A health scare taught Steph Curry that tiny health details matter. Now he's serious about recovery — and the power of saunas.

• Steph Curry loves to hit the infrared sauna to keep his brain and body at peak performance.
• The 38-year-old athlete said it's a key part of his longevity routine as he keeps playing at a high level.
• Emerging research on saunas suggests that

Steph Curry says his most important recovery tool isn't a fancy supplement or stretch. When he wraps up a tough workout or intense game, his first stop is the sauna.

At 38 years old, on his feet all day running up and down the court, a recovery routine isn't optional.

"It's so easy to just skip and be like, 'I'll be fine tomorrow,'" the NBA superstar told Business Insider, but he never does.

The sauna, he said, is one of the most essential. He's not alone: In recent years, saunas have grown beyond being a nice extra for athletes, becoming central to the modern-day wellness routine of an elite player.

Though the science is thin, the trend is booming, buoyed by buzzy research suggesting that saunas offer powerful benefits and by professional teams incorporating saunas into their routines.

Curry wasn't always strict about his recovery routine.

His "aha moment" about his health came around age 30, he said, when a manager noticed Curry was squinting during games and asked if he had gotten his eyes checked. Curry was diagnosed with keratoconus, which can distort vision and worsen over time, even leading to blindness.

He has a new partnership with eye health company Glaukos to raise awareness about proactive vision care, and said contact lenses and routine check-ups keep his vision crystal-clear.

But the health scare prompted him to rethink how small details can have a huge impact on performance.

"You have to be as intentional as I am on the court when I'm trying to beat my defender," Curry said. "It's the same exact energy. All these things add up to me being in my best shape as an athlete."

A new approach to longevity

The top point scorer for the Golden State Warriors has a stacked toolkit that he uses to stay in top shape, including a nutrient-dense diet and deep sleep.

Curry said his typical routine includes plenty of unglamorous, foundational health habits, such as a strict sleep schedule and a nutrient-dense diet.

In recent years, he's become curious about new ways to optimize his routine and isn't afraid to dabble in more experimental, high-tech strategies to get an edge on the court.

Curry has an active recovery area in his house that includes a tub for cold plunges and an infrared sauna.

He spoke fluent biohacker as he described the benefits of his sauna habit — how it enhances cognitive health, can "downregulate your neurological system," and support healthy testosterone levels.

The sauna works by temporarily activating the body's stress response, or sympathetic nervous system, increasing heart rate and blood flow to manage the strain of heat exposure. Then, as you cool down, your parasympathetic nervous system takes over, reducing stress hormones like cortisol and promoting relaxation.

Curry said he and his team rely heavily on research data in making the call on what recovery tactics to use and which to skip.

His protocol is to spend 20 to 25 minutes in the infrared sauna on rest days (he has one at home as part of a recovery suite), and 15 minutes immediately after a game or a big workout.

Curry isn't the only athlete using heat to boost performance.

Cristiano Ronaldo, LeBron James, and Travis Kelce have all incorporated saunas into their recovery routines.

The evidence, however, is more nuanced, said Nick Tiller, an exercise scientist at the Lundquist Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, and author of a new book, "The Health and Wellness Lie."

"In high-level sport, the difference between success and failure can be the fraction of a second," Tiller told Business Insider. "So if an athlete engages in a practice that is not particularly science-based, but it makes them feel better, even if it's 0.1% better, then there is an argument there for them using it."

Some evidence suggests that regular sauna sessions can lower blood pressure and relieve stress, which can lead to better performance in life and sports. Heat exposure can, over time, increase hemoglobin levels, which offer a small improvement in endurance by helping the body transport oxygen more efficiently.

Most of the claims about sauna benefits, particularly for heart health, stem from a major study done in Finland, where sauna is traditional. However, the study's design didn't account for changes over time or lifestyle factors like diet, working hours, or stress that could have explained why sauna users were found to live longer — as a result, it's tough to say the sauna itself offered a health boost.

It won't make anyone a superstar athlete on its own — exercise offers far greater benefits for health and performance.

"Athletes are getting all the benefits of cardiovascular adaptation from the training that they do," Tiller said. "That is a far more potent cardiovascular stimulus, a far better autonomic stimulus, a far better cognitive stimulus than sitting in a sauna. It's like bringing sand to the beach."

As an add-on, there's no reason to ditch the sauna if you enjoy it as part of a healthy routine. Those of us who aren't pro athletes may be better off putting those extra minutes into a workout instead.