Fuji ActiveMove Sauna Suit Review
Through our relationship with Fuji, we have the chance to try out a lot of their new products before they spread across the market. When Fuji released their ActiveMove sauna suit a few months ago, initially, I wasn’t overly excited.
I don’t regularly need a sauna suit, and when I do, hoodies, trash bags, etc. seem to do the trick, right? I guess sometimes you don’t know what you don’t know.
I was actually asked to take the suit for a test run for a spotlight in Jiu Jitsu Magazine that came out about a month ago (you can get a copy of that here). Here were my thoughts…
Testing driving the Fuji ActiveMove Sauna Suit
I got asked to test out the new Fuji sauna suit on a Saturday morning. I got a few days notice, and I was not exactly excited about cutting weight without a real purpose, who would be?
I was planning on having to work pretty hard in that hour to achieve good results.
The goal of the test run was to weigh-in before I put the suit on, go through a workout routine, and then weigh myself an hour later. Going into the test, I knew I would need to lose weight in that hour to show that the suit worked, so I was planning on having to work pretty hard in that hour to achieve good results.
What surprised me about the suit…
There were really three things that surprised me about the Fuji ActiveMove sauna suit.
- The fit and mobility it provided (and how it absolutely did not feel like a traditional sauna suit)
- How lightweight it was
- … and how much better it was than a hoodie or traditional trash bag suit
The fit and mobility of the suit
After initially weighing in, it was time to put the suit on for the first time. I was really surprised how it felt. It was really light and felt kind of like a normal sports apparel tracksuit.
I felt like I was wearing Nike warm-up gear or something; not a sauna suit.
Because of this kind of fit, I found myself being able to move really freely in the suit. I started running around the mats and doing traditional BJJ warm-ups (hip escapes, forward rolls, etc.) just to see how it felt and was surprised how much dexterity the suit gave me.
I can say without a doubt that I would not have been able to move the same way with a traditional sauna suit or “winter clothes” getup on.
after moving around doing BJJ warm-ups for about 5 minutes in the suit alone, I could tell it was really starting to make me sweat.
Since the suit was so lightweight, and didn’t really have the feel of a sauna suit at all (not rubbery feeling, etc), I expected it to be not as effective. It actually didn’t have an insulated or smothering feeling to it either. However, after moving around doing BJJ warm-ups for about 5 minutes in the suit alone, I could tell it was really starting to make me sweat.
Why the sauna suit works so well
I decided to throw my gi on over the suit to see how well I could roll and warm-up with the suit and gi together. In the past, when I had trained with a hoodie and sweat pants under the gi, there had been some clear restrictions. The Fuji sauna suit is just barely more restrictive than a rash guard; much more freeing than a hoodie and sweat pants.
I was really surprised how well I could move with my gi on over the suit. Jena and I rolled for about 25 minutes with the suit and it wasn’t really until afterward that I realized just how much I had been sweating.
The sauna suit is obviously designed really well. It’s probably more effective than any other sauna suit available; however, it’s the mobility and lightweight fit that it provides that make it so effective.
Honestly, the thing that really clicked for me when trying out the Fuji ActiveMove sauna suit was the practicality of the suit. The suit is a better solution for all of the different applications of a sauna suit.
Why use the sauna suit?
The Fuji sauna suit provides a really nice look. You could wear it in place of a traditional sweatsuit to the gym and not look like a complete psycho.
There are really two major applications where I could imagine athletes really benefiting from the Fuji sauna suit over alternative solutions. The first is cutting major weight the day before a competition of some kind.
The Fuji sauna suit provides a really nice look. You could wear it in place of a traditional sweatsuit to the gym and not look like a complete psycho. Athletes approaching a serious weight cut could wear it for an extended period of time; from workouts, to sitting in the sauna, to doing daily tasks. It certainly would be an asset if you needed to go throw a very involved weight cut.
I’ve even found myself throwing it on before cardio at the gym just so that I could warm-up faster.
The second major application of the suit is being able to wear it as you attempt to warm-up for a competition; whether that be MMA, jiu jitsu, or judo. The suit can be easily worn underneath any uniform without providing restriction making it very easy to warm-up quickly.
In the past, I’ve really struggled to get warm sitting in BJJ bullpens at major competitions. The Fuji suit would make it really easy to get warm very quickly; even if you were stuck doing squats and stretches in one place.
My results with the suit
I don’t want to steal thunder from the Jiu Jitsu Magazine suit spotlight, but I can share that I lost quite a bit of weight without really trying very hard in the 1 hour I was using the suit. I actually only rolled around for about 25 minutes after warming up for about 5 minutes. The rest of the time I spent talking to the photographer and my wife as I sweat beneath the suit.
I really like the suit for warming up before competition (especially in cold gyms); however, it is most definitely a better mouse trap for pro’s that rely on sauna suits for major weight cutting.
If you use a sauna suit at all, I can’t imagine that the Fuji ActiveMove sauna suit wouldn’t be a terrific investment. It’s really just heads and shoulders above the alternatives.
Have you used it yet? What were your thoughts?
