A traditional sauna heats the air around you. An infrared cabin heats you directly with light. That one difference sets the number on the wall, what your heart does while you sit there, and which room is the right buy.
How Each One Actually Heats You
A traditional sauna works in stages. A stove warms a bank of rocks, the rocks hold the room at 180 to 195 degrees Fahrenheit, and that hot air heats your skin. Your skin then heats the rest of you.
The air is the middleman, and it has to be punishing for the handoff to work.
An infrared cabin removes the middleman. Electric panels give off infrared light, the same warmth you feel off a bed of coals, and that light lands on you and heats you directly.
Nothing has to happen to the air first, which is why an infrared cabin runs cooler and still raises your core temperature [1]. In practice that means 150 to 160 degrees Fahrenheit rather than 180 to 195.
Same blacksmith, two different fires. Traditional is the open flame. Infrared is the deep bed of coals.
What Each One Does to Your Heart
Sit in a traditional sauna and your heart rate climbs while your blood vessels widen and flex. Heat drives that response through the sympathetic nervous system, the branch that also handles your fight-or-flight gear [2].
Taken over years, that repeated load is a large part of why regular sauna users tend to have healthier hearts [3]. You are collecting a real cardiovascular stimulus while sitting still.
An infrared cabin runs cooler, which makes it easier to stay in for longer [1]. For a man already beaten down by hard training, the gentler heat is the entire point. The repair without the extra pounding.
For a more sedentary man, the traditional room hands him a cardio session on top of everything else the heat is doing.
So Which One Should You Buy
If you are after the cardiovascular hit, take traditional, hot, 15 to 20 minutes. If you are after recovery on a body that is already worn down, take infrared, lower and longer.
For a cabin at home, infrared usually wins on practicality. It costs less, runs off a normal outlet, and takes up less space.
Whichever you pick, how often you go outranks the choice of room.
The evidence behind the two is not equal, though, and that is worth knowing before you spend. The long-run health case rests on Finnish research: four to seven sessions a week against one carried about a 40 percent reduction in all-cause mortality, across more than 2,000 men followed for about twenty years [4]. Every one of those men was sitting in a traditional sauna. Nothing of that size or length has been run on infrared.
So the twenty-year numbers belong to the traditional room. Infrared still heats you, still raises your core temperature, and is easier to sit in often, which is the lever that mattered most in the research we do have. Buy infrared for recovery and for the sessions you will actually take. Buy traditional if the long-run cardiovascular case is the thing you are paying for.
Both Rooms Heat the Same Part of You
Sauna benefits the body whichever style you choose. The one downside common to both is that your testicles are heated too.
They are designed to run a few degrees cooler than the rest of you, which is why they are outside the body [5].
The cells doing the work are the reason. Leydig cells build testosterone through a chain of temperature-sensitive enzyme steps, and the germ cells that turn into sperm are just as sensitive to heat [6].
And they do not care which mechanism delivered the heat. Hot air raises scrotal temperature. Infrared light raises scrotal temperature.
A cooler room reached by a more efficient route is still a hot room from the scrotum's point of view, and sauna exposure measurably affects spermatogenesis, the process that makes sperm, reversibly, once the heat stops [7].
That doesn't mean buy the other cabin. Neither one spares them.
The Fix Is the Same in Both Rooms
The heat arrives either way, so the answer does too. Oakman is built specifically for active men looking for scrotal cooling all day and want the option of a cold pack for cooling in the sauna or after heat exposure. The boxer briefs carry a slim removable cold pack in a medical-grade nylon shell in a front pocket, held off the skin by a layer of soft fabric.
It cools the testicles through the session, in either cabin.
The fabric is TENCEL MicroModal, naturally derived from wood pulp rather than plastic, blended with ROICA V550, a Japanese clean stretch fiber, rather than conventional spandex. It doesn't shed microplastics like polyester underwear [8].
The fit is athletic with a gusset, an extra panel that gives the testicles room and airflow. Dyes are bluesign approved, so what touches your skin is controlled all the way through the supply chain.
Pick whichever fire suits you. Wear the same thing into both.
Join the Founding 100
Oakman is sauna cooling for men, launching early fall 2026. Founding members get first access and founding pricing locked in. Reserve your spot.
Frequently asked questions
What is the actual difference between an infrared and a traditional sauna?
A traditional sauna heats the air, which heats your skin, which heats the rest of you. An infrared cabin gives off infrared light that lands on you and heats you directly, with no step through the air [1]. That is why a traditional room runs 180 to 195 degrees Fahrenheit and an infrared cabin only needs 150 to 160.
Which is better for men, infrared or traditional?
Traditional if you want the cardiovascular load, hot and 15 to 20 minutes. Infrared if you want recovery on a body that is already worn down, lower and longer, because the cooler air is easier to tolerate [1].
Does infrared heat the testicles less than a traditional sauna?
No. Both raise scrotal temperature. The cooler air in an infrared cabin does not mean less heat reaching you, because the light heats you directly rather than working through the air.
Which one should I buy for home use?
Infrared is the easier buy: it costs less, runs off a normal outlet, and takes up less floor space. Choose traditional if the cardiovascular load is what you are after and you have the room and the wiring for it.
This is for general educational and informational purposes only and is not medical advice. It makes no claim about fertility, sperm, or testosterone outcomes from any product. Always talk with a qualified healthcare provider before making changes to your diet, exercise, or health routine. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Oakman products are apparel and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
References
- Beever R. (2009). Far-infrared saunas for treatment of cardiovascular risk factors: summary of published evidence. Canadian Family Physician. [Link]
- Hussain J, Cohen M. (2018). Clinical Effects of Regular Dry Sauna Bathing: A Systematic Review. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. [Link]
- Laukkanen JA, Laukkanen T, Kunutsor SK. (2018). Cardiovascular and Other Health Benefits of Sauna Bathing: A Review of the Evidence. Mayo Clinic Proceedings (Elsevier). [Link]
- Laukkanen T, Khan H, Zaccardi F, Laukkanen JA. (2015). Association Between Sauna Bathing and Fatal Cardiovascular and All-Cause Mortality Events. JAMA Internal Medicine. [Link]
- Ivell R. (2007). Lifestyle impact and the biology of the human scrotum. Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology (BioMed Central). [Link]
- Cai H, Qin D, Peng S. (2021). Responses and coping methods of different testicular cell types to heat stress: overview and perspectives. Bioscience Reports. [Link]
- Garolla A, et al.. (2013). Seminal and molecular evidence that sauna exposure affects human spermatogenesis. Human Reproduction. [Link]
- Napper IE, Thompson RC. (2016). Release of synthetic microplastic plastic fibres from domestic washing machines: Effects of fabric type and washing conditions. Marine Pollution Bulletin (Elsevier). [Link]
