Around 79% of LA Fitness locations have a dry sauna, if yours is in that group, you get access to it as part of standard membership with no extra charge.
I will tell you how LA Fitness saunas work, what the rules and etiquette are, how long you should stay, what two high-profile lawsuits revealed about safety, and how to find a sauna-equipped club near you.
Is the LA Fitness Sauna Wet or Dry?
Dry sauna is the standard at LA Fitness, It uses heated rocks or electric heating elements to raise air temperature, and no water is poured over the rocks during a session.
Humidity stays low, around 10 to 20%, which is the defining difference from a steam room.
Steam rooms exist at 3% of LA Fitness clubs, exclusively at older or Signature Club locations.
These are separate rooms that fill with hot vapor rather than dry heat, and they feel different during use.
Besides this there are no infrared saunas at LA Fitness.
Is the LA Fitness Sauna Coed?
At most standard clubs, the sauna is located within the gendered locker room area, making it effectively gender-separated by locker room access, men enter through the men’s locker room side, women through the women’s side.
Some clubs, particularly those with saunas adjacent to the pool area rather than inside the locker room, have a coed or unisex sauna accessible from the pool deck.
However, whether a specific club has a coed or gender-separated sauna depends on the facility’s layout, which was determined when the club was built or renovated.
How Hot Does the LA Fitness Sauna Get?
Temperature range for a dry sauna at LA Fitness is 160 to 185°F (71 to 85°C), this sits within the standard range for traditional Finnish-style dry saunas, which is considered 150 to 195°F at bench level.
Heat distribution inside the sauna means upper benches are hotter than lower benches at the same time.
What to wear in the LA Fitness sauna
Bring a clean towel, and I see most members wearing athletic shorts or swimwear with a towel underneath them on the bench, both for comfort on the wooden surface and for hygiene purposes.
What not to wear in the sauna:
- Standard workout clothes made from synthetic materials (polyester, spandex, nylon) can trap heat and may release chemical odors at high temperatures
- Shoes or sneakers are not worn inside the sauna room itself
- Heavy cotton clothing holds moisture and becomes quickly in dry heat
Flip-flops or sandals are appropriate from the locker room to the sauna entrance, you can remove them before entering and leave them outside the sauna room door.
LA Fitness Sauna Rules
Rules are posted on a sign at the sauna entrance, hee consistent rules across LA Fitness clubs:
- Shower before entering (required at most clubs, particularly after pool use)
- No food or beverages with exception of water
- No glass containers
- No shaving, grooming, or applying products inside the sauna
- No cell phones (enforced variably but official policy at most clubs)
- No loud conversations or disruptive behavior
- No nudity (enforced at all standard LA Fitness clubs regardless of whether the sauna is gender-separated or coed)
- Do not pour water on the rocks (dry sauna design does not support this and can damage heating elements)
Time limits posted at some clubs run 15 to 20 minutes per session.
How long to Stay in the LA Fitness Sauna
For healthy adults using a sauna for the first time or returning after a gap, 10 to 15 minutes is a good session duration. But if you want to use regularly, then go for 15 to 20 minutes per session.
Common signs that you should exit immediately regardless of how long you have been in:
- Dizziness or lightheadedness
- Headache beginning while inside
- Nausea
- Feeling unusually weak
- Heart racing
Going alone increases the risk of an unobserved medical event, which is relevant to two known lawsuits involving LA saunas.
LA Fitness sauna lawsuits
The Charmaine Johnson case (2015):
Johnson finished her workout at an LA Fitness in Stone Mountain, Georgia and entered the sauna.
She lost consciousness and was not found by staff for two hours, by the time she was discovered, she had suffered severe burns, and doctors later amputated all ten of her toes and portions of both feet.
She filed a lawsuit alleging LA Fitness failed to monitor the sauna for potentially injured members and lacked adequate safety procedures.
LA Fitness denied the negligence claims, the case highlighted the absence of any standard walk-through protocol to check on sauna users.
The Tekashi 6ix9ine case (2023, filed January 2025):
The rapper Daniel Hernandez was attacked inside the sauna at an LA Fitness in Boynton Beach, Florida by three men connected to the Latin Kings gang.
He was beaten and robbed, suffering documented injuries, his $1 million-plus lawsuit alleged LA Fitness failed to implement security measures.
Three men were arrested and charged in connection with the attack.
Both cases underscore two practical points, using the sauna with at least one other person reduces risk from a medical standpoint. And unusual behavior by other users in or near the sauna area is important to report to staff.
LA Fitness Sauna Hours
Saunas close 30 to 60 minutes before the main club closing time, following the same pattern as the pool.
On weekdays, a club closing at 11:00 p.m. has a sauna available until around 10:00 to 10:30 p.m.
Weekend hours are tighter: a club closing at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday may close the sauna as early as 7:00 p.m.
Holiday hours compress this further, on reduced-hour days like Christmas Eve, July 4, and New Year’s Eve, the sauna often closes an extra 30 minutes earlier than its usual adjusted closing time.
Sauna hours are not listed separately on the LA Fitness website or app, so you can call your club for Realtime information.
Temporary closures for maintenance are common and not always announced in advance.
How to Find a sauna-equipped LA Fitness near you
No central filter on the LA Fitness website sorts clubs specifically by sauna availability. So the workaround is simple: open the club finder at lafitness.com, search by zip code, and click into each individual club page.
The la fitness amenity list on each club page displays icons for the features at that location, including Sauna when it is present.
Clifton and Edison locations are among the larger standard clubs in the state and have historically listed sauna as an available amenity.
Sauna Etiquette: What Regular Users Follow
Etiquette in communal saunas is not posted anywhere, but members who use the sauna regularly tend to follow these conventions:
- Enter and exit quickly to avoid prolonged heat loss through the door
- Sit on your towel to absorb perspiration, both for your comfort and consideration for the next person
- Keep conversation at a low volume; many members use the sauna for quiet decompression
- If the sauna is full, waiting outside rather than crowding is expected
- Limit phone use, even where not explicitly prohibited, since the bright screen and notification sounds disrupt the environment for others
- Do not enter if you have open cuts or skin conditions that could be aggravated or transmissible
Frequently asked questions
Is LA Fitness sauna infrared?
No, LA Fitness saunas are traditional dry saunas, not infrared, the heating element warms the air and surfaces through convection and conduction rather than infrared radiation.
Infrared saunas are available at boutique wellness studios and some high-end gym chains, but not at LA Fitness as of 2026.
Which LA Fitness locations have a sauna?
There is no published master list, each club’s individual page at lafitness.com lists its available amenities, including sauna when present.
But 79% of standard LA Fitness clubs include a dry sauna.
Signature Clubs have higher rates of sauna availability and offer larger sauna rooms than standard clubs.
Can you use the sauna at LA Fitness with a guest pass?
A free 3-day trial pass and a paid day pass both include access to the sauna during your visit, subject to the sauna’s own operating hours and any capacity limits that day.
Kids Klub guests and under-16 members may be restricted from sauna access depending on the club’s age policy for heat amenities.
How hot is the LA Fitness sauna?
Most dry saunas at LA Fitness operate between 160 and 185°F at bench level.
Upper benches are noticeably hotter than lower benches in the same room.
Temperature is set by club staff and cannot be adjusted by members.
Does LA Fitness have a sauna and steam room?
Some clubs have both, but it is rare, dry saunas are the standard offering, available at around 79% of locations.
Steam rooms appear at 3% of clubs, mostly at older builds and Signature Club locations, having both in the same facility is uncommon at standard LA Fitness clubs.
Abraham is a fitness and consumer finance writer with a passion for helping people make smarter decisions before signing gym contracts. After spending years researching gym membership costs, hidden fees and cancellation policies across major gym chains, he created GymMembershipPricing to give people the honest information they need before signing up. Every guide on this site is independently researched and verified.
