diff --git a/client_http.hpp b/client_http.hpp
index 080e5a3..9a7d981 100644
--- a/client_http.hpp
+++ b/client_http.hpp
@@ -127,26 +127,15 @@ namespace SimpleWeb {
         
         virtual ~ClientBase() {}
         
-        /// Synchronous request. The io_service is run within this function.
+        /// Convenience function to perform synchronous request. The io_service is run within this function.
+        /// If reusing the io_service for other tasks, please use the asynchronous request functions instead.
         std::shared_ptr<Response> request(const std::string& method, const std::string& path=std::string("/"), string_view content="", const CaseInsensitiveMultimap& header=CaseInsensitiveMultimap()) {
-            auto session=std::make_shared<Session>(io_service, get_connection(), create_request_header(method, path, header));
             std::shared_ptr<Response> response;
-            session->callback=[this, &response, session](const error_code &ec) {
-                {
-                    std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(*connections_mutex);
-                    session->connection->in_use=false;
-                }
-                response=session->response;
+            request(method, path, content, header, [&response](std::shared_ptr<Response> response_, const error_code &ec) {
+                response=response_;
                 if(ec)
                     throw system_error(ec);
-            };
-            
-            std::ostream write_stream(session->request_buffer.get());
-            if(content.size()>0)
-                write_stream << "Content-Length: " << content.size() << "\r\n";
-            write_stream << "\r\n" << content;
-            
-            Client<socket_type>::connect(session);
+            });
             
             io_service->reset();
             io_service->run();
@@ -154,31 +143,15 @@ namespace SimpleWeb {
             return response;
         }
         
-        /// Synchronous request. The io_service is run within this function.
+        /// Convenience function to perform synchronous request. The io_service is run within this function.
+        /// If reusing the io_service for other tasks, please use the asynchronous request functions instead.
         std::shared_ptr<Response> request(const std::string& method, const std::string& path, std::iostream& content, const CaseInsensitiveMultimap& header=CaseInsensitiveMultimap()) {
-            auto session=std::make_shared<Session>(io_service, get_connection(), create_request_header(method, path, header));
             std::shared_ptr<Response> response;
-            session->callback=[this, &response, session](const error_code &ec) {
-                {
-                    std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(*connections_mutex);
-                    session->connection->in_use=false;
-                }
-                response=session->response;
+            request(method, path, content, header, [&response](std::shared_ptr<Response> response_, const error_code &ec) {
+                response=response_;
                 if(ec)
                     throw system_error(ec);
-            };
-            
-            content.seekp(0, std::ios::end);
-            auto content_length=content.tellp();
-            content.seekp(0, std::ios::beg);
-            std::ostream write_stream(session->request_buffer.get());
-            if(content_length>0)
-                write_stream << "Content-Length: " << content_length << "\r\n";
-            write_stream << "\r\n";
-            if(content_length>0)
-                write_stream << content.rdbuf();
-            
-            Client<socket_type>::connect(session);
+            });
             
             io_service->reset();
             io_service->run();