Infrared has become a fixture in wellness clubs, and along the way it has picked up a great many claims. This page is the version without them.
What it is
A traditional sauna heats the air around you, and the hot air heats you. An infrared cabin uses infrared emitters that warm your body more directly, which means the air temperature can be considerably lower while you still feel very warm.
Practically, that makes it a gentler experience than a hot sauna. You can hold a conversation. You can stay in longer. It does not feel like being inside a kettle.
What a session is like
- Length: usually twenty to thirty minutes.
- Temperature: warm rather than fierce — noticeably cooler air than a traditional sauna.
- You will sweat, and it tends to build gradually rather than hitting you at the door.
- Take water in, and shower afterwards. Both obvious, both regularly forgotten.
What we will not claim
Infrared is a pleasant, warm, quiet twenty minutes. That is what we are selling, and it is enough.
You will find infrared marketed with a long list of medical-sounding outcomes — detoxification, weight loss, immune effects, skin transformation. We are not going to repeat any of those, because we cannot substantiate them, and a business that will tell you an unsupported thing about a sauna will tell you an unsupported thing about anything else.
What we will say: it is a good reason to stay in the building after a class instead of rushing off, and being warm and quiet for twenty minutes is not a small thing in a busy week.
Who should be careful
Heat is not right for everybody. Speak to your GP first if you are pregnant, have a heart condition or circulatory problems, low or high blood pressure, take medication affected by heat, or have any condition affecting how you sense temperature. If you feel light-headed, come out. Do not use it after drinking alcohol.
Infrared at reef
Our infrared sits at the back of the building alongside the changing rooms and showers, so the natural shape of a visit is: class, infrared, shower, coffee, home — or class, infrared, and straight back to work.
It is £15 as an add-on to any session or on its own, and it is included with reef Unlimited membership. Prices here.
We open at 57 Wyle Cop in December 2026. More on the opening here.
