You can’t see it, but you’ve felt it every time the sun warmed your face. Here’s what far-infrared is – and what sports scientists found when they put it to work after hard training.
Light comes in many wavelengths. The ones our eyes pick up run from violet to red. Just past red sits infrared – and far out at the long end of that band is far-infrared.
Our eyes can’t see it, but our skin can feel it. As a team from the Université de Toulon and Liverpool John Moores University put it:
“While FIR is undetectable by human eyesight, skin thermoreceptors can perceive FIR as radiant heat.”
Bontemps et al., PLoS ONE, 2021Here’s the surprising part: you give off far-infrared too. The same researchers point out that it is emitted by any object above absolute zero, “including the human body at room temperature.” Every warm thing glows in far-infrared – we just can’t see the glow.
That’s also why far-infrared warmth feels different from a hot room. A traditional sauna heats the air, and the air heats you. Far-infrared warms you directly, more like stepping out of the shade into sunshine on a cool day.
Sports scientists have tested far-infrared in three main forms:
Far-infrared saunas – cabins that run much cooler than a classic Finnish sauna.
Far-infrared devices – heat lamps, heated pads and full-body units you lie on.
Far-infrared clothing – fabrics woven with special mineral (bioceramic) fibres. In the Toulon–Liverpool team’s words, such garments “can absorb body-emitted heat energy, and then re-emit it through radiation (within the FIR wavelength range) back to the body.”
Finland takes its saunas seriously, so it’s fitting that one of the clearest experiments came from the University of Jyväskylä. Ten active men did either a heavy strength session or a flat-out treadmill session, then spent 30 minutes in a far-infrared sauna at 35–50°C – or simply sat and rested.
After the endurance session, the men jumped higher at the 30-minute mark when they’d had the far-infrared sauna (0.34 m against 0.32 m). After strength training there was no difference. And when the team compared a far-infrared sauna with a traditional sauna at the same temperature, heart rate afterwards was noticeably lower with far-infrared – 71 against 92 beats a minute.
“FIRS bathing is a very light loading for the body and provides a comfortable and relaxing experience.”
Mero et al., SpringerPlus, 2015 (FIRS = far-infrared sauna)Their practical verdict: far-infrared sauna “may be used among other recovery methods in athletes and also in other physically active people.” Read the study
At France’s National Institute of Sport (INSEP), nine well-trained runners did a punishing 48-minute simulated trail run on a treadmill – three times, in three different weeks. Each time they tried a different recovery: whole-body cryotherapy at −110°C, 30 minutes lying on a far-infrared table (45°C), or simply sitting in an armchair.
The cold chamber was fastest. But far-infrared clearly beat doing nothing:
“Maximal muscle strength and perceived sensations were recovered after the first WBC session (post 1 h), while recovery took 24 h with FIR, and was not attained through the PAS recovery modality.”
Hausswirth et al., PLoS ONE, 2011 (WBC = whole-body cryotherapy; PAS = passive rest)The runners also reported better well-being 48 hours after the run when they’d used far-infrared. Read the study
In Brazil, 21 elite young footballers did 100 drop-jumps, then slept three nights in far-infrared-emitting clothing or identical-looking placebo clothing. Nobody – players or researchers – knew who wore which. Soreness faded faster in the far-infrared group, and the authors liked the simplicity: recovery clothes “could be practical and advantageous for professional athletes, since this method does not affect the training routine and can be easily implemented.” Read the study
More recently, a small pilot at the University of Notre Dame in the USA gave ten recreationally active adults far-infrared or placebo tights after a resistance workout. At 48 hours, the far-infrared group jumped higher and faster, and said they felt recovered sooner.
“…the results suggest that FIR garments may be a valuable tool for improving recovery and supporting consistent physical activity participation in recreationally active individuals.”
Lever et al., Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology, 2025That’s the actual title of a 2021 review that pulled together 11 studies on far-infrared clothing in sport. The reviewers found early promise, and an intriguing clue: “it seems that the longer the exposure duration to FIR, the greater the benefits on various markers of recovery.” They also wrote that the studies so far were small and varied, and that “additional research is required before recommendations can be made to practitioners and athletes.”
Their bigger-picture view is a nice place to finish:
“The interest for FIR-emitting garments is growing both in the textile industry and sport.”
Bontemps et al., PLoS ONE, 2021These studies used research saunas, lamps and garments, not Omnion™, so results with Omnion™ may differ. Omnion™ is a wellness product, not a medical device.