cardiac function. Silicon and fluorine, which millet porridge is rich in, give strength to teeth, bone tissue, nails and hair. Copper is essential for muscle elasticity. In addition, millet porridge has a general strengthening, warming and invigorating effect, thanks to which it can be safely recommended as part of the nutrition of children and people recovering from illness.
Now let's touch on the nutritional value of millet porridge. There are 334 kcal per 100 grams of wheat – quite a significant calorie content. What exactly is the calorie content of millet porridge? And here it is:
Who is contraindicated for hamam?
There are several categories of people for whom visiting a Turkish bath is contraindicated. These include cancer patients, people with varicose veins, severe asthma, epilepsy and seizures, and some types of thyroid and kidney diseases.
If you have problems with the cardiovascular system, then you can go to the steam room in the Turkish bath, but not for long. The main thing is to prevent a sharp temperature change. If you have heart disease, it is forbidden to jump into an ice pool immediately after the steam room and suddenly become hypothermic.
Say yes to the sauna for an easy week
In one of the articles, I already talked about why it’s easy to train (Why train easy? The main differences from hard training). A sauna after light workouts will allow the body to relax. During the training, we were not very tired, contractile proteins were not destroyed, we worked a little with energy and endurance, the maximum heart rate was at the level of 120-130 beats per minute, why not soak in the sauna or bathhouse for 5-10 minutes?
With this strategy for visiting the sauna, you will get the maximum benefit; you will not overload your body, but will allow it to recover better and faster.
How to take a steam bath in a Turkish bath?
If you decide to go to the hammam, you should know that it consists of three rooms. The first is the locker room. There are also tables for drinking tea and casual conversation. In the hamam it is called jamekan. From there you enter Soguluk. Here the air temperature is already higher (about 35 degrees). Soguluk helps the whole body get used to the heat and begin to relax.
Finally, the last room is the hararet. The temperature there can already reach 50 degrees. It is recommended to spend no more than 20 minutes in Soguluk, drink hot herbal tea, and wait for the first sweat to appear.
Already in Hararet, on a marble lounger, an experienced Turkish bath attendant will give you a relaxing massage. At the same time, he uses special rough mittens. After this, it is time for peeling. The skin is thoroughly cleaned with special brushes.
Finally, the body will be soaped with a special composition containing vegetable oils. Then you can dive into the pool or jacuzzi.
Enjoy Your Bath!
- Give in to the heat;
- Torture the body with a broom;
- Cool off periodically in the pool.
A visit to the steam room comes down to one goal - to sit on a towel and sweat heavily. After 10 minutes, sweat flows in streams, and because of the veil of thick steam, it is impossible to distinguish objects half a meter away. After a quarter of an hour, the relaxed body is ready for bath procedures.
A professional massage and a cloud of soap foam will help you feel bliss. First, the dexterous hands of the bathhouse attendant knead each joint until it crunches. Not only the arms are used, but also the legs. Classic Turkish massage involves kneading the prone body with the soles of your feet. After the execution, rest is required. Then the bath master puts on a kise mitten woven from horsehair or hard fibers and literally removes the skin in layers.
The bathhouse attendant dilutes olive soap in a mesh bag and squeezes a mountain of snow foam onto the body. Gently rubs the skin and at the last moment pours ice water over it. Instead of a soap massage, you can choose a classic or lymphatic drainage massage. After the procedures, the body becomes weightless. The feeling of lightness and pleasant sensations are worth subjecting it to “torture”.
If you want to lose weight...
To lose weight, many experts advise visiting a bathhouse. Moreover, the majority is inclined to the idea that a Russian bath is best, since in it you will lose the most fluid, achieve increased metabolic processes, and get rid of extra centimeters in the waist.
It is also important to know how to properly visit the hammam for weight loss. Here, of course, it is not as hot as in a Russian bath. But it is the most favorable environment for removing toxins and opening pores. It is Turkish baths that help get rid of cellulite.
Knowing how to properly visit the hammam for weight loss will help you get rid of excess weight. After all, in a Turkish bath you will definitely receive peeling, massage, wrapping and other pleasant and useful procedures. They will give the skin a beautiful and smooth appearance.
Cedar sauna: benefits
Another unusual type of sauna is a cedar barrel. The benefits of a cedar sauna are simply enormous. In fact, this is a mini-health resort.
Just 15-20 minutes of this unique procedure once a week is enough to:
- Strengthen your immune system and forget about colds and flu forever.
- Improve the musculoskeletal system.
- Alleviate the course of tachycardia, arrhythmia, hypertension and atherosclerosis.
- Lose weight easily and quickly.
- Improve skin condition.
- Get rid of cellulite.
- Improve your health after injury
- Normalize the hormonal system.
Contraindications to the procedure are bleeding, neoplasms, cirrhosis of the liver, chronic and inflammatory diseases, the third trimester of pregnancy.
Hammam on vacation
Russian tourists often use the services of a Turkish bath at resorts. Moreover, in order to get to the hammam, it is not at all necessary to go to Turkey. Hamam services are offered in all tourist eastern countries.
For example, hammams are common in Tunisia. This is an African Muslim country that has increasingly attracted Russian tourists in recent years after airlines refused to cooperate with Egypt, and for some time with Turkey. Getting into a Turkish bath in Tunisia is not a problem. You just need to know how to properly visit the hammam in Tunisia.
Hamams are often located right on hotel premises. Muslims consider the procedure of visiting a Turkish bath sacred. For them, this is a kind of cleansing of soul and body. Tunisian hammams have an important feature. Men and women attend them separately. Representatives of the stronger half of humanity can stay in the hammam from dawn until noon, and women - from noon until sunset.
Many local residents are sure that in the steam room they not only wash their bodies, but also get a unique opportunity to be alone with themselves, put their thoughts in order, and get true pleasure.
How does the bathing ritual take place?
Once inside the Turkish hammam, you first warm up in a warm dressing room with a temperature of 35–45 degrees.
Then go to the steam room, the temperature in which reaches 55–60 degrees. There you lie down on marble loungers and completely steam your body. The main condition for a successful visit to the hammam is to sweat well!
After this, it’s time for beauty treatments and massages, for which Turkish baths are so famous.
Peeling is traditionally carried out with a special rough glove; it exfoliates the skin in the same way as the inhabitants of the Ottoman Empire did long before our days. The hammam worker will treat every cell of your body, and you will definitely feel reborn!
Why go to the hammam after training?
Recently, it has become increasingly popular to place hammams at large sports clubs or fitness centers. Many doubt the advisability of this. Let's try to figure out how effective this is.
The fact is that the classic design of the hammam helps the body recover as much as possible after heavy physical activity. If you learn how to properly visit the hammam after a workout, you will be able to recover quickly. The whole secret is that it is in the Turkish bath that it is possible to achieve the optimal combination of a cold stone surface with hot steam. This makes it easy to tolerate even fairly high temperatures. That is why a Russian bath or a Finnish sauna, with their very high temperature conditions, can put too much stress on the heart. Because of this, the effect can be negative even in a person who has never experienced such health problems.
If you carefully study how to properly visit the hammam in a fitness club, you will be able to quickly recover from grueling workouts and get rid of aching pain in your joints and muscles. To achieve this effect, it is enough to spend no more than a quarter of an hour in the hammam.
How does a sauna affect the human body?
Every person who plays sports is familiar with the condition when in the morning the muscles ache very much - sometimes it’s even difficult to get out of bed. Medicine calls this condition sore throat. These unpleasant sensations are due to the fact that during intense muscle work, metabolic products accumulate in them, including lactic acid. It is she who causes the familiar feeling of pain.
The more a person plays sports, loading the same muscles, the less pronounced this condition is - there is no need to go into detail about physiology. Lactic acid produced during training must be removed - it is not in vain that if you have muscle pain after physical activity, it is recommended to do at least simple gymnastics. After this, although the pain seems to intensify, it then becomes easier.
Metabolic products are excreted along with the urine, where they enter through the blood. Considering the fact that the sauna accelerates the movement of blood in the body, it turns out that after training, going to the sauna is useful, because harmful metabolic products are released faster and your well-being improves. In addition, when visiting a bathhouse, the body loses approximately 1.5 liters of sweat, with which toxins and other substances (in addition to lactic acid) that cause harm are simultaneously eliminated. However, it is important to remember that in this case a person partially loses essential vitamins and microelements.
To determine the benefits of sauna and bodybuilding, you need to consider your own health. It will be interesting to know how a bathhouse is useful for women. Any physical activity leads to increased heart rate and blood pressure. During sports, sweating increases, heart rate and blood pressure increase, and toxins are actively removed from the body. The sauna has the same effect on the body.
While staying in the steam room, the pulse quickens, and decay products are intensively removed from the tissues. If you think about the benefits of a sauna after a workout, then everything is obvious - muscles relax, toxins are removed faster. But couldn’t this be harmful to health, since after training your heart rate already increases and your blood pressure rises?
In practice, it turns out that people who regularly visit the sauna suffer less from viral and colds. The bath is one of the best ways of hardening. In addition, you can lose about 1 kilogram of weight in one visit.
During physical activity, the heart rate and pulse increase, the same thing happens in the bathhouse. As for whether a sauna after a workout is beneficial, you need to behave correctly in it in order to bring benefit to the body and not harm. It is especially worth paying attention to breathing - it should be even.
Hamam is suitable for all ages
Another important point: you can visit the hammam at any age, even if a regular sauna is strictly contraindicated for you. This Turkish bath has high humidity as well as optimal body temperature. These factors help achieve maximum peace and relaxation. In addition, the hammam helps to relax muscles, pain goes away, and tension is relieved.
If you follow how to properly visit the hammam in the gym, you are guaranteed to lose several kilograms, get rid of colds, stabilize the functioning of the cardiovascular system, and improve sleep.
Construction of a Turkish bath in a gym or fitness center requires special knowledge. In order for the hammam to bring the desired effect, it is necessary to use only high-quality materials, not violate construction technology, and be attentive to details. After all, the health and safety of people will depend on this. Therefore, such an event should only be trusted to professionals.
Features of visiting the hamam for women
Before visiting the hammam, women must remove all jewelry, wash off all makeup, body cream, etc. In the hammam you can not only relax, wash, but also have a heart-to-heart talk. It is important to remember that in the East, steamers and massage therapists are only men. Therefore, when visiting a hammam, a woman needs to be prepared for the fact that a male representative will do the steaming and massage. At the same time, because Stripping naked is prohibited; there is nothing illegal or depraved in this approach. If an attempt is made to harass a massage therapist or bathhouse attendant, they are immediately fired from their job, so women can safely visit the hammam.
The hamams offer not only massage, but also an hair removal procedure, carried out after steaming to reduce the pain effect, which is already carried out by women.
Advice.
During menstruation, visiting the hammam is not recommended to avoid increased bleeding and increased blood pressure. If you are feeling well, visiting the hammam is not forbidden, but it is better to play it safe and come to this establishment in a couple of days.
Pregnant women are not forbidden to take a steam bath, but they should definitely consult with a specialist and inform the hammam workers about their situation. You need to strictly monitor your condition and blood pressure. If there is a sharp deterioration, the procedures must be stopped immediately. In general, high temperatures are not recommended for a pregnant woman, as is cold dousing, so when visiting the hammam, the expectant mother should be very careful and follow safety rules. If you have the slightest doubt about your health and the health of your unborn baby, it is better to postpone visiting the hammam. When breastfeeding, it is also undesirable to visit the hammam because high temperatures can cause a rush of milk, and then its stagnation. If immediately after the procedure you manage to express milk or feed the baby, then you can visit the hammam, but again, strictly monitoring your condition.
Hammam in the pool
In order for a visit to a Turkish bath to bring maximum effect, it is best to combine it with a swimming pool. After all, at the end of the procedure, peeling is followed by a soap massage. This, by the way, is one of the most pleasant stages of visiting a Turkish bath. An experienced bath attendant will definitely put a piece of aromatic soap in a small mesh bag and quickly get foam by shaking it. The visitor will find himself covered in this foam from head to toe. The massage will begin only after this.
The rules on how to properly visit a hammam in a pool state that after a soapy massage, you must definitely go to a pool with water at room temperature. Already in this tank you will finally come to your senses after peeling and massage, which will warm you up to the maximum.
Since visiting a hammam with a swimming pool correctly is important for human health, do not forget to drink a cup of aromatic tea immediately after leaving the water. This will put your thoughts in order and calm your nerves. Remember that after a Turkish bath you should generally drink as much liquid as possible. By the way, it doesn’t have to be tea. If you are not a big fan of this drink, you can replace it with mineral water. Alcohol is best avoided. It is best not to drink alcohol at all when visiting any bathhouse, both Russian and Finnish.
After tea, another massage will await you. This time using essential oils. Remember that if you regularly start visiting the hammam, you will guarantee yourself not only a healthy, but also a strong, athletic body. In addition, your blood vessels will be in order, your nerves will calm down, and you will be able to solve life and work problems more quickly and effectively.
What rooms does a modern hammam consist of?
In a modern standard Turkish bath, three rooms with different air temperatures and different purposes are provided for visitors:
- The first room, called jamekan
, is the dressing room, where there are lockers for clothes, a locker room, and a cash desk where you can pay for all services. Here visitors receive towels, wooden slippers, and sheets. Here you can chat and drink tea. - From the jamekan, the visitor goes to the second room - sogukluk
. There are showers and toilets here. This room has a special temperature regime of 30–35°C, which prepares the human body for the higher temperatures of the steam room. After taking a warm shower, you can move to the next room. - The warmest third room is hararet
. Here the temperature ranges from 40°C to 55°C. In its center there is a marble “belly stone” - a special elevation with a firebox that maintains the desired temperature. There are also marble beds on which massages are performed and a kurna - a large bowl of water for ablution. Here you can take a steam bath and take wellness treatments.
The principle of influence on humans
Water is health, even when it takes the form of steam that envelops the body. This aspect was discovered in ancient times by the Greeks, Romans, and peoples of the Middle East, who made the Turkish bath a philosophy of life. In the hammam, the humidity reaches 90 - 100%, and the temperature does not exceed 55 °C, which is much healthier than the conditions of a sauna. In a Finnish sauna, the air is dry and temperatures reach 100C.
Sitting on marble or stone surfaces (doctors advise sitting, not lying), in very dense steam, inhaling warm waves of moist air, which calms breathing, get rid of toxins through sweat. The expansion of pores in the skin, caused by heat, allows steam to penetrate and therefore allows the skin to renew itself, becoming soft and elastic.
